An Update on Gelatin Top Restaurant Chains for Vegetarians

purpose the following day. The only pans that dorotate (cleaned thoroughly between uses) are theserving pans (used to bring food out to the servingarea from the kitchen).The company said, “The grilled vegetables areprepared on the same grill that is used for meat products;however, they are never prepared at the sametime.” Fajita veggies are cooked on the stovetop. Thebeans and the rice are prepared separately from meatproducts. Qdoba said that there are no animal-derivedingredients in either the beans or the rice. The companyindicated that their tortillas are free of animal ingredientsand that none of their bread products, includingchips, contains animal ingredients. (We did not askspecifically about L-cysteine.) The fryer oil is used onlyfor frying chips or salad bowls. No meat/egg productsare cooked in the same oil.Qdoba uses a pan release spray that contains artificialbutter flavor, but it does not contain animal ordairy components. The company said, “The likelihoodthat our cheese contains animal-sourced rennet is highlyunlikely. However, a few of our suppliers cannot guaranteethat our product does not come in contact withtrace amounts of animal-based rennet.” There is nogelatin in either the sour cream or the guacamole.Recipe formulations are considered standard at allQdoba restaurants. The company noted, “There canbe variations in some items, but this would not interferewith the items considered vegetarian.... There maybe differences in suppliers; however, all suppliers mustmeet a standard specification.”Qdoba restaurants are set up so that patrons buildtheir meals as they go along a serving area, so it is easyto leave certain components off their menu items.SOUPLANTATION and SWEETTOMATOES (www.souplantation.com)Locations: Approximately 15 states but concentratedin Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, and TexasMenu Items That Souplantation and Sweet TomatoesCall Vegan:• Tossed Salads: Fields of Green w/Citrus Vinaigrette,Mandarin Spinach w/Caramelized Walnuts, StrawberryFields w/Caramelized Walnuts, Thai Peanut &Red Pepper, Thai Udon & Peanut• Prepared Salads: Aunt Doris’ Red Pepper Slaw(Fat-Free), Baja Bean and Cilantro (Low-Fat), DijonPotato w/Garlic Dill Vinaigrette, Italian WhiteBean, Lemon Rice w/Cashews, Mandarin Noodlesw/Broccoli (Low-Fat), Mandarin Shells withAlmonds (Low-Fat), Roasted Potato w/ChipotleChile, Spicy Southwestern Pasta (Low-Fat), SummerBarley w/Black Beans (Low-Fat), Sweet and SourBroccoli Slaw (Low-Fat), Sweet Marinated Vegetables(Fat-Free), Tabouli, Thai Citrus & Brown Rice,Three Bean Marinade, Tomato Cucumber Marinade• Soups: Classical Minestrone (Low-Fat), India Lentil(Low-Fat), Ratatouille (Fat-Free), Santa Fe BlackBean (Low-Fat), Sweet Tomato Onion (Low-Fat),Vegetarian Harvest• Hot Pastas & Kitchen Favorites: Salsa de Lupe(Fat-Free), Sautéed Balsamic VegetablesIn addition, Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes lists 83vegetarian items on their website.More About Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes:Souplantation has “signs stating ‘vegetarian,’ ‘vegan,’or ‘non-vegetarian’” posted above each menu item inthe locations. The company also has a brochure availablein its restaurants that lists the most commonlyserved menu items and provides nutritional information.The brochure contains vegetarian, vegan, andnon-vegetarian labels for many items and defines theterms in the following ways:“Vegetarian: Vegetarian items may contain dairyor eggs, but no meat or meat products.”“Vegan: Vegan items are made up of all plantbasedfoods and excludes any animal products.”On the brochure’s last page, it states, “Complete ingredientlistings are available for viewing upon request.”However, Souplantation said that the product informationpages do not contain complete microingredientinformation.“In general,” the rennet used in cheeses is “synthetic,”but Souplantation can’t guarantee this inall cases.Honey is not used in the company’s vegan offerings.Vegan foods are prepared separately from other foods.Dishes used for replenishing food at the buffet arecleaned between uses but could be used for meat oneday and then for vegetables the next.In general, most Souplantation and SweetTomatoes locations are uniform in their standards,but there could be a minimal amount of variation.In emergency situations, the chain would prefer individualrestaurants use supplies on hand rather thangoing to a local supplier.18 Issue Four 2008 VEGETARIAN JOURNAL