Veganism
 

A vegan diet can be viewed as the strictest form of vegetarianism.

 
Veganism is currently defined by the Vegan Society as a way of living that attempts to exclude all forms of animal exploitation and cruelty as much as possible.
 

This includes exploitation for food and any other purpose.

Therefore, a vegan diet not only excludes animal flesh, but also dairy, eggs and animal-derived ingredients. These include gelatin, honey, carmine, pepsin, shellac, albumin, whey, casein and some forms of vitamin D3.

Vegetarians and vegans often avoid eating animal products for similar reasons. The largest difference is the degree to which they consider animal products acceptable.

For instance, both vegans and vegetarians may exclude meat from their diets for health or environmental reasons.

However, vegans also choose to avoid all animal by-products because they believe this has the largest impact on their health and the environment.

In terms of ethics, vegetarians are opposed to killing animals for food, but consider it acceptable to consume animal by-products such as milk and eggs, as long as the animals are kept in adequate conditions.

On the other hand, vegans believe that animals have a right to be free from human use, be it for food, clothing, science or entertainment.

Thus, they seek to exclude all animal by-products, regardless of the conditions in which animals are bred or housed.

The desire to avoid all forms of animal exploitation is why vegans choose to forgo dairy and eggs — products that many vegetarians have no problem consuming.

 

Plant-based

Another phrase that is becoming more common is plant-based - what does this mean?

Plant-based pertains specifically to diet. In its purest definition, a plant-based diet is limited to plant foods (like a vegan diet) but in addition, plant-based dieters often limit their intake of processed foods and fats, choosing to eat this way for health.

A plant-based dieter is not necessarily vegan, as you can follow this diet, without adhering to the moral framework of veganism.