Meat derivatives are in a lot of products. Seasonings, sauces, etc. can hide a lot of those. You can order like a teriyaki tofu dish, for example, and most of the time you’ll be fine. But you’ll eventually run into a variety here and there that uses dashi or oyster sauce in the ingredients. Or you get kimchi and have to worry about the same thing with fish sauce. You get a bag of BBQ potato chips, there’s a chance it contains chicken. Order a cheese pizza, the sauce may still contain tiny bits of sausage. Even a vegetable soup may still use beef or chicken stock.
Damn, maybe that’s a regional thing. You know, food regulations and stuff. I’ve definitely seen a couple examples of what you’re talking about, but I’ve never seen it as common.
Just to clarify, it’s not that they don’t list the ingredients (that would be very illegal), but for people who have a food allergy or dietary restriction, it’s something that you have to stay vigilant about. Most teriyaki sauces do not contain animal products, for example, but some do. And whether that is just honey, or if it’s a meat derivative, it comes down to checking the ingredients list. And if you’re not the one preparing a particular dish yourself, it can be difficult to trust. You can go to any restaurant and inform the server of your allergies/restrictions, but that basically boils down to how much you trust someone paid minimum wage or less to care about you.
