A vegan certification verifies that a product contains no animal-derived ingredients at all and was made without animal testing. A vegetarian certification permits dairy and eggs, with lacto and ovo variants defined. If your product contains dairy, eggs or honey, it can carry a vegetarian mark but not a vegan mark — and a vegan certificate is not a vegetarian claim by default.
The two claims, stated precisely
Vegan is the stricter claim: no animal-derived ingredients, no animal-derived processing aids, and no animal testing of the product or its formulation. That includes the quiet offenders — gelatin capsules, carmine color, whey-derived flavor carriers, beeswax glazes, lanolin-derived vitamin D3, and fining agents such as isinglass used in juice and wine processing.
Vegetarian permits milk- and egg-derived inputs but still excludes meat, fish, slaughter by-products and ingredients that required killing an animal — which rules out gelatin, carmine, animal rennet in most readings, and fish-derived omega-3 oils. The claim splits into variants: lacto-vegetarian (dairy permitted, egg excluded), ovo-vegetarian (egg permitted, dairy excluded) and lacto-ovo (both permitted). A serious vegetarian certification names the variant on the certificate, because buyers in different markets assume different defaults.
Which mark fits which product
| Your product | Vegan mark | Vegetarian mark |
|---|---|---|
| No animal-derived inputs at all | Yes | Yes — though the vegan claim is the stronger one |
| Contains dairy (milk powder, whey, casein, ghee) | No | Yes — lacto or lacto-ovo variant |
| Contains egg (albumen, lysozyme, egg lecithin) | No | Yes — ovo or lacto-ovo variant |
| Contains honey, beeswax or propolis | No | Depends on the standard — V-Cert reviews these case by case against the variant claimed |
| Contains gelatin, carmine or animal rennet | No | No — these are slaughter- or insect-derived |
| Uses animal-derived processing aids (isinglass, bone char) | No | Reviewed against the variant — disclosed, not waved through |
| Cosmetic with no animal-derived inputs, no animal testing | Yes — and Cruelty-Free can be added in the same review | Vegetarian marks are uncommon on cosmetics; vegan is the claim buyers look for |
Why a vegan certificate is not a vegetarian claim
Logically, every vegan product is also vegetarian. Commercially and legally, the claims are separate: a certificate substantiates exactly the claim written on it, and most vegan-only certifiers do not offer a vegetarian mark at all — Vegan Action, The Vegan Society and BeVeg each certify vegan only (each certifier's published mark list, checked 2026). If your lacto-vegetarian range sits next to your vegan range, the vegan certificate does nothing for the products that contain dairy.
V-Cert treats vegetarian as a first-class mark — its own standard, its own numbered certificates, lacto and ovo variants defined — never vegan's footnote. Both marks are certified by remote desk review, with your quote scoped to the products you list.
How to decide in practice
- Start from the formulation, not the marketing. List every ingredient and processing aid with an animal-risk flag. If anything dairy- or egg-derived is essential to the recipe, the vegetarian mark is your claim; if nothing animal-derived remains, certify vegan.
- Check what your buyers actually ask for. Retail and food-service buyers in the EU and UK often accept either claim; Indian buyers frequently require vegetarian assurance specifically; plant-based retail in North America expects vegan. Certify the claim your purchase orders name.
- Mind the variant. If your product contains dairy but no egg, a lacto-vegetarian certificate states that precisely — useful in markets where egg is the sensitive input.
- Consider certifying both ranges at once. A vegan range and a vegetarian range usually share suppliers and documents. In a multi-mark bundle, one review covers both marks and each additional mark is priced below the first.
What the review looks at, mark by mark
For a vegan review, V-Cert examines your full ingredient specifications, supplier declarations for every animal-risk input, processing aids and carriers, cross-contact controls where shared lines are used, and — for cosmetics — animal-testing policy across the supply chain. For a vegetarian review, the same document set is examined against the variant claimed: dairy and egg chains are permitted but still verified as genuinely dairy- or egg-derived rather than slaughter by-products, and everything excluded by the variant is checked the same way a vegan review would check it.
Both reviews are remote desk reviews: documents, formulations and supplier declarations, no site visit. Typical desk review runs 5–10 business days from complete documentation, and either way the certificate carries a number and a QR code a buyer can check in seconds.
One labeling nuance worth knowing before you print: the claim on the pack must match the claim certified, exactly. A lacto-vegetarian certificate does not substantiate a plain "vegetarian" flash in a market where consumers read vegetarian as egg-free, and a vegan certificate for one product line does not cover the line extension launched after the review. The precision that makes a certificate valuable is the same precision that makes scope worth checking twice at artwork stage — your reviewer will check it with you.
Frequently asked questions
Can one product carry both the vegan and vegetarian marks?
A fully plant-based product qualifies for both claims, and nothing in either standard prevents dual marking. In practice most brands print the vegan mark alone, because it is the stronger claim and label space is scarce. Where a catalog spans both ranges, certifying both marks in one review keeps the document set and the invoice singular.
Is vegetarian certification cheaper than vegan certification?
Neither mark is automatically cheaper — the fee structure is identical and differences come from your scope, not from the mark; the quote inputs are explained on the pricing page.
Does a vegetarian certificate state which variant was certified?
Yes. The V-Cert Vegetarian certificate names the variant — lacto, ovo or lacto-ovo — and the same variant comes back when the certificate number is checked, so a buyer can confirm exactly which claim was substantiated without asking anyone.
Are honey and beeswax vegetarian?
They are insect-derived, so they are never vegan. Vegetarian standards differ on them; V-Cert reviews insect-derived inputs case by case against the variant claimed and states the outcome on the certificate rather than leaving it ambiguous.
Which certifiers offer a dedicated vegetarian mark?
Few do. V-Label (EU) and the Vegetarian Society (UK) offer vegetarian marks alongside vegan; VegeProject Japan covers both in Japan; Vegan Action, The Vegan Society and BeVeg certify vegan only (each organization's published mark list, checked 2026). V-Cert issues a dedicated vegetarian mark worldwide, with lacto and ovo variants defined, by remote desk review.
A serious vegetarian certification names the variant on the certificate, because buyers in different markets assume different defaults.