This is a buyers' guide from Ethical Consumer, the UK's leading alternative consumer organisation. Since 1989 we've been researching and recording the social and environmental records of companies, and making the results available to you in a simple format.
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Score Ratings
Our ratings are live updated scores from our primary research database. They are based on primary and secondary research across 19 categories. Find out more about our ethical ratings.
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The Dragonfly, Fry's, Taifun, Goodlife and Redwood brands (Cheatin', Making Waves and VegiDeli) all come out best.
A number of health scares, along with concern for animal welfare and the environment, have made vegetarian products mainstream. Unfortunately, this has also meant the consolidation of the industry and increasing ownership of well-known brands by big corporations with poor ethical records, with Cauldron and Quorn being snapped up by Premier Foods, purveyors of Angel Delight and Oxo. Despite rumours of a sale to Nestle early in 2006, however, Heinz has passed its Linda McCartney brand on to wholefood and vegetarian specialist Hain Celestial Group.
While vegetarian products may not have the same problems as meat, the environmental impacts of soya production, key to many meat substitutes, is increasingly recognised, and one of the main things differentiating the best companies on the table are good policies on avoiding GM soya and endeavouring to obtain raw materials from organic or other sustainable sources.