Petition to urge Holland and Barrett to re-introduce vegetarian capsules.

In January 2007, what was left of Holland and Barretts range of vegetarian and vegan herbal supplements had nearly died out. While the bottles where exactly the same, one only had to look at the ingredients of the newer batches coming in to discover in horror, a new ingredient, gelatine.

What is gelatine?
Gelatine is a colourless, odourless and flavourless mixture of proteins from animal bones, connective tissues and other parts, which dissolved in a hot liquid and then cooled it forms a jelly-like substance used as a thickener and stabilizer in moulded desserts, cold soups, chaud-froid creations and the like and as a fining agent in beer and wine.

Why did they reintroduce it?
Upon enquiring about the sudden change, Holland and Barrett told me that the raw materials are now sourced from different sources and unfortunately the product is no longer suitable. At present there are no plans to reintroduce vegetarian capsules for the products mentioned.
Such a response seems contrary to Holland and Barretts business plan and significantly reduces its customer base. Holland and Barrett sells a wide range of Vegetarian and Vegan food products, ranging from sausage rolls, to chocolate, frozen foods, dairy-free milk and cheese. It seems illogical to make such a change, without formal warning to regular vegetarian/vegan customers, which alienates not only vegetarians and vegans from buying their herbal supplements, but also Muslims observing Halal and Jews observing Kosher. The least one would expect from such a specialist company as Holland and Barrett is for them to keep their products available to specialist groups, and while some of these groups allow for gelatine in medical cases, it is widely known that many of Holland and Barretts products can be purchased from other companies, minus the gelatine.

We, the undersigned, urge Holland and Barrett to be consistent in its ethical approach and reintroduce gelatine-free capsules for their herbal products and aim to re-introduce the radiance range of vitamins in their vegetarian form. We also urge Holland and Barrett to maintain further consistency by making products which have never been vegetarian/vegan, suitable, including products such as flaxseed soft gels, evening primrose soft gels and calcium tablets.

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