Is Lecithin (E322) vegan? it is depend on its raw materials source. The raw material sources of phospholipids can be divided into: vegetable sources and animal sources.
Derived from plants: The main raw material for commercial Lecithin (phospholipids) from soybeans is cheaply available on a large scale. Most of the Lecithin the market such in different food is came from soybeans which called “Soy Lecithin”. Second part of Lecithin is extractd from “sunflower seeds”. Some other small quntity is extracted from rapeseeds. All these lecithin is vegan.
Derived from Eggs: Very small amounts of Lecithin E322 (phospholipids) may be derived from animal products (fresh egg powder). In order to obtain higher purity phospholipids and avoid soy allergy, extracting lecithin from eggs is an important choice. In the fields of health care products and medicine, people often use egg phospholipids.
Vegetarians can tell whether the Lecithin E322 are of plants or animal origin in the ingredient list. If the lecithin is origin from “Soybeans”, “Sunflower seeds” or “rapeseeds”, it is vegan.