Can vegetarians eat fish eggs?!


Question: I needed to ask this question because some people seem to think the fish are killed for their eggs and they aren't. All you have to do is squeeze them and the roe comes flowing right out.

Personally, I don't like the taste of caviar/roe but that's beside the point.

Can vegetarians eat fish eggs?


Answers: I needed to ask this question because some people seem to think the fish are killed for their eggs and they aren't. All you have to do is squeeze them and the roe comes flowing right out.

Personally, I don't like the taste of caviar/roe but that's beside the point.

Can vegetarians eat fish eggs?

I guess if the fish arnt killed like you say then yes they can as it would be the same as eating any other eggs. But if the fish are harmed in any way and you are a vegetarian for ethical reasons, then no I wouldnt eat them. Its so hard to know what really goes on out there you just have to do what is best for you. Im not a huge fan of all the labeling that people want to give themselves these days. If you are a vego you dont eat any meat. Period. And if you are a vegan, no animal products. Period. Im a nothing. period. I simply eat fish and enjoy it and have been known to have the odd bit of cavier! Im not a pesco ovo tarian or any of that garbage. I am simply not vegetarian or vegan.

I've not seen a single vegan eat the eggs out of a salmon. I don't think they do it.

Sorry but when obtaining caviar, the fish is killed with it's belly split open with a knifeto get the roe. Could be wrong but I am not aware of any caviar fish (beluga, ossetra and sevruga sturgeons) where the roe is just squeezed out.

Certainly vegetarians CAN eat anything they want. Personal convictions dictate what they SHOULD NOT eat and each individual decides on his/her own. I think that is the main reason for the most recent hot topic: the debate between "vegetarians" who eat fish and seafood and the "strict vegetarians" who say they should not or should not call themselves vegetarian if they do.

Vegetarians can eat whatever they want. They choose not to eat fish eggs. If you eat fish eggs, you aren't a vegetarian.

I think it depends since there are different types of Vegetarians. For example:

1. Pescatarian (also spelled pescetarian)
The word “pescatarian” is occasionally used to describe those who abstain from eating all meat and animal flesh with the exception of fish. Although the word is not commonly used, more and more people are adopting this kind of diet, usually for health reasons or as a stepping stone to a fully vegetarian diet.
2. Flexitarian/Semi-vegetarian
You don’t have to be vegetarian to love vegetarian food! “Flexitarian” is a term recently coined to describe those who eat a mostly vegetarian diet, but occasionally eat meat.
3. Vegetarian (Lacto-ovo- vegetarian)
When most people think of vegetarians, they think of lacto-ovo-vegetarians. People who do not eat beef, pork, poultry, fish, shellfish or animal flesh of any kind, but do eat eggs and dairy products are lacto-ovo vegetarians (“lacto” comes from the Latin for milk, and “ovo” for egg).
Lacto-vegetarian is used to describe a vegetarian who does not eat eggs, but does eat dairy products.

Ovo-vegetarian refers to people who do not eat meat or dairy products but do eat eggs.

4. Vegan
Vegans do not eat meat of any kind and also do not eat eggs, dairy products, or processed foods containing these or other animal-derived ingredients such as gelatin. Many vegans also refrain from eating foods that are made using animal products that may not contain animal products in the finished process, such as sugar and some wines. There is some debate as to whether certain foods, such as honey, fit into a vegan diet.
5. Raw vegan/Raw food diet
A raw vegan diet consists of unprocessed vegan foods that have not been heated above 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius). “Raw foodists” believe that foods cooked above this temperature have lost a significant amount of their nutritional value and are harmful to the body.
6. Macrobiotic
The macrobiotic diet, revered by some for its healthy and healing qualities, includes unprocessed vegan foods, such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and allows the occasional consumption of fish. Sugar and refined oils are avoided. Perhaps the most unique qualifier of the macrobiotic diet is its emphasis on the consumption of Asian vegetables, such as daikon, and sea vegetables, such as seaweed.

above all i think it should be what you feel comfortable eating, not what someone tells you what their idea of what a vegan should eat.

I'm vegetarian and I grew up in a community where fishing and aquaculture was the main source of livelihood. I can tell you that to get fish eggs, the fish will have to be killed, hence, if a person wants to call himself of herself vegetarian, he or she should not eat fish eggs. Aquaculturists just can't be bothered to take the fish out of the water to "squeeze" roe, and then what? Put them back in? I don't think so.

What, then, would prevent a vegetarian from eating just the fish eggs in a dish with the rest of the fish?

It all depends on what kind of vegetarian you're talking about. Some "vegetarians" will eat fish, some will eat dairy, some won't eat any animal products at all (a fish, is after all, an animal). By the way, I've never heard of getting fish eggs with the method you're talking about. I kind of wonder if someone told you that to make you feel better about the whole caviar issue. In Russia, where caviar is very popular, the sturgeon nearly died out in late 1970's because they were being killed to harvest the eggs.

vegetarians dont eat anything that is from animals, including eggs.

The trout I saw have thier eggs removed were pretty much dead afterwards. That was on a trout farm that was more of a cottage industry so I guess the commercial egg extraction is even worse.

I think the difference to chickens is that with a chicken the egg can be removed without stress ( or any outward signs of stress at least ). I don't think thats true of fish.

Justin has quoted that about.vegetarian site. the owner would get more credibility if she would acknowledge or engage in discussion over her false postings, but she won't.





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