Lacto-ovo vegetarianism

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An ovo-lacto-vegetarian is a vegetarian who does not eat beef, lamb, pork, poultry, fish, shellfish or animal flesh of any kind, but is willing to consume dairy and egg products.

1 Etymology
2 Diet
3 Religion
4 References
5 See also

Etymology

The terminology stems from the Latin Lacto- meaning "milk", ovo- meaning "egg", "vege-" meaning of vegetation, as so giving the definition of a diet containing milk, eggs, and vegetables.

Diet

In the Western world lacto-ovo vegetarians are the most common type of vegetarian. Generally speaking, when one uses the term vegetarian a lacto-ovo vegetarian is assumed. Lacto-ovo vegetarians are often well-catered to in restaurants and shops, especially in Europe and metropolitan cities in North America.

In the airline industry a lacto-ovo vegetarian meal is known by the acronym VLML (for Vegetarian, Lacto-ovo MeaL).

Lacto-ovo vegetarianism is often motivated by ethics: it is thought by many followers of this diet that eggs and dairy are permitted because they don't involve slaughter of animals. This is only partially true in the modern food industry. Since eggs and milk are only produced by female chickens and cows, commercial food producers will often engage in the practice of sexing, whereby males are either slaughtered immediately (typical for chickens) or raised for meat (more common for cattle). Furthermore, both dairy cattle and egg-laying hens are slaughtered when they leave the period of peak productivity, which is typically much shorter than their natural lifespan.^[1]^[2]

Some ethically motivated lacto-ovo vegetarians may avoid fertilized eggs as well as caviar believing that both involve animal death. They may also avoid cheese that contains rennet and products that contain gelatin as these are animal products. In contrast, a vegetarian who consumes no animal products at all is called a vegan.

Religion

Many Seventh-day Adventists are lacto-ovo vegetarians. For over 130 years, Seventh-day Adventists have recommended a vegetarian diet which may include milk products and eggs.^[3]