KitKat Vegan by Nestle and the need to go vegetarian
Apart from some rare exceptions, all my family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances relish eating meat. Since there is no parity between demand and supply, with demand always on the higher side, prices of meat products are always higher. Vegetarianism is not a welcome concept in Pakistan. We eat vegetables just to take a break from continuous meat consumption. Do we need vegetarianism? We need to have a break. We need to have a KitKat Vegan.
Nestle KitKat Vegan, also called KitKat V, is a non-dairy version of the chocolate bar which is coming soon to the markets. Some people cannot eat meat, that is understandable. There are those who don’t eat meat by choice, and that is reasonable. KitKat Vegan is coming out to address both. The plant-based product is an alternative to the regular KitKat chocolate candy. The Swiss company has also claimed that the new Vegan will retain the same balance of smooth chocolate and crispy wafer.
Coming back to our debate that we are carnivores by nature; just recall those National Geographic documentaries that document the hunting habits of various predators. We feel disgusted, and disappointed when a predator mercilessly catches its helpless prey. We don’t feel the same when meat is served well-cooked and beautifully garnished at our dinner tables, Why?
When we say life is the most precious thing in the universe, why do we tend to exclude animals? They are as alive as we are. They are made up of the same cells as we have in our bodies. We share the same lifeblood. The uncomfortable fact of the matter is that life cannot procreate without preying on itself. One of the strongest arguments that vegetarians give is that they don’t want to take away the life of innocent animals for food. What about plant life? Plants are also living beings. They breathe, they grow, they flower, they procreate.
It all boils down to associations. We don’t feel a thing when served with grilled mutton at dinner. But it pains a lot to slaughter a lamb you had been taking care of for days if not months. Similarly, vegetarians value the life of animals because they realize that we are much close to them than we think. A few thousand years ago, early Buddhists and the followers of Jainism went so far as to abstain from eating anything lest they should kill a living soul. To cut the debate short, human beings need a balanced diet with a mix of protein-rich meat and fresh vegetables. Nestle KitKat Vegan is an important product in societies where people are diet conscious and feel more affinity towards their animal brethren. The new KitKat Vegan uses rice and cocoa to maintain the flavor replacing dairy milk. The product is being launched globally. It remains to be seen whether Nestle Pakistan introduces KitKat Vegan to our carnivorous appetites.
