Dear Prudence,
My husband and I have both been vegan for about a decade. He’s strict about it, while I sometimes have to sample non-vegan food as part of my job, or might accept a cookie from a neighbor without asking what’s in it. Basically, I eat vegan as much as I can without jeopardizing my job or snubbing people. My husband would probably never take the job, and would say no thanks to the cookie. That’s fine!
But recently, he picked me up from an early morning appointment and brought me a breakfast sandwich from a national chain. He said he loved these breakfast sandwiches and that on his recent two-week road trip with a friend, they were often the only vegan food he could find in remote areas. As soon as I unwrapped the sandwich, I realized—the sausage was vegan, but it was made with real egg and cheese! I just ate it because I was hungry and didn’t want to waste it. But I don’t have the heart to tell him his beloved staple isn’t entirely plant-based.
Personally, I don’t follow such a hard line that I think having the odd vegetarian meal is a huge deal when you don’t have other options handy. But he is a lot more black and white in his thinking. Do you think I have an obligation to tell him, or should I just let him enjoy what he enjoys and find out in his own time, possibly?