Vegetarianism in India

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Labeling used in India to distinguish vegetarian products from non-vegetarian ones.

In India vegetarianism is usually synonymous with lacto vegetarianism, although lacto-ovo vegetarianism is practiced as well. Most restaurants in India clearly distinguish and market themselves as being either "Non-Vegetarian", "Vegetarian" or "Pure Vegetarian" (lacto vegetarian). Vegetarian restaurants abound, and usually many vegetarian (Shakahari: plant-eater, in Hindi) options are available. Animal based ingredients (other than milk and honey) such as lard, gelatin and meat stock are not used in the traditional cuisine.

According to the 2006 Hindu-CNN-IBN State of the Nation Survey, 31% of Indians are vegetarians, while another 9% consumes eggs. Among the various communities, vegetarianism was most common among Jains, Brahmins at 55%, and less frequent among Muslims (3%) and residents of coastal states respectively. Other surveys cited by FAO [1], and USDA [2][3] estimate 20%-42% of the Indian population as being vegetarian. These surveys indicate that even Indians who do eat meat, do so infrequently, with less than 30% consuming it regularly; although the reasons are partially economical.

India has devised a system of marking edible products made from only vegetarian ingredients, with a green dot in a green square. A mark of a red dot in a red square conveys that some animal based ingredients were used [4]. Even medicines are similarly marked: a well-known Omega-3 capsule made from flax seeds is marked with a red dot as the capsule uses non-vegetarian ingredients.^{[citation needed]}

Recent growth in India's organized retail has also been hit by some controversy. Strict vegetarians are demanding meatless supermarkets [5]

In India, Vegetarianism is promoted by most Dharmic religions.