Kratoein Is Vegan – Syrups & Tablets Without Animal-Derived Ingredients - Kratoein

Without animal-derived components: what our goods are made of

One question reaches us more often than almost any other: do your goods contain animal-derived components? It is usually phrased as a question about vegan composition — but it can only be answered as what it factually is: a question about the material origin of the raw materials used. That is what this article is about. We set out which groups of substances actually occur in our syrups and tablets, how each one is obtained — plant-based, mineral, fermentative or synthetic — and why the classic animal-derived excipients are not needed in these formulations in the first place.

Why animal-derived components occur in extracts at all

An extract rarely consists of the extract alone. It needs something to hold it in shape: a shell, a carrier, a pressing aid, a coating. And it is precisely in that second row that the substances of animal origin traditionally sit. That is what makes the question a fair one — it targets the excipients, not the plant.

The four classics found across this market segment:

Gelatine — obtained from the collagen of hides, bones and connective tissue of cattle and pigs. By far the most common material for capsule shells, because it can be processed cheaply into a stable shell that disintegrates quickly.
Shellac (E904) — the resinous secretion of the lac insect Kerria lacca, scraped from the twigs the insects sit on. Used as a coating on tablets to give them a gloss and keep moisture out.
Lactose — milk sugar, the classic carrier for powdered fractions. Very small quantities of a substance can only be dosed if they are distributed through a larger quantity of a neutral powder; lactose has been the standard for that for decades.
Beeswax (E901) — used as a release and glazing agent so that compressed tablets do not stick to one another or to the tooling.

There is a fifth candidate that belongs not to the shell but to the colour: carmine (E120), the red colourant from the cochineal scale insect Dactylopius coccus. Around 100,000 insects are processed per kilogram of the colourant. Carmine remains the only widely used colourant with an animal source.

These substances do not appear in our formulations for a plain reason: they are not needed. A syrup is a liquid — it has no shell that would have to be made from gelatine, no coating, no release agent. The tablets are compressed and uncoated, which removes shellac and beeswax. The filler is corn starch, not lactose. And the colour comes from synthetic colourants, not from carmine.

The groups of substances and where they come from

Rather than listing individual names, sorting by function is more revealing: every substance in a formulation has a job, and the job determines which source it comes from.

Group of substances	Job in the formulation	How it is obtained
Solvents and carriers	keep the alkaloid fraction evenly distributed	water; propylene glycol, synthetic, from propylene oxide
Sweeteners	mask the strongly bitter alkaloid note	sucrose and dextrose, plant-based; steviol glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana
Acidulant	sets the pH and keeps the alkaloids in solution as a salt	citric acid (E330), produced by fermentation with Aspergillus niger
Antioxidant	slows the oxidation of the alkaloids	ascorbic acid, fermentative or synthetic
Colourants	make batches and varieties distinguishable	synthetic, free of azo compounds, no carmine
Pressing and flow aids	make the powder compressible, prevent sticking to the tooling	magnesium stearate, magnesium glycerate, corn starch — mineral or plant-based
Alkaloid fraction	the extract portion itself	mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine from Mitragyna speciosa

None of these groups has an animal source in our formulations. What is worth noting, though, is that exactly one of them raises a genuine question of origin at all.

Magnesium stearate: the one substance with a real question of origin

Chemically, magnesium stearate is the magnesium salt of stearic acid — the saturated octadecanoic acid with 18 carbon atoms. And stearic acid is abundant in nature: in palm oil, coconut oil and shea butter just as much as in the tallow of cattle and pigs. The molecule that comes out at the end is identical in both cases — a finished magnesium stearate does not reveal its source.

That is exactly why this substance is the real core of the question. It cannot be answered through the molecule, only through the supply chain: through the specification and the declared origin given by the raw-material supplier. For our tablets, magnesium stearate of plant-based or synthetic origin is sourced; the same applies to the magnesium glycerate used, whose magnesium content is of mineral origin in any case.

What “free of azo dyes” means chemically

Azo dyes are defined by their chemical structure: they carry an azo group (–N=N–) linking two aromatic ring systems. That group is the reason for the intense yellow, orange and red shades, and equally the reason why several of them must carry a warning statement in the EU.

Important for our question: azo dyes are entirely synthetic — they have nothing to do with animals. Doing without them is therefore not an answer to the question of origin but a separate decision. The answer to the question of origin is: no carmine, and no other colourant of animal origin.

What these statements are not

Two qualifications belong here, otherwise the article would be incomplete.

First: what you are reading is not a seal and not a certification. The claim “vegan” is a food-law category and presupposes that the item is a foodstuff — that is, something intended for consumption. Our goods are expressly not; they are supplied as collectors’ and research items. That is why they carry no such mark and why we do not use the word as a product property. What we can answer, and have answered here, is the factual question behind it: which substances, and from what source.

Second: these statements rest on formulation and supplier information. They describe what is used — they are not a statement about third-party production facilities and not a guarantee beyond technically unavoidable traces.

Frequently asked questions

Are azo dyes of animal origin?
No. They are synthetic compounds with an azo group in the molecule. The only widely used colourant with an animal source is carmine (E120) — and it is not used.

Can magnesium stearate be of animal origin?
In principle yes, if the underlying stearic acid comes from animal tallow. That is a question of the sourcing, not of the chemistry. For our tablets, material obtained on a plant-based or synthetic route is sourced.

Do the tablets have a gelatine shell?
No. They are compressed tablets, not capsules — there simply is no shell. Nor is there a coating of shellac or beeswax.

Is lactose used as a carrier?
No. The carrier function is performed by corn starch in the tablets and by water and propylene glycol in the syrups.

Why is there no vegan logo on the packaging?
Because such a logo would be a food claim and would contradict the character of the goods. We give the material information here instead — in more detail than a logo ever could.