Personally I will not eat anything with the may contain label. I know this just means it is made in the same factory but I was wondering if I have just been overly cautious. What do you all think? Do you avoid stuff like that or do you think it is fine?
I don't avoid those products. Vegan products from factories or production lines that are also being used to processed animal products do not cause harm to animals - the other products did.
P sure it's fine. I'm allergic to peanuts and I eat food with "May Contain" on it and have not once had an issue
Right, it means that the equipment used to produce the food has also been used to produce foods containing whatever.
It's a low but nonzero risk so they label it.
Would you eat food from a kitchen that has also produced non vegan food? You'll probably have a similar answer.
Personally, I don't avoid it. The FDA (if you're in the US) allows a certain amount of insect parts and other contaminants, and no labels list those. I assume if they're in there at all, it's really a minuscule amount. Plus, you aren't patronizing the factory, so you're only supporting the vegan brand that happens to use that factory.
It's intended for people with allergies to those things.
If you avoid buying products from companies that also participate in the meat/dairy industry, then it makes sense and is consistent to avoid food with that labels. Though I'd also say that there's a lot of other research you'd want to do, as there are meat/dairy companies that own vegan food facilities that don't need those labels.
I don't avoid the stuff because I don't even trust it very much to begin with and I don't have the time or even ability to investigate supply chains sufficiently. I put my beeny efforts into spreading the good word! I also mostly just try to make food at home from scratch, it eliminates a lot (not all) of thinking about "ethical" consumption.