In a more milder and everyday form the vegan will avoid the purchase of animal products like steak, egg, bread with milk, leather shoes, belts, wallets, purses, etc. The core concept behind veganism is to eliminate the suffering of animals for the benefit of humans.

There are many practical reasons as to why people choose to become vegans. For example, it is little known that most poultry and dairy farm animals are slaughtered when their production rates decline. So a chicken that does not lay a certain number of eggs a day or a cow that fails to produce certain amount of milk is likely to be killed and replaced by a more reproductive animal. Some people even object to the conditions in which these animals are kept.

There is no clear definition as to what exactly constitutes an "animal product". The Vegan society includes insect products such as honey into their definition though technical insects are not animals.

Some vegans protest the use of animals in human agricultural activities considering it inefficient and needlessly hard on the animals when machines can do the same work.

Other vegans do so purely from a health point of view. Animal fats and proteins have been associated with heart disease, colon and lung cancer, diabetes, obesity and other debilitating disorders. The milk of a cow contains sufficient amount of fat and protein suitable for young calves but human beings were simply not meant to consume such high concentration. Vegan diets are believed to be good precaution against heart disease and cancer.

Vegans believe that eating fewer animals and generally producing fewer animal products is good not only for the environment but also for the human conscience. The use of animals in agriculture substantial contributes to air and water pollution. Some studies estimate that 80% of the world's annual deforestation can be attributed to animal agriculture.

Vegan products nowadays carry the vegan logo for easy identification in shopping centers so that they are easily distinguished from non-vegan products. The logo usually appears on products that have been registered with the Vegan Society.

If a product is not registered with the Vegan society and claims to be vegan without the logo then it is best to carefully check the packaging and labeling to read the contents of the product. There are certain animal food byproducts like gelatin and rennet that are usually found in sweet products for children which can be easily overlooked by a less observant vegan.