production of one of the first widely distributed soy milks in the Western world. The first vegan society in the United States was founded in 1948 by Catherine Nimmo and Rubin Abramowitz in California, who distributed Watson's newsletter. In 1960, H. Jay Dinshah founded the American Vegan Society (AVS), linking veganism to the concept of ahimsa, "non-harming" in Sanskrit. According to Joanne Stepaniak, the word vegan was first published independently in 1962 by the Oxford Illustrated Dictionary, defined as "a vegetarian who eats no butter, eggs, cheese, or milk". Definition Since 1988, The Vegan Society defines veganism as follows: The definition by The Vegan Society is widely accepted among vegans. The European Commission was granted the power to adopt an implementing act on food information related to suitability of a food for vegans by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union in article 36 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011. The German consumer protection minister conference approved a definition for food suitable for vegans on 22 April 2016. The European Vegetarian Union adopted this text for a proposal for a legally binding definition based on Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 in July 2019. In 2021, the International Organization for Standardization published standard ISO 23662 on "definitions and technical criteria for foods and food ingredients suitable for vegetarians or vegans and for labelling and claims". The ISO 23662 was rejected by Vegan Societies worldwide joined in the Vegan World Alliance who found the standard inconsistent with their shared vision on veganism. Increasing interest Alternative food movements In the 1960s and 1970s, a vegetarian food movement emerged as part of the counterculture in the United States that focused on concerns about diet, the environment, and a distrust of food producers, leading to increasing interest in organic gardening. One of the most influential vegetarian books of that time was Frances Moore Lappé's 1971 text, Diet for a Small Planet. It sold more than three million copies and suggested "getting off the top of the food chain". The following decades saw research by a group of scientists and doctors in the United States, including physicians Dean Ornish, Caldwell Esselstyn, Neal D. Barnard, John A. McDougall, Michael Greger, and biochemist T. Colin Campbell, who argued that diets based on animal fat and animal protein, such as the Western pattern diet, were detrimental to health. They produced a series of books that recommend vegan or