I’ve decided to turn ‘Surprising Vegan _____’ into a series, since there’s too many things to place in just 1 collage.
So, this week we’ll be looking at Surprising Vegan Candy. These are candies that are vegan friendly (in Canada), even though they’re not marketed as being vegan. (Hence the ‘surprise’)
From the top left clockwise, this collage includes:
- Swedish Fish (Red 40, Yellow 5+6, and Blue 1)
- Twizzlers
- Jolly Ranchers (Red 40, Blue 1 and Yellows 5+6)
- JuJubes (Red 40, Blue 1 and Yellows 5+6)
- Super Nibs
- Maynards Fuzzy Peaches (Yellow 5, Red 40)
- Nerds
- Sour Patch Kids
- Pixy Stix
- Maynards Swedish Berries
- Skittles Original
- Maynards Sour Cherry Blasters (Contains Tartrazine [Yellow 5])
- Rockets (Called Smarties in the US)
- Pull N Peel
- Airheads Originals (Red 40, Blue 1, Yellows 5+6)
Now, you may be wondering, why did I list Food Dyes next to some of the candy? Well, that’s because these food dyes aren’t vegan, since they’re tested on animals, and, Red 40 is made out of crushed cocchineal beetles. ‘But then, why list them on a vegan candy collage?!’ Well, I believe that this might be one of those ‘how far down the rabbit hole’ things. We all know it’s impossible to be 100% vegan already, and while that’s certainly not an excuse, I want to throw the choice to you. I’ve seen some vegan products that have the food dyes listed, so the choice is yours. It’s hard enough already to find ‘regular’ food that vegans can eat, don’t make it harder on yourself.
Eating some candy once in a while won’t make the Vegan Police show up at your house and revoke your vegan card. Do I wish that these candies didn’t have the food dyes? Yes, of course. Am I guilty of still eating some of these candies on occasion? Yes, I am. While I do my best to completely avoid Red 40 (since, y’know it’s literally crushed beetles), I don’t agonize over the fact if I eat candy (whether intentionally or by accident) that have the other dyes in them. That doesn’t make me less vegan, and it won’t make you, either.
We don’t live in a society that caters to vegans, and, should you be in a pinch, or not able to make it to your favourite vegan store to stock up on ‘real’ vegan candy, it’s nice to know what ‘regular’ candy you can pick up without stressing about it, especially, say for Halloween, when you need to pick up a giant pack of candy for cheap (let’s face it, vegan candy is pretty expensive), these are regular candies that are sold in bulk, that you shouldn’t feel you need to completely get rid of.
Check out the rest of the Surprising Vegan series here!
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Red 40 is not made from cochineals. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/red-dye-40
Also, the ingredient in Swedish berries only says “colour”. Do you know which red dye they use? I can’t find it anywhere on the ‘net.
Hi there!
Thanks so much for your comment!
The link I provided in the article states the dyes used aren’t vegan because they’re tested on animals, which includes Red 40. So regardless of if it’s still made out of crushed beetles or not, it still wouldn’t be vegan. Honestly though, I haven’t looked up the food dye information in a while, so it’s entirely possible it’s changed.
At the time I had written the article, I had written in to Maynards directly to ask about the vague ‘colour’ ingredient, and they told me their Swedish Berries were vegan, though I don’t believe they said specifically which dye they used. (If they had, I would’ve included it)
Please also keep in mind, the information I provide is specific to Canada. Different countries use different ingredients in the same foods (for ex, Oreos in the US aren’t technically vegan, because the sugar used in them is processed through bone char, whereas here in Canada, we don’t process sugar that way, so they are vegan for us). I always recommend to look up the specific ingredients used for your own country to get the most accurate information. 🙂