Takis Waves Fuego (Cochineal, Allura Red, Sunset Yellow FCF)
Takis Waves Dragon Sweet Chili (Allura Red, Sunset Yellow FCF)
Takis Hot Nuts Flare (Cochineal, Tartrazine)
Takis Hot Nuts Fuego (Allura Red, Cochineal)
Quaker Rice Crisps Kettle Corn
Quaker Rice Crisps Sweet and Spicy Chili
Quaker Rice Crisps Apple Cinnamon
Quaker Rice Cakes Salt Free
Quaker Rice Cakes Lightly Salted
Quaker Rice Cakes Caramel Corn
Quaker Rice Cakes Apple Cinnamon
Quaker Crispy Minis Sweet Chili
Quaker Crispy Minis All Dressed
Sensible Portions Garden Veggie Straws
This might also help you shake up your snack routine. If you’re used to reaching for chips, why not try something from the above collage, instead?
*As always, the above information and products are specific to Canada. Please do your own research and read the ingredients list if you’re in a different country.
Like this collage? Check out the rest of the series here!
They come in all different shapes, sizes, and some aren’t even made out of flour!
It shouldn’t surprise you to know that most pasta noodles are made without eggs.
But what might surprise you, is that those aren’t the only noodles available!
Take a look at the collage below, and think about expanding your horizons on your next pasta night.
Starting in the top left-hand corner, moving clockwise:
Unico Farfalle
No Name Rotini
Ital Pasta Scoobi Do
Rizopia Brown Rice Pasta
Tinkyada* Rice Pasta Vegetable Spirals
President’s Choice Fusilli
Chickapea Pasta Shells
Maria’s Homestyle Chickpea Radiatore
Mr. Noodles Vegetable
Mr. Noodles Mushroom
Don Don Japanese Style Udon
Catelli Spinach Lasagne
De Cecco Spaghetti
T&T Buckwheat Soba
Young & Young 3 Minute Chow Mein
Young & Young Rice Vermicelli
Rooster Kongmoon Rice Stick Vermicelli
Rooster Thin Rice Noodles
*Tinkyada is a local (Scarborough) made, 100% vegan rice pasta brand!
Unico, No Name, Ital Pasta, Catelli, PC and De Cecco have many different shapes of pasta that are suitable for vegans. If I had filled the collage with every shape they had available, it would’ve been way too big! So instead, I decided to pick 1 shape from each brand to represent what they offer.
Most brands that I’ve found tend to stick with one way to make their noodles. So if you find one shape that doesn’t contain egg (or milk?), chances are good their other shapes won’t.
Some of these brands are also specifically Canadian, so I’m not sure if they’re available in other countries.
Important Note:Aside from Decembers’ product review, and the End of Year post, this is the last article for 2020!
I’m going to be taking the last half of December, and the first half of January off, so I will be back with a short story Jan. 15th, meaning the first post will go up the following Monday. (Jan. 17th)
Keep an eye on my social media for the announcement or if anything changes. (Or if you just want to say ‘hey’)
This article was written 20.06.23, when COVID-19 lock down restrictions were just beginning to ease in Toronto/Canada. Please excuse any joke, comment, etc. that is no longer applicable.
With the end of the year fast approaching, and the holidays coming up, I figured now would be the perfect time to do the next Surprising Vegan post.
Whether you’re hosting a circle-of-10 approved party, or want to eat a box while you sit alone watching holiday movies, the below list of surprising vegan cookies – along with the candy and chocolate collages – you now have the snack trifecta of perfect vegan approved stocking stuffers.
Starting from the top left corner, and going clockwise:
Original Oreo
Golden Oreo
Birthday Cake Oreo (Red 40, Yellow 5+6, Blue 1)
Chocolate Creme Oreo
Dark Chocolate Oreo
Chocolate and Peanut Butter Pie Oreo
Mint Oreo (Yellow 5, Blue 1)
Double Stuffed Original Oreo
Double Stuffed Golden Oreo
Original Thins Oreo
Golden Thins Oreo
Oreo Mini Originals
Dad’s Original Oatmeal
Dad’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip
Dad’s Oatmeal Raisin
Dad’s Chocolatey Coating Oatmeal
Pirate Cookies
Fudgee-O Original
Christie Maple Leaf Cookies
I was actually surprised that not more of the Oreo flavours used food dyes. This also isn’t a complete Oreo vegan-friendly list. There were some flavours I found that were only available in the US, and while they technically aren’t vegan in the US (due to bone char being used in sugar processing), I was also (only midly) surprised that some of the more… fun flavours – like Mega Stuffed and Heads or Tails – were US only.
As always, the following are based on the Canadian ingredients I could find. I was also quite disappointed to learn that Mondelez International owned the Dad’s and Oreo brands, which made finding the ingredients much harder than it needed to be. I ended up having to e-mail them, only to get a generic ‘check the package’ answer.
The way their websites are set up is just not user friendly. Every time I do one of these collages and I see that they’re the parent company of a brand, I just know it’s going to be a headache to deal with. You’d think if they didn’t want to take the time to answer e-mails with ingredient questions, they would put it in part of their FAQ or make it readily available on their website, but alas…
Anyway, due to their less-than-helpful response, I had to rely on grocery store ingredients for the above, instead of the actual companies ingredients. This means that the ingredients I found may be wrong, or may change, and I recommend checking the ingredients each time you buy a product, along with checking for your specific country.
Like this article? Check out the rest of the series here!
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This article was written 20.05.06, please excuse any reference/comment made about the corona virus lock down that is no longer relevant.
Just because we’re still stuck inside, doesn’t mean you can’t buy yourself some treats. And what to treat yourself with during these hot summer days than something refreshing and on a stick?
That’s right, I’m talking about surprising vegan treats.
Now, I know over the last few years there’s been a whole whack of vegan ice creams coming out from various companies, but, sometimes you don’t want ice cream, or you may not be able to find them where you are. Then what are you supposed to do? Sit in the corner and cry?
No!
You can head on over to your local store website (since y’know, we can’t exactly peruse in person), and check them out to see if they have any of the (much easier to find) products below.
Starting in the top left-corner, going clockwise:
Chapman’s Lolly Fruity
Chapman’s Banana Lolly*
Chapman’s Orange, Grape, Cherry and Fruit Punch Lolly
Chapman’s Soda Pop Lolly*
Chapman’s Triple Treat Lolly
Chapman’s Fruit Juice Twist Twister
Chapman’s Fruit Twist Twisters*
Chapman’s Stacked and Twisted Twister*
Chapman’s Mango Sorbet*
Chapman’s Rainbow Sorbet*
Kisko’s Mr. Freeze Jumbo Freezies
Kikso’s Welch’s Lemonade Freezies
Kikso’s Electro-Ice Sport Freezies
Kikso’s Tropics Freezies
Chapman’s Tropical Wave Sorbet
Chapman’s Triple Berry Sorbet
Popsicle Orange, Cherry, Grape Pops
Popsicle Tropical Paradise Pops*
Popsicle Firecracker Pops*
Popsicle Cyclone*
Maynard’s Fuzzy Peach Ice Pops*
Kikso’s Kids Sour Freezies*
There are also a few other treats that are vegan that I wasn’t able to find good pictures of. So, the other products I found that aren’t included in the above picture are:
Kisko’s Crush Giant Freezies
Kisko’s Welch’s Premium Juice Bars
Popsicle Jelly Belly
*As I said in my Surprising Vegan Candy (and a few other) posts in this series, the above items that are starred (*) are made with those food dyes that aren’t vegan.
I e-mailed Chapman’s and Popsicle to ask them about their products (Kisko actually says which select products use the food dyes on their website!), and the following is what I received as feedback:
The struggle is real! Check out this and some of my other vegan merch here!
Chapman’s
Their website says ‘Whenever possible natural flavours and colours are used in production, and will be identified on the package label.’ (This statement was found here) So I e-mailed to ask if that meant all the other products that don’t list ‘natural colour’ use the food dyes, and they replied simply ‘that is correct‘.
Popsicle
So, I don’t want to knock any brands, but since I’ve started doing this series and have had to e-mail out multiple companies, I’ve noticed that the ones I e-mail that just so happen to be owned by Unilever either never answer me, or never give me a real answer.
I sent both companies the exact same e-mail, listing the specific products I was asking about, the food dyes I was wondering about and started both of them off with ‘I checked the FAQ and ingredients listed on the website, and I still had some questions.’
Anyway, this was Popsicle’s official answer: Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us at Popsicle.
All of the ingredients for out products are available on our website popsicle.ca. Just select the product you are interested in and click on the nutritional values, and you will scroll down and there is where you will find the ingredients. We hope this helps.
I did e-mail them back and restated I already checked the website and wasn’t able to find the answer to my question, but I have yet to receive an answer. (If I receive a real answer, I’ll update this article)
So there you go! Who says ice cream is the only frozen treat you can enjoy in the summer?
Last year, I did Surprising Vegan Soups, and since it’s starting to get cold again, I figured what better compliment than to do a crackers addition? We wouldn’t want your soup to get lonely, would we?
Listed from the top-left corner going clockwise:
Triscuits Original
Triscuits Hint of Salt
Triscuits Reduced Fat
Triscuits Sea Salt and Black Pepper
Triscuits Roasted Red Pepper
Triscuits Rosemary and Olive Oil
Triscuits Wasabi and Soy Sauce
Triscuits Organic Original
Triscuits Cranberry and Sage
Triscuits Sriracha
Triscuits Fire Roasted Tomato and Olive Oil
Triscuits Cracked Pepper and Olive Oil
Triscuits Dill, Sea Salt and Olive Oil
Triscuits Olive
Triscuits Garden Herb
Triscuits Balsamic Vinegar and Basil
Triscuits Ginger and Lemongrass
Triscuits Thin Crisps Cinnamon
Vegetable Thins
Premium Plus Unsalted Tops
Premium Plus Salted Tops
Premium Plus Whole Wheat
Crispers All Dressed
Crispers BBQ
Crispers Salt and Vinegar
Ritz Original
Ritz Whole Wheat
There were a few cracker brands I never heard back from in regards to certain ambiguous ingredients (a favourite seemed to be ‘flavour’ with no further explanation) so I obviously didn’t include those as I wasn’t 100% certain.
You may be surprised to see Crispers listed here, and I would’ve been too. When I was doing the Surprising Vegan Chips collage, I was going to add them, but I found out their official definition was: Crispers crackers are packed with intense flavour and a satisfying crunch! They’re baked, not fried, making Crispers a great snack alternative. (Also, apparently they’re only available in Canada)
As always, these are all vegan as of Canadian ingredients – if you’re in a different country, please do your own research and check the ingredients for your own region as sometimes they change.
In the spirit of Halloween, I thought I’d put out the next Surprising Vegan article. I know that you can eat chips all year round, but since I already did a Halloween candy post, and chocolate one, with the addition of chips, you can have the most rockin’ Halloween party snacks around.
No more sitting in the corner crying because there’s ‘no vegan food’ – with this series, carnists have zero excuses.
In order starting from the top left corner, clockwise:
Neal Brothers Easy Rounders
Neal Brothers New Classics
Neal Brothers Pure Pink
Neal Brothers Pure Pink and Vinegar
Neal Brothers Sweet and Smoky BBQ
Neal Brothers Maple Bacon Forever
Neal Brothers Srirachup
Neal Brothers Deep Blue
Neal Brothers Deep Blue Flax
Sun Chips Original
Late July Resturant Sea Salt
Late July Resturant Lime
Late July Purple Corn
Late July Chia and Quinoa
Late July Cantina Dippers Blue Corn
Late July Cantina Dippers White Corn
Late July Sweet Potato
Late July Sea Salt
Late July Red Hot Mojo
Late July Sublime
Late July Bacon Habenero
Late July Jalapeno Lime
Late July Sriracha Fresca
Late July Blues
Late July Crispy Yellow Corn
Lays Oven Baked Original
Lays Salt and Vinegar (Blue Bag)
Lays Classic*
Doritos Ketchup
Doritos Sweet Chili Heat
Old Dutch Ketchup
Old Dutch Original
Ruffles All Dressed
Ruffles Original
Tostitos Multigrain
Tostitos Restaurant Style
Tostitos Scoops
Tostitos Rounds
Sensible Portions Garden Veggie Veggie Chips
Pringles Ketchup
Pringles Original
*Lays Classic is made with pork enzymes in the US, making them not vegan. However, in Canada they don’t, so they’re safe to consume. Check out the US listhere (at the time of writing, I’ve only been able to find a Canadian and US list, I’d suggest contacting the company for other specific countries)
This list (as well as this series) is always for Canadian ingredients – ingredients may differ (and therefore products may or may not be vegan) in differing countries. Please do your own research and look up the ingredients for specified foods for your own country.
This list also doesn’t mention all the marketed-as-vegan chips (like the Que Pasa Nacho chips – I recommend these btw, they’re so good!) as this is the Surprising Vegan series. If you Google ‘vegan ____’ tons of different options come up, but the point of this series is to find non-vegan-marketed foods that are safe for vegans to eat.
There are many instances where known vegan food might not be available, so it’s always great to have a list of foods that you know you can eat that may be easier/cheaper to find.
Check out the rest of the Surprising Vegan series here!
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One thing I’ve learned since beginning this series is that there are a lot of websites that don’t list the ingredients in their products, and a lot of companies who aren’t willing to give out this information – even when you let them know you’re writing an article. (Apposed to trying to steal their recipe)
Many sites don’t even list allergens, which, I didn’t even know was allowed.
Anyway, that’s why on this Surprising Vegan list, there are companies listed that make labelled vegan chocolate.
I was also surprised to learn about just how many companies are making vegan friendly chocolate! I didn’t think I was going to discover so many!
Starting in the bottom left corner going counter-clockwise:
Endangered Species Panther
Endangered Species Grizzly
Endangered Species Elephant
Endangered Species Owl
Endangered Species Chimp
Endangered Species Tiger
Endangered Species Tamarin
Endangered Species Bat
Endangered Species Puffin
Endangered Species Rainforest
Endangered Species Wolf
Endangered Species Turtle
Endangered Species Penguin
Endangered Species Ram
Pure Lovin’Denman Island Cocomilk Cherry Cashew
Pure Lovin’ OrganicFair Coco-Milk
Pure Lovin’ Roasted Nut Medley
Pure Lovin’ Almond and Wild Blueberry
Pure Lovin’ 71% Dark
Alter Eco Seal Salt
Alter Eco Salted Almonds
Alter Eco Quinoa Crunch
Alter Eco Crisp Mint
Alter Eco Blackout
Alter Eco Super Blackout
Lindt Excellence 70%
Lindt Excellence 85%
Lindt Excellence 90%
Lindt Excellence 99%
iChoc Classic
iChoc White Vanilla
iChoc White Nougat
iChoc Choco Cookie
iChoc Super Nut
iChoc Almond Orange
Pure Lovin’ Zazubean Sassy Pomegranate and Hazelnut
Pure Lovin’ Zimt Coconut Crisp Bar (Raw)
Pure Lovin’ Zimt Nib’d Bar – (Raw)
Pure Lovin’ OrganicFair Midnight
I was so pleased to learn how many vegan chocolates there are out there. Endangered Species makes a whole vegan-friendly line, and each purchase goes toward helping endangered species of animals (hence the name), Pure Lovin’ is a completely (Canadian!) vegan company, making much more then just bars (they also have vegan chocolate cremes, and chocolate solid dinosaurs!),and Alter Eco also has an entire vegan line of chocolate.
I discovered two other completely vegan chocolate companies: Pascha and Giddy Yo-Yo.
And, Guylian chocolates has some vegan chocolates as well.
I didn’t include Pascha and Giddy Yo-Yo in the list above because they’re 100% vegan companies, and these Surprising Vegan lists are supposed to be foods found from non-vegan retailers. I also didn’t include Guylian because their products aren’t available in Canada/US.
There you have it, my list of Surprising Vegan chocolates. If you have any surprising vegan chocolates I missed, or have an idea for another Surprising Vegan food list I can do, feel free to leave it in a comment below!
Like the Surprising Vegan articles? Check out the rest of the series here!
Liking the site? Consider signing up for my Patreon, so I can continue bringing you the content you love!
Sorry this post took so long, but I was having… technical difficulties waiting for companies to reply to e-mails. (If you follow me on Twitter, you know what I’m talking about)
Anyway, that’s also why I listed Amy’s Kitchen, because even though they’re marketed as being vegan (and are therefore not really ‘surprising’) I had to include them due to the lack of response from other companies about their products. I may or may not update this post with the new products once I hear back.
Winter is coming!
And what better way to prepare yourself for the upcoming -40 blizzard weather then with some pre-made soup?
Answer: There isn’t. Except for maybe also stocking up on some hot chocolate.
That’s why I’ve decided to make this Surprising Vegan Soup Collage, so that your shopping trips are that least bit less irritating. I know I don’t like coming in from outside, freezing cold, and then get sweaty standing in the aisles of stores because you’re reading ingredients on products.
Also, with the holidays coming up, you’ll want to save as much of your stomach room as possible for the festivities. These soups aren’t too filling, inexpensive and last a while on your shelf. (So you can have them stocked for that mid-January holiday burnout)
From the top left-hand corner, the soups in this collage are:
Habitant Garden Style Vegetable
No Name Rich and Chunky Vegetable with Pasta
No Name Tomato
No Name Vegetable Broth
Lipton Cup-A-Soup Spring Vegetable
Presidents Choice Hearty Vegetable and Navy Bean
Amy’s Kitchen Light In Sodium Minestrone
Amy’s Kitchen Light In Sodium Lentil and Vegetable
Amy’s Kitchen Split Pea Soup
Amy’s Kitchen Fire Roasted Southwestern Vegetable
Amy’s Kitchen Chicken Noodle
Amy’s Kitchen Black Bean Vegetable
Amy’s Kitchen Minestrone
Amy’s Kitchen Vegetable Barley
Amy’s Kitchen Lentil Vegetable
Amy’s Kitchen Alphabet
Amy’s Light In Sodium Split Pea
Amy’s Light In Sodium Lentil Soup
Campbell’s Soup at Hand Garden Tomato
Mr. Noodles Mushroom
Mr. Noodles Vegetable
Knorr’s Vegetable Bouillon Cube
Compliments Vegetable Instant Noodles
**As always, these products being vegan is specific to Canada. Ingredients may differ from country to country.**
In my research, I also discovered that Campbell’s has a line of soups called Well Yes! (US only). The ones that are vegan from that list are:
Campbell’s Well Yes! Harvest Carrot and Ginger Sipping
Campbell’s Well Yes! Lightly Salted Santa Fe Vegetable
Campbell’s Well Yes! Red Bean and Vegetable
Campbell’s Well Yes! Chickpea and Roasted Red Pepper
Campbell’s Well Yes! Italian Vegetables with Farro
Campbell’s Well Yes! Hearty Lentil with Vegetables
And there you have it! 23 soups you might not of known were vegan – completely by accident! You should be able to find these in any ‘regular’ grocery store. (I believe No Name might be a Canada-only brand)
Have an idea of a Surprising Vegan food group I should tackle? Leave it in a comment below!
A great night where kids get to dress up, explore the neighbourhood, and get free candy. Sadly, this night only comes once a year, so you’ve gotta make it count.
If you’re newly vegan, you might be wondering, ‘what are the chances my kid (or yourself) will be able to eat any typical Halloween candy?’ Well, check out the collage below and you’ll see, it’s more then you think. There are plenty of products that are ‘accidentally’ vegan by nature, even though they’re not advertised as such.
Starting in the top left corner, going clockwise:
Ruffles Original
Ruffle’s All Dressed
Pringles Original
Airheads (Red 40, Blue 1, Yellows 5+6)
Pringles Ketchup
Old Dutch Ketchup
Old Dutch Original
Twizzlers
Pull N Peel
Super Nibs
Jujubes (Red 40, Blue 1 and Yellows 5&6)
Hickory Sticks
Sweet Chili Heat Doritos
Sun Chips Original
Lays Oven Baked
Lays Salt N Vinegar
Lays Classic*
Mini Oreos
Rockets (In the US, called Smarties)
Swedish Fish (Red 40, Yellow 5&6, and Blue 1)
Jolly Ranchers (Red 40, Blue 1 and Yellows 5&6)
Gobstoppers (Carmine Colour, Blue 1&2, Red 40, Yellow 5&6)
*Lays Classic is made with pork enzymes in the US, making them not vegan. However, in Canada they don’t, so they’re safe to consume. Check out the US list here (at the time of writing, I’ve only been able to find a Canadian and US list, I’d suggest contacting the company for other specific countries)
As explained in my Candy collage, I’ve listed the food dyes next to certain candies because these food dyes aren’t vegan. It’s a choice you need to make for yourself – where is the line for you? Remember, no Vegan Police are going to show up at your house if you ingest something that has animal by/products in it.
The only downside to this is that pretty much all the chocolate has milk in it. 🙁 You’ll most likely have to buy a vegan brand of chocolate if you want that on Halloween night. I’d suggest Go Max Go they make some great chocolate! I’d also advise not handing vegan-specific chocolates out to Trick Or Treaters, unless you’ve got a money tree in your backyard.
Check out the rest of the Surprising Vegan series here!
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The holidays are fast approaching and that means one thing: Parties.
If you’re vegan, the holidays are hard enough: dealing with family members asking questions, ‘joking’ about veganism with you, and let’s not forget the giant, dead sentient being in the middle of the table. While I’m not saying alcohol is the answer, you can’t deny having a drink might make the holidays that much more bearable.
Or, perhaps, you’re hosting a party, and know a vegan is coming, and want them to at least have some sort of drink option other then water. (And are freaking out because you don’t know what to look for)
Whatever the reason you’re here, you can rest easy knowing the below are vegan-friendly (even though they don’t say on the bottle).
Here is a list of the alcohol pictured, starting in the top left corner and continuing clockwise:
Smirnoff Ice
Guinness Original*
Guinness Draught
Guinness Extra Stout
Guinness Foreign Stout
Mill Street Lager
Mike’s Hard Lemonade**
Stella Artois
Stella 4%
Blackfly Grape***
Blackfly Sour Cherry
Blackfly Orange
Jaw Drop Gushing Grapes****
Jaw Drop Puckering Punch
Jaw Drop Sucking Lemons
Jaw Drop Tickling Pink
Jaw Drop Licking Limes
Jaw Drop Flashing Peaches
Jaw Drop Squirting Oranges
Smirnoff Ice Raspberry
Smirnoff Ice Green Apple
Bailey’s Almande
Corona
Absolut Vodka*****
As you can see from the above list, there are many different types of alcohol that vegans can drink, even if they’re not marketed as ‘vegan’. Hopefully, this list helps you out with your future holiday planning, and if you’re a vegan going to a party and you’re not sure if there will be drinks you can have, keep your eye out for one of the above.
Have a drink that’s not on this list you’re wondering might be vegan? Check out Barnivore.com for a more complete list of vegan alcohol. The cool thing about them, is they don’t only tell you what’s vegan, they also tell you what’s not.
Check out the rest of the Surprising Vegan series here!
*From Guinness’ FAQs: Yes, it is (vegan) from the keg format for now. Our new filtration process has removed the use of isinglass as a means of filtration and vegans can now enjoy a pint of Guinness.
All Guinness Draught in keg format is brewed without using isinglass. Full distribution of bottle and can formats will be in place by the end of 2017, so until then, our advice to vegans is to consume the product from the keg format only for now.
**Mike’s Hard Lemonade LITE contains honey
***All Blackfly flavours are vegan! I e-mailed the company and was very pleased to hear the news. The flavours pictured are the only ones I’ve been able to find (in Canada)
****All Jaw Drop flavours are also vegan! As said in this tweet, straight from the company. The flavours pictured are (again), the only ones I’ve found
*****A note onBarnivore from 2014 says the owner of Absolut is a ‘major funder of bullfighting’ (No update as of posting)
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