Survey 100 random people on the street and you'd be hard pressed to find someone that doesn't love chocolate. There's something about the rich, deep and earthy flavor that makes people react to the stuff as if it were catnip for humans. Despite popular misconceptions, being vegan does not mean that you have to give up chocolate.

Unfortunately, many of the big chocolate brands that might find on the supermarket checkout line are going to contain things like milk or milk derivatives. In an effort to save money, bigger companies will dilute the delectable flavor of cacao with cheap ingredients, even on their dark chocolate products. If you're thinking about giving the vegan lifestyle a try this is something to get excited about. Avoiding milk chocolate and cheap chocolate is going to give you a reason to explore all that the cocoa (or cacao) bean has to offer by trying some high quality chocolate brands.

What is Chocolate Exactly?

Believe it or not, chocolate originates from a bean called a cocoa or cacao bean. It mainly grows in tropical locations. The bean itself grows pods and like other beans are the seeds of the tree. The beans are surrounded by a pulp type material and the seeds are scooped out during the harvest.

Once the beans are harvested, they are sent into several different streams of production, creating the products that we know and love today. Whether they are chopped up to make cacao nibs, made into a powder, or a liquid - it all still originates from that same bean!​ (1)

You may have noticed that nothing about the bean itself involves animal products. This means that chocolate in its purest form is vegan!

How Do I Know if My Chocolate is Vegan?

The most common non-vegan in ingredient added to chocolate is milk or milk products. The majority of the time, the ingredient statement will state "CONTAINS: MILK" at the bottom. This is not because the companies are trying to warn vegans about milk, but rather because milk is a major allergen (2). Therefore, companies will make it pretty clear that their product has milk in order to make sure people that are allergic don't have a bad reaction. Even if the product has a milk derived ingredient in it such as casein, the label will most likely still have an allergen warning.

However, we have seen some exceptions to this rule, so we do recommend just giving a quick read through the ingredient statement of the bar you're trying to buy and looking for: milk, milkfat, and casein.

The Best Vegan Chocolate Bars Brands

Green and Black's Chocolate

Known for being one of the highest quality chocolates available, it is no surprise that Green and Black offers traditional dark chocolate options with no milk. They do offer a wide range of milk containing chocolates as well, so just be careful and be sure to check all of the labels. From what we can find, the vegan offerings they have are the following:

Below we have linked the Classic 70% Dark Chocolate for your eating pleasure:

Pascha Organic Dark Chocolate

Pascha is unique because its claim to fame is that its made in an allergen free facility. This means there's no risk of traces of peanuts, nuts, dairy, soy, eggs, wheat, and gluten. Food allergy sufferers rejoice! They keep their ingredient list super simple which allows the sacred cocoa bean to perform at its best. They manufacture a few flavors and cocoa percentages, but from what we can see, they are all allergen free. In addition, they've gone so far as to get Vegan Certified (7)!

They're even coming out with a "milk chocolate" made creamy with rice milk! This is truly a great brand to support as a vegan.

We've linked the 85% dark chocolate below so be sure to check it out. Some of the other vegan varieties they manufacture are:​

Trader Joe's 72% Dark Chocolate

One of our absolute favorite chocolate bars - Trader Joe's 72% Dark Chocolate is one that you can't miss out on! It's got a simple ingredient list and a taste and texture that's to die for. They've pretty much perfected the dark chocolate bar! To make things even better, they sell a variety with almonds as well.

We've linked the original 72% Pound Plus bar below for you to check out online, but also keep in eye out for the 72% with almonds!

Lindt Dark Chocolate

Although not all the products that they make are vegan, Lindt does have a few vegan options which includes some of their super dark chocolate. From what we've seen, Lindt's plain dark chocolate bars that are labeled for a cocoa percentage - say 70% cocoa are above -  don't have any milk products in them. However, when you see a package that's not labeled with a percentage, even if it says dark, there's a good chance that it is not vegan. We recommend double checking for milk or milkfat just to be sure, though. Here are a list of the different vegan dark chocolate bars that they offer:

The rule above does not apply to Lindt's truffles.​ Their 60% dark chocolate truffle still had milk in it, most likely from the filling in the middle. 

Taza Chocolate

When it comes to simplicity, Taza Chocolate takes the cake. Their Wicked Dark chocolate bar is 95% cocoa and is made using Mexican stone mills. This gives the chocolate a bit more grit making it closer to the the true authenticity of the cocoa bean itself (7).

When it comes to tradition and simplicity, this brand takes the cake (besides for just the regular cacao nibs of course). Their Wicked Dark bar is made of just two ingredients: Cocoa Beans and Cane Sugar.​ If you're used to eating Hershey bars, this is going to be a big leap, but high quality dark chocolate is a lot like wine in that there are a wide range of complex flavor notes to appreciate.

Diving a bit deeper into Taza's product line, we were very pleased to see that many if not all of their products were vegan including their peanut butter truffles! They manufacture a variety of bars, barks, discs, and other things that would make any chocolate lover drool.

We've linked their​ Wicked Dark chocolate bar below for you to check out!

Alter Eco

For vegans who like their chocolate bars with added flavor elements, Alter Eco has a lot of great options (8). Unfortunately, not all of their products are vegan, but there are a lot of unique flavors and great options that we haven't seen before. Some of the most delicious vegans options we saw from Alter Eco were:

Choc Zero Ultimate Dark Chocolate

Choc Zero is an interesting vegan dark chocolate option because they don't actually sweeten it with sugar. They use monk fruit extract as as sweetener and also add some fiber in an attempt to give it some more nutritional value. The lack of sugar gives it a low caloric profile, ideal if you're trying to trim off additional calories. Unfortunately, not all of their products are vegan, so be sure to check the ingredient statements. The one we linked below is, though so be sure to check it out!

Stivii Vegan Dark Chocolate

Unlike traditional dark chocolate which is sweetened with sugar, Stivii is a brand that has chosen to sweeten their coffee with Stevia to appeal to people that don't want to consume sugar. As a result, their original chocolate bar contains less than 1 gram of sugar. Their fruit flavored varieties are still quite low in sugar, but have up to 4 grams per serving from what we've seen. This may not be the best fit for you if you're sensitive to stevia (which some people seem to be), but many people love it and its a great option for diabetics! Their flavors include:

Trying one of their fruit flavored ones (linked below) may be the best option if you're not too keen on stevia. This is because real sugar and stevia when combine take on a whole different flavor profile than just stevia on its own.

Endangered Species Chocolate

Endangers species makes some really rich dark chocolate varieties and most of them are vegan certified. In addition, they claim to donate 10% of their net profits to protect wildlife (6). While we can't vouch for the effectiveness of their program, we can let you know which of their chocolate varieties are vegan:

Check out the link below to check out one of their vegan offerings online!

The Best Vegan Chocolate Chip Brands

When it comes to vegan chocolate chips, things can be split up into two categories: classic chocolate chips and cacao nibs. Classic chocolate chips are probably what you're most familiar with. Cacao nibs are chopped up chunks of the unsweetened bean itself which actually have an entire different flavor and texture profile. Both definitely have their place in the kitchen!

Classic Chocolate Chips

Enjoy Life

A quick perusal through your grocery store's baking aisle and you'll quickly discover that most of the chocolate chips there aren't vegan - except one. One brand called Enjoy Life is taking the market by storm and can be found in most grocery stores in the US. Their chocolate chip products are not only vegan, but also nut free and soy free. They're manufactured in a bunch of different sizes including mini chips and large chunks. If you're interested in buying them online, please do check the link below. If you want to see if they're in a store near you - check out Enjoy Life's Store Locator.

Lily's Dark Chocolate Chips

If you're looking to have tighter control over your macronutrient intake, Lily's Dark Chocolate Chips are also a vegan option that's sweetened with stevia. This means it doesn't have any added sugar and thus packs a smaller caloric punch. Some people are sensitive to the taste of stevia, but these are definitely worth a try! If you put them into something that's already otherwise sweetened, such as cookies or vegan ice cream, you're unlikely to notice a difference. In addition, the company also supports cancer research which you can learn more about on their website.

To learn more about buying Lily's Chocolate Chips online, check out the link below!

Kirkland's Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Perhaps by accident, the Costco generic brand: Kirkland is also vegan! As with all Costco products, they come in a huge bag as well so you're sure to never run out. Putting them in the freezer or fridge will ensure that they stay good for a long time as well! From a taste perspective, they're very similar to the Enjoy Life chips from our experience!

Note: there have been rumors that this product has been discontinued, but as of July 2017 its still available on Amazon (linked below). Be sure to check the ingredient statement in case it has changed or been reformulated. 

Cacao Nibs

You'll probably notice that there are a bunch of cacao nib brands out there. From our experience, they are all pretty similar. We like to buy them at least by the pound that way we get the best bang for our buck. Health food stores and even grocery stores often overprice their cacao nibs, which is why we like to shop online for them. TruVibe (linked below) makes some great nibs, but again they are all pretty much the same. The only exception we've found is that there are some sweetened brands of nibs, however at that point we'd rather just go for the regular chips!

Other FAQs About Vegan Chocolate

Is Dark Chocolate Vegan?

Dark chocolate can be vegan, but it isn't all of the time.  For example, Hershey's Semi-Sweet Dark Chocolate bar still has Milk Fat in it (3). However, most of the higher end brands dark chocolate will be vegan, especially if the packages read 70% cacao or above. We recommend checking the ingredient statement and looking for the "CONTAINS: MILK "warning. If you don't see it, odds are it is vegan friendly!

Is Milk Chocolate Vegan?

Most milk chocolate won't be vegan, but we did find a brand that uses rice milk!

Is Lindt Dark Chocolate Vegan?

Yes! Many of the Lindt dark chocolate bars we found were vegan. To see our list of the best Lindt vegan chocolate bars, check out the top section of this page.

Is Dove Dark Chocolate Vegan?

We were disappointed to find that all of the Dove Dark Chocolate Bars that we researched were not vegan. According to their website (5), all of their dark chocolate bars contain milk fat.  In addition, from what we could see most of them contained sugar as a first ingredient which means that they aren't that dark to begin with.

There are plenty of other vegan brands available, though! Check out our list above.

Is Vegan Chocolate Healthy?

Deciding whether or not something is healthy can be a bit nuanced. Chocolate in its purest form, much like any other whole plant based food, chocolate is high in antioxidants which are beneficial for combating inflammation which is very important for optimal function. When consuming chocolate bars, candies or chips which have added sugar and fat the positive impacts of the cacao bean become more dubious.

To learn more about healthy eating, we highly recommend checking out NutritionFacts.org. Their work on chocolate has been summarized on this page (4).

Should I Be Concerned About Shared Equipment as a Vegan?

From an ethical standpoint, there's no reason to be concerned about shared equipment. In fact, it may even be beneficial for veganism as the companies that make the chocolate see the demand for their non-dairy varieties increasing which will prompt them to come out with more! 

If you have a dairy allergy, this is obviously a different matter. We recommend consulting your doctor for that one as it depends on how sensitive you are and how severe your allergy is.​

Sources

1. https://www.candyusa.com/story-of-chocolate/what-is-chocolate/

2. https://www.foodallergy.org/allergens​

3. http://www.fooducate.com/app#!page=product&id=6178A786-E108-11DF-A102-FEFD45A4D471

4. https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/chocolate/​

5. http://dovechocolate.com/nutrition/listing/36#Dove​

6. http://www.chocolatebar.com/?page_id=18​

7. https://www.tazachocolate.com/pages/our-process​

8. http://www.alterecofoods.com/​

​Most of the time, unless it contains gelatin, gum is vegan. As with anything with sugars, flavors, and long ingredient lists, there runs the risk of animal products being somewhere in the supply chain, but that doesn't mean that buying a pack of gum off the shelves (without gelatin) isn't considered vegan. We've documented all the considerations about chewing gum as a vegan below (including brands and products).

Vegan Gum Brands

If you're at the supermarket checkout or in the convenience store, you may be wondering which gum brands are vegan and which ones aren't. From out research, it comes down to two ingredients: gelatin and glycerin. Gelatin is never appropriate for vegans to pick up, but glycerin is a bit more nuanced. From our research, most glycerin in foods is indeed derived from plants, but there's the always chance that it won't be. 

We hold the position that veganism isn't about personal perfection or being completely pure, but about reducing the most practically possible amount of animal suffering and death. If you're in a rush at the store or if your favorite gum contains glycerin, you don't have to feel bad about it. Even worse, you should never make someone who is not already vegan guilty about consuming these types of potentially harmful trace ingredients as it is liable to make them less likely to consider veganism as a lifestyle due to their perception of increased complexity.

With our little disclaimer out of the way, our best vegan gum brand list is as follows:

PUR Gum

Advertised as being 100% vegan, PUR gum is an excellent option for the vegan who wants to avoid artificial sweeteners including Aspartame which is found in most of the big gums. It's also free of many of the major allergens including: gluten, soy, nuts and peanuts.

PUR makes a wide range of flavors including:

Even though it doesn't have an aspartame, that doesn't mean that it is unsweetened gum (yes, such a thing exists). Its sweetened with Xylitol which is a common ingredient in many dental health promoting gums. Xylitol is also diabetic friendly (1).

Tree Hugger Gum

For vegans looking for a bubble gum fix, we've got you covered! Tree Hugger makes 100% vegan gum and has a lot of different flavors compared to the other gums that we've listed. The two flavors that we found that they manufacture are:

It is also important to note that they recently took beeswax out of their gum.

These gums don't have any artificial colors or flavors, ​but this means that they contain real sugar in some form or fashion. Probably not enough real sugar to warranty any health concerns for healthy individuals from a dietary perspective, but your dentist may not be too happy with you if you're chewing it all the time!

Neurogum Nootropic Gum

While we're always skeptical about supplement claims (and you should be too), we figured it might be worth listing this gum just because it looked interesting and because it is 100% vegan. 

If you've never heard of a Nootropic before, its the latest trend in the supplement world that's designed to improve brain function. As with all supplements of this nature that promise to improve performance, it's always good to be skeptical. However, this gum does have caffeine and many people can vouch for caffeine's performance enhancing properties. It's also got L-Theanine which has been reported by many to have excellent synergistic effects when combined with caffeine.

Again, we're not citing any studies on this one, so the jury is still out, but we thought it would be interesting to at least show people that this kind of gum exists.

Simply Gum

Known for their minimalist packaging you may have seen Simply Gum on the shelves at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, or even more traditional grocery stores. Being that they advertise as 100% vegan, you can rest assured that they go out of their way to source all plant derived ingredients, even if you're not sure what all of them are!

The packaging is pretty unique as the gum doesn't come individually wrapped, it's all together inside the box. There is then a separate compartment for "post chew wraps" so that you can put your chewed gum in a wrapper rather than sticking it under the table (don't do this)! The other thing that's pretty cool about Simply Gum is that they have some pretty unique flavors such as:​

Spry Gum

Although marketed as an oral health gum, Spry gum is also a great options for vegans who are looking for gum with a simple ingredient statement. The company specifically points out that their glycerin is plant based. It's great that they do this because glycerin does have the potential to be animal derived (more on this in the "Potential Non-Vegan Ingredients" section). Spry gum is manufactured in a variety of different flavors including:

As an added bonus, Spry gum is formulated to help with dry mouth and bad breath. Although we haven't tested it for these specific purposes, we can say that the gum chews and tastes pretty good and is a great alternative to aspartame based gum. 

Evaluating Vegan Status of Popular Bigger Gum Brands

For the big gum brands, we're working with the information that's currently available on their website. Many of the manufacturer's state that this is subject to change and advise consumers to check current packaging or call for any updates.

Also, most of the big brands and flavors that you see on the shelves are owned by Wrigley's. Wrigley's owns gum brands such as:

All of the nutritional information that we're analyzing below can be found on this page of their website.

It is also important to note that Skittles​ which are also owned by Wrigley, used to contain gelatin. As recent as 2010, gelatin was removed from the formulation. One can assume that this decision by the company indicates that they are moving away from animal based products in their gum and candies as the demand for cruelty free products grows.

They haven't done this for everything, though. All of the Altoid's flavors we found still contained gelatin.

Note: All of the products below contain artificial sweeteners. Covering their effects is complex out of the scope of this article, but we recommend checking out this video by NutritionFacts.org to begin your research process.

Orbit Gum

Based on the ingredient panels from their website we found that Orbit Gum did not have any animal ingredients. All of their gums that we looked at contained glycerol which is the same thing is glycerin. From our research, glycerin used in food products is usually plant derived (see FAQ). That being said, we would added orbit gum to our accidentally vegan list.

Here's what the ingredient statement looked like for their bubble gum:

Much like Orbit Gum, 5-Gum has a similar formulation. The only difference between the two is likely the branding, packaging, and presentation. Just like Orbit, glycerol is the only ingredient that would raise any red flags for us. The ingredient statement for their Ascent flavor is as follows:

SORBITOL, GUM BASE, GLYCEROL, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS; LESS THAN 2% OF: HYDROGENATED STARCH HYDROLYSATE, ASPARTAME, MANNITOL, ACESULFAME K, SOY LECITHIN, BHT (TO MAINTAIN FRESHNESS).

Big Red

Big Red actually contained some real sweeteners as well as some artificial ones. That means that it contains sugar, another "controversial" vegan ingredient that we advise not stressing too heavily over (see the linked article for more information). We didn't see any gelatin in Big Red, so we're also adding it to our accidentally vegan list. It had the following ingredient statement:

SUGAR, GUM BASE, CORN SYRUP, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS; LESS THAN 2% OF: GLYCEROL, ASPARTAME-ACESULFAME, GUM ARABIC, SOY LECITHIN, MANNITOL, HYDROXULATED SOY LECITHIN, ACESULFAME K, COLORS (RED 40 LAKE, BLUE 1 LAKE), SUCRALOSE, BHT (TO MAINTAIN FRESHNESS).

Doublemint

Just like Big Red, Doublemint isn't a sugarless gum. It has a combination of sugar and artificial sweeteners, but again no gelatin.

SUGAR, GUM BASE, DEXTROSE, CORN SYRUP, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS; LESS THAN 2% OF GLYCEROL, ASPARTAME, GUM ARABIC, SOY LECITHIN, ACESULFAME K, COLOR (TITANIUM DIOXIDE, BLUE 1 LAKE, BETA-CAROTENE), BHT (TO MAINTAIN FRESHNESS).​

Eclipse Gum

Heres what their Peppermint ingredient statement looks like:

MALTITOL, SORBITOL, GUM BASE, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, ACACIA; LESS THAN 2% OF: MANNITOL,, GLYCEROL, ASPARTAME, SOY LECITHIN, COLOR (TITANIUM DIOXIDE), ACESULFAME K, CARNAUBA WAX, BHT (TO MAINTAIN FRESHNESS).

Extra

Nothing new to talk about for Extra. No gelatin to be found. We weren't sure about Extra Fruit Sensations because the ingredient statement wasn't available. Here's what their Mixed Berry ingredient statement looks like:

SORBITOL, GUM BASE, GLYCEROL; LESS THAN 2% OF: NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, HYDROGENATED STARCH HYDROLYSATE, CITRIC ACID, MALIC ACID, ASPARTAME-ACESULFAME, SOY LECITHIN, MANNITOL, SUCRALOSE, COLORS (TITANIUM DIOXIDE, BLUE 2 LAKE, RED 40), ACESULFAME K, BHT (TO MAINTAIN FRESHNESS).​

Juicy Fruit

We were excited to see that Juicy Fruit's Sugar-Free Pellet Gum (ingredients below) didn't contain any gelatin! This was great news because pellet gums do have a greater likelihood to have it. This indicated to us that there's a chance gum companies are purposefully not including it in their products (or perhaps they've found a cheaper alternative).

MALTITOL, SORBITOL, GUM BASE, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, MANNITOL, ASPARTAME, COLOR (TITANIUM DIOXIDE), SOY LECITHIN, ACESULFAME K, CARNAUBA WAX, BHT (TO MAINTAIN FRESHNESS).​

To conclude our big gum brand analysis, we were hard-pressed to find any gums that had gelatin in them, so it seems like this is a dying practice. Mints and other confectioneries were another story so be sure to not assume that just because a brand makes gum without gelatin that their other products won't contain it.

Which Potential Non-Vegan Ingredients Can Be in Gum?

Note & Disclaimer on Trace Ingredients

As we state in much of our other content, we don't recommend worrying about trace ingredients, especially as a new vegan or one that is trying to convince others to try out the lifestyle. Making veganism seem overly complicated or nuanced can give people more excuses to not give it a fair shot. However, it is important to be educated about the food supply, but please consider this when trying to introduce he lifestyle to new people or even if its becoming too complicated for yourself.

Eliminating all specifically labeled animal products is the number one goal.

Gelatin

Out of this entire list - gelatin is going to be the number one red flag ingredient. This is because unlike the others, gelatin is always going to be 100% animal derived. Other ingredients on this list can have multiple sources and much like sugar, it is likely that manufacturers source a combination of animal-derived and vegan-friendly product.

Thankfully, gelatin is mainly only found in pellet gum according to the International Gum Chewing Association.​ It's also super easy to identify on a gum label. We didn't see gelatin on Juicy Fruit's Pellet Gum, though - so that's a good sign!

Glycerin or Glycerine

A common ingredient in chewing gums, glycerin has the potential to be animal derived. However, according to the Vegeterian Resource Group, most glycerin used in foods is plant derived. If the pack of gum you're looking at doesn't state that it has "plant derived glycerin", contacting the company is the only way to know, but you may want to consider not making it complicated for yourself and not worry about the "potential" for animal ingredients. See our "Note and Disclaimer on Trace Ingredients" below.

Note & Disclaimer on Trace Ingredients

As a concerned vegan, it may be disheartening to learn that there is the potential for animal contamination almost everywhere that you turn. Given the complex world that we live in, there is the potential for unethical practices in almost any product you would buy, whether they include animals or not. However, the goal of veganism doesn't have to be complicated.

By abstaining from all labeled animal products you are doing the world a great service.​ Any animal derived trace ingredients like those used in gum are likely a byproduct of the animal industry and not the major drivers of it. By not buying labeled animal products, all trace ingredients will likely go the way of plant based as animal based ingredients become more costly.

ANSWER: Yes! Polenta is typically just cornmeal and water making it 100% vegan. There are a few things to be aware of though. Often times polenta is cooked with butter (not vegan) and some recipes even call for cheese. However, this won't be an issue with most polenta products you buy as even the seasoned loaves don't have any animal products. Keep in mind, some spice blends added to polenta may contain parmesan cheese, but this was very rare from our research.

What Vegan Brands of Polenta Do you Recommend?

We've compiled a bunch of great vegan polenta options available online. Despite what you might think, most pre-formed polenta's don't actually need to be refrigerated and have quite a long shelf life. That being said, ordering polenta online is a good option if your grocery store doesn't carry it.

How to Find Polenta in Stores

If you want to pick up polenta on your next trip to the grocery store, it is most likely going to be a small section in the pasta aisle and the international aisle in some cases. You can also check the baking aisle to pick up the plain corn grits to make your own polenta patties in the comfort of your home.

What is Polenta Exactly?

Polenta can be purchased in primarily two different forms: as a flour or in a preformed log. Both are just corn grits with added spices and added water in the case of the log. The plain variety is the going to be the most popular as that is the traditional style that polenta is used in Italy. From our experience, the best way to serve polenta is to use the plain variety and use it to compliment the other ingredients such as fava beans.

What Kind of Polenta Might Not Be Vegan?

We've seen in some rare instances polentas that had spice blends that included parmesan cheese. We haven't seen this in the store, but rather in some off brands we found online. Most of the big brands in your supermarket are 100% vegan, but just be sure to keep an eye out for added cheese or bacon.

ANSWER:Although they contained gelatin up until 2009-2010, skittles can now be considered vegan as they don't have any animal products in the ingredients. This includes all of the flavors listed on the Wrigley's website (1). However, there is some controversy about skittles which we will cover in detail below.

What Are the Ingredients in Skittles?

According to the Wrigley website (checked June 2017) the Original Skittles have the following ingredient statement:

Sugar, Corn Syrup, Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil, less than 2% of: Citric Acid, Tapioca Dextrin, Modified Corn Starch, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Colors (Red 40 Lake, Titanium Dioxide, Red 40, Yellow 5 Lake, Yellow 5, Yellow 6 Lake, Yellow 6, Blue 2 Lake, Blue 1, Blue 1 Lake), Sodium Citrate, Carnauba Wax.​

There are also several other Skittles flavors, but the ingredient statements don't change all that much and there weren't any other controversial ingredients worth noting.

As you can see, there are no animal products, but several ones that are controversial within the vegan community. However, this does not mean that you should necessarily give up skittles without considering the entire picture. These controversial ingredients are:

Why is the Sugar in Skittles Controversial?

The sugar in any candy is controversial because some cane sugar in the supply chain is processed with bone char as a whitening agent. Whether or not this is the case with skittles is unclear. Many big candy  manufacturer's wouldn't even know themselves as they have a variety of sugar suppliers that they source from. Our position is that vegans should be focusing on giving up all labeled animal products first and foremost and encouraging those around them to do the same.

Learn more about sugar on our "Is Sugar Vegan?" article.

Why is the Palm Oil in Skittles Controversial?

It's not so much palm oil in itself that is controversial, but rather the practices of the palm oil industries. The ethics surrounding palm oil are not all that clear cut, but in a nutshell, clearing land for palm oil plantations is causing lots of deforestation and destroying the homes of orangutans. But what is the driving cause of deforestation?

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists the absolute biggest driver of deforestation is clearing forests for beef cattle pastures and soy being used for animal feed. If humanity was able to give up its addiction to animal products and abolish the animal agriculture industry, there would be a lot more room on the planet to produce palm oil in an ethical fashion instead of fighting over a shrinking amount of land resources. 

At the end of the day, your most important task as a vegan is to give up all labeled animal products. Taking on extra tasks such as the sourcing of single otherwise vegan products such as palm oil or sugar can actually be counterproductive to the vegan movement for the following reasons:

Should Vegans Still Eat Skittles? 

At the end of the day, it's up to the individual person on how far they want to take veganism. All ingredients (including whole plant foods) cause some sort of suffering, but the goal of veganism is to reduce the amount of animal suffering and death as possible.

We think that eliminating your consumption of labeled animal products (meat, eggs, dairy, fish, etc.) is going to have the most drastic impact on the animals and the planet. Ingredients like palm oil and sugar (although important) should be considered secondary, so don't worry about it if it makes veganism too hard to follow.

What is Seitan: Seitan, also known as "wheat meat" is a mock meat made from vital wheat gluten. It is increasingly popular among vegan, vegetarians, and meat eaters alike because when prepared correctly it is shockingly similar to the real meat. Depending on how it is prepared, it can take on a wide variety of different textures including shredded beef, turkey deli slices, burgers, and chunks for kebabs or stir fry.

Brief History of Seitan

Even though it may seem like the latest fad, Seitan has actually been around for a long time - perhaps even the 6th Century in China. The oldest reference we have to date is in a Chinese encylopedia dating back to the year 535. Seitan was popularized by Buddhists or anyone looking to abstain from meat during that time period. It started appearing in Western Cultures around the 1800s.

What is Vital Wheat Gluten?

Gluten is a form of protein found in the wheat plant. If you've tried any gluten free products, you may have found that it is more crumbly than products with gluten. This is because the vital wheat gluten is stripped out. 

Where Can I Buy Seitan?

If you're looking to try some seitan, you have two options: make it yourself or buy it already prepared. If you already live by a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, you're in luck because they are pretty much guaranteed to carry it. Whole Foods specifically tends to have a section specific to meat substitutes or replacers which is totally awesome! It's also possible to get online using the links below!

Seitan Available Online

Getting Seitan online is an option if the stores around you don't carry it. It's also obviously more convenient if you don't feel like driving to the store.

Store Locators for Big Brands

Upton's Naturals

When it comes to seitan, Upton's Naturals is one of the biggest brands out there. They make a variety of seitan flavors including: bacon, chicken, chorizo, Italian, and traditional. You can find their store locator here.

Pacific Foods

Although most people know them for their vegetable stock, Pacific Foods also makes seitan! They also have some unique flavors which include Korean BBQ (one of our favorites at Thrive Cuisine!). If you're looking to get your hands on some, you can use the store locator on any of their products. 

Tofurky

Probably one of the most widely distributed brands of seitan, Tofurky Deli slices are most likely going to be the one's you find in your local supermarket. Their products tend to be more akin to "seitan hybrids" as some of them contain soy as well as vital wheat gluten. However, the similarities between their products and regular deli slices is totally uncanny, meat eaters aren't even likely to notice. Check out their store locator to see if they're near you!

WestSoy

Another big name in the industry, WestSoy not only makes seitan, but also a wide variety of vegan products including plant milks. Their seitan selection is interesting because they have cubed seitan which is difficult to find and also perfect for vegan kebabs! It also comes in a tofu-like package. See if they're near you by checking out their locator!

How Do I Make Seitan?

Many people have likened making seitan to both an art and a science. There are so many different ways to prepare it to change up the texture and the flavor. The video below is a very simply and easy recipe to follow and it's only a 4 minute watch!

How to Make Seitan by VegTimes

The ingredients seitan base are always going to be pretty similar. Here are some of the ingredients that you are going to need that may not be too easily found in stores:

The first time you cook seitan probably won't yield you the results you want (again it's a bit of an art), but don't give up!  

Here's a very basic recipe that we use for you to build in. Feel free experimenting with your own spices and flavor profiles to create the results you're looking for. Also, rather than slicing it, you can cook it in a cheese cloth to create one big loaf if you'd like! 

Basic Seitan Recipe

Ingredients You'll Need

Directions

Be sure to watch the video above for a visual aid on how the dough should look and perform. You can be conservative about adding the veggie broth to the dough because you can always add more but can't take out.

Other FAQs About Seitan

Is Seitan Healthy?

When assessing whether seitan is healthy or not, what you're comparing it to is going to make all the difference. Science has clearly shown that plant-based whole foods are going to be the ideal choice when it comes to health. Seitan is more of a processed plant food so you won't be able to compare it to something like broccoli that's rich in nutrients and phytochemicals.

However, if you're craving meat, you're much better off picking seitan than the real thing. Despite a flurry of popular blog posts about the "benefits" of things like coconut oil, butter, eggs, and other forms of saturated fat and cholesterol, the stuff is terrible for you. Picking seitan allows you to enjoy a meaty taste and texture without saturated fat and cholesterol, which makes it a clear winner over meat for health reasons.

Don't take our word on this - the American Heart Association had to recently put out a press release to warn people about this misinformation. 

Is Seitan Gluten Free?

Nope - the stuff is pretty much all gluten! If you've got a gluten allergy your best bet is to stick to soy-based mock meats.

Is Seitan Vegan?

Yup! We've never seen a seitan that wasn't vegan, especially store bought ones. One could theoretically add milk or eggs if they were a vegetarian, but highly unlikely.

Is Seitan a Complete Protein?

The only reliable source we could find on this was this article by Jack Norris RD who spoke directly with the authors of this paper. This particular paper is probably the only one out there that did a lab analysis on the amino acid composition of wheat gluten. The author of the paper reported seitan is extremely low in tryptophan and not lysine like many other sources report. Given the negligible amounts of tryptophan in wheat gluten, it probably cannot be considered a true complete protein - although it depends on what you truly mean by complete.

But does this matter? If you're eating seitan as part of a reasonable diet, there's no reason to think that you're going to be deficient in any amino acid. The myth of the "protein-combining" was something that started in Vogue Magazine many years ago, but has proven time and time again to be nonsense.

Dr. Greger from NutritionFacts.org explains the myth of complete proteins.

Why? Well, if you're a vegan, consuming a well balanced-diet within reason, it would be virtually impossible to be deficient in any amino acids. Our body has a finely tuned protein recycling program as well as stores of extra amino acids to be broken down and reassembled to maintain the perfect balance. Check out the video above to learn more.

Is Seitan Soy?

Yes and no. Some seitan products like Tofurky slices can have soy in them, but seitan doesn't have to necessarily be made with soy. A majority of seitan products or homemade seitans won't have soy in them.

What Does Seitan Taste Like?

Much like tofu, seitan is a blank canvas for flavor. You can make seitan take on the flavor or texture of almost any meat dish or product that you can think of. Check out the recipe section below to spark some ideas!

How Do I Cook With Seitan?

OK, so you've picked up some seitan at the store, but are wondering what the heck to do with it! Basically, you can do anything that you would do to sliced or cubed meat. This includes stir fries, stews, kebabs, marinating, grilling, smoking, etc. It really is a blank canvas for any meat dish you'd like to recreate.

Vegan Pancake Mixes You Can Buy In Stores

Brands You Can Easily Find In-Stores

ANSWER: Yes. The purpose of veganism is to cause the least amount of suffering as possible or practicable with your food choices. Animal crackers aren't real animals of course, nor do the original ones by Stauffer's contain any direct animal ingredients such as milk or eggs. However, there are a few things to be aware of when it comes to confectionery and baked products including animal crackers. Full details below!

In the chart above, we've listed the most popular vegan brands of animal crackers. Beware of other brands with frosting and double check if they have any milk, eggs, gelatin, or any other animal products. We've separated the organic from the conventional animal crackers as some more experienced vegans may choose to avoid conventional sugar. More on sugar in the final section.

What Are Animal Cracker's Exactly?

Animal crackers are a bit of a cross between a cracker and a cookie. They are a slightly sweet, but with the texture of a cracker. As the name implies, they are shaped like animals such as horses, giraffes, bears, etc. The Original Animal Crackers by Stauffer's actually contain 13 different shapes according to their website.

What Does the Ingredient Statement Look Like for Animal Crackers?

Why Mention Sugar in Animal Crackers*?

Conventional sugar is sometimes processed with animal bone char, but it is not something that you should put too much thought into, especially if you are having trouble eliminating all labeled animal products from your diet. Veganism is about maximum harm reduction and if you're in the transition phase, you don't want to make things even more confusing.

For the full scoop on sugar, check out this article.

ANSWER:  Like many sugar-based candies, the small version of Laffy Taffy doesn't contain any blatantly labeled animal products which means that it would be considered Vegan. The big version of Laffy Taffy does however have eggs, making it not vegan. There are a few ingredients (including sugar) in the small version which could potentially involve animal products which we discuss below. However, we don't recommend stressing about trace ingredients.

In the chart above, we've compiled the most popular vegan taffy candies we could find online. Many of the smaller taffy brands had egg or milk in them, but the big brands above did not. Please note that different larger versions of any of these given candies may not be vegan (besides Mambas which we found to be all vegan).

What About the Sugar in Laffy Taffy?

Here's the most up to date Laffy Taffy ingredients we could find:

Corn Syrup, Sugar, Palm Oil and Less Than 2% of Mono- and Diglycerides, Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil, Malic Acid, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Artificial Flavors, blue #1, red #40, yellow #5. Contains Soy Ingredients.​

Laffy Taffy is primarily Corn Syrup and Sugar. Conventional (meaning non-organic) sugar has the capacity to be filtered with animal ingredients such as bone char. Laffy Taffy is a huge brand who most likely sources sugar from different places. This means that tracking whether or not any animal derived products (filtering materials in this case) were involved in the making of one specific candy would be nearly impossible.

The same applies to any natural colors and flavors in Laffy Taffy. Tracking their origins, especially given the different types of the candy out there would be difficult, but we believe that the same principle applies.​

We've fully detailed our position on sugar being vegan in this post.​

Laffy Taffy and the Definition of Veganism

The definition of veganism according to the Vegan Society is as follows:

Conclusion on Laffy Taffy

When it comes to sugary candy including Laffy Taffy, we've boiled it down to one rule of thumb. Check the label for any animal ingredients (including gelatin) that are clearly labeled. If they aren't, you can consider it 99.9% vegan. As you become more experienced on plant-based eating, you may want to consider avoiding anything questionable, but that's your choice.

Finally, because candies don't really contain any nutritional value, we recommend sticking as close to whole foods plant based as possible!