Even though candy seems cruelty-free, you may be surprised what animal products are lurking in the sweets aisle. Here’s a list of vegan candies to keep in mind when you need a vegan sweet treat.
Not all candy is cruelty-free
Before you dive into candy bar abandon, make sure the candy you’re eating is animal-free. According to the Vegan Nutritionista, the most common animal-derived products to avoid are “gelatin (made from animal bones and tendons), milkfat, eggs, carmine (or Natural Red 4, made from beetles), rennet (enzyme from cow stomachs), pepsin (another stomach enzyme), lard (pig fat), E 904, E 120, 901, 904, 542 (all are from animals), or even just sugar that is processed with charred bone fragments.” This means reading labels before you take a bite.
Vegan candy
If it’s your kids who are hankering for a sweet, turn them on to PETAKids.com. In addition to a tasty list of vegan candies, the site also has interactive games, celebrity and music news, and a cruelty-free shop with kid-friendly jewelry, attire, books, and more.
PETA-approved vegan candies
- Airheads taffy
- Blow Pops
- Brach’s Cinnamon Hard Candy
- Brach’s Root Beer Barrels
- Brach’s Star Brites
- Chocolove Dark Chocolate bar
- Chocolove Cherries and Almonds Dark Chocolate Bar
- ChocoloveCrystallized Ginger Dark Chocolate Bar
- Chocolove Orange Peel Dark Chocolate Bar
- Chocolove Raspberry Dark Chocolate bar
- Chick-o-Sticks
- Cry Babies
- Dots
- Dum-Dums
- Fireballs
- HubbaBubba bubblegum
- Jolly Ranchers (lollipops and hard candy)
- Jujubees
- Jujyfruits
- Laffy Taffy
- Lemonheads
- Mambas
- Mary Janes (regular and peanut butter kisses)
- Mike and Ike
- Now and Later
- Panda Licorice
- Smarties (U.S. Brand)
- Sour Patch Kids
- Super Bubble
- Swedish Fish
- Sweet Tarts
- Twizzlers
- Zotz
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