Sour Patch Kids are one of the most popular candies with kids and adults alike.
If you’ve been wondering if Sour Patch Kids are vegan, keep reading as we discover whether these are suitable to enjoy on a vegan diet.
Do Sour Patch Kids Contain Gelatin?
One of the first considerations when looking at candy for vegans is whether they contain gelatin. Sour Patch Kids don’t contain gelatin, but that doesn’t mean they are automatically suitable for vegans.
The good news for vegans is that Sour Patch Kids are listed as vegan-friendly by PETA in many of their articles online. However, there are certain ingredients within Sour Patch Kids that are considered controversial with vegans.
For that reason, it’s up to you to decide whether you think these would be a suitable addition to your plant-based diet.
Sour Patch Kids – Ingredients List
Sugar is naturally one of the main ingredients in Sour Patch Kids, as with the majority of candies on the market. Sugar is seen as quite a controversial ingredient with vegans.
This is because refined cane sugar is made with bone char in order to get the white color it’s so well known for. While there are no particles of bone char within the sugar, some vegans don’t eat this due to the processing methods used to create cane sugar.
The type of sugar that’s used in Sour Patch Kids isn’t mentioned, so most consumers assume they are safe for vegans. However, one thing to keep in mind is that Mondelez International, which owns Sour Patch Kids, has confirmed that they use bone char in their sugar.
Therefore, it’s very difficult to guarantee these candies are free from all traces of animal products or don’t use animal products in their production process.
Sour Patch Kids contain natural flavors in order to get their fruity taste. Within these candies, it seems these come from plant sources, as no products from animal origins are indicated on the packaging.
Food colors are also used within Sour Patch Kids, which helps give them their bold and bright look and color. Many food colors are tested on animals, but the colors don’t seem to originate from animal sources either.
Are Sour Patch Kids Vegan?
As you can see, there appears to be no clear answer about whether Sour Patch Kids are vegan. It seems quite likely that the sugar in the candies has been filtered using bone char, which works as a decolorizing agent.
If you aren’t willing to take any risks in this area, we recommend finding a vegan-friendly candy alternative. There are many great new products on the market, most of which don’t contain any of the controversial ingredients we shared above.
It’s always best to play it safe in these situations, so we recommend finding delicious candies marked as safe for vegans to enjoy a guilt-free treat.
The vegan-friendly products available to consumers are continuing to get better and better, and we hope in time there will be a definitive answer about whether Sour Patch Kids are suitable for vegans or not.