I'm a new vegan (longtime lacto-ovo) who occasionally likes sugary candies such as sour patches, gummy worms/bears, Swedish fish, circus peanuts, candy corn, and other chewy or jelly-like sweets. I haven't done a thorough search, but I have noticed lately that several of my favorite candies contain gelatin and/or beeswax. :(
Do you guys know of any vegan jelly-like/chewy candies? I only eat them once every several weeks, but when I crave them, I REALLY crave them. But now, because of the non-vegan ingredients, I don't want them - but I still crave them like crazy! Please help!
Do you guys know of any vegan jelly-like/chewy candies? I only eat them once every several weeks, but when I crave them, I REALLY crave them. But now, because of the non-vegan ingredients, I don't want them - but I still crave them like crazy! Please help!
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Re: Vegan candy?
Wed, March 26, 2008 - 5:08 PMHey, look what I just found on PETA2 :
www.peta2.com/stuff/s-accvegan.asp
Swedish Fish, Sour Patch Kids, Smarties, Lemonheads, Twizzlers - are they *really* vegan? I don't know if I believe it. I looked at Jelly Bellies and some sour peach candy yesterday, and they contained gelatin and beeswax, respectively.
Time to run to the store and see if PETA is right about these others! :) -
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Re: Vegan candy?
Wed, March 26, 2008 - 5:30 PMVegan breath mints called MYNTZ! No gelatin. Sorbital instead of sugar? -
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Re: Vegan candy?
Wed, March 26, 2008 - 6:22 PMlook in middle eastern markets and stores for turkish delight.
it satisfies the gummy- jelly desires (I used to be a jellies fiend too ;-)
it is made with corn starch. very sweet and often with nuts inside...and nice original flavours like mint, lemon and rose (rose is the traditionnal flavour)
also many japanese, chinese and korean jelly treats are made with seaweed...and are vegan. although those are often not as sweet as we are used to..often red bean flavour for example (which I find delicious but it definitely was an aquired taste)
also look for kosher versions of jellies...check the ingredients, but they should be accidentally vegan (like kosher jello for example) also made from corn starch.
and then there are all the junky candies that are accidentally vegan (cheapo jelly beans are often vegan! ) ont he peta page that you posted.
in all cases ALWAYS check the ingredients, (even for the stuff from the peta site, big companies often change their recipes and the site is not updated often) -
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Wed, March 26, 2008 - 6:55 PMI am addicted to Hint Mints right now - They're ruling my day. Totally yummy and vegan -
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Wed, March 26, 2008 - 7:00 PMThanks, Antoine. You just remided me that I LOVE Turkish Delight (I have actually made it myself a few times, but I don't remember if the recipe that I used was vegan.) I almost forgot that I can make my own candy instead of buying it. :) I also became addicted to bean curd paste candies while in Japan as a teenager. I wonder if I can make my own.
Oh, and you're right about the Peta list. Look at what I found hidden at the bottom of their list of "vegan" foods:
<<Items listed may contain trace amounts of animal-derived ingredients. While PETA supports a strict adherence to veganism, we put the task of vigorously reducing animal suffering ahead of personal purity. Boycotting products that are 99.9 percent vegan sends manufacturers the message that there is no market for that particular food, which ends up hurting more animals.>>
WTF?! I don't think that a dead animal will be any less dead just because they used only trace amounts. A trace amount of any animal product is a trace too much for me. What do you guys think? -
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Re: Vegan candy?
Wed, March 26, 2008 - 7:06 PMTo Lisa and Dennis - you guys are going to get me addicted to even more junk lol! Actually, breath mints are a good idea for the times when I normally would stick a non-vegan piece of gum in my mouth. I forget what ingredient is in many gums that makes them non-vegan, but I have been avoiding them lately. -
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Unsu...
Re: Vegan candy?
Wed, March 26, 2008 - 7:51 PM -
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Wed, March 26, 2008 - 8:11 PMxxxn - those gummy bears look awesome...and they even have sour ones! Thank you! -
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Wed, March 26, 2008 - 9:08 PMBear in mind that many forms of processed sugar are filtered through animal bone char. Most white sugar in the U.S. uses a bone char filter process, but all natural cane sugar and Sugar in the Raw does not.
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Re: Vegan candy?
Thu, March 27, 2008 - 5:45 PMOh my god - I LOVE these gummy bears. I have never been a fan of gummy until I couldn't have it....and now, I eat the damn things all the time....I buy them at PCC by the POUND!
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Re: Vegan candy?
Wed, March 26, 2008 - 10:08 PMHi Gretel...when I have a super intense sugar craving (more often than i'd like to admit :)) i go to this website
store.nexternal.com/shared/S...fault.asp
The site is Vegan Essentials...they used to have the best yummy vegan marshmellows but they're gone. some other yummy stuff there though including lots of gummies. Some of the stuff isn't great so buy a few things and try them there are a few jems there!!! Good luck! -
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Re: Vegan candy?
Thu, March 27, 2008 - 10:39 AMOf course you are correct Anthonwy which is why I recommend that everyone buys non-bone char processed sugar.
The one thing I remember to differentiate is process and ingredient.
The sugar is processed through bone char, and that process is not a vegan process...but the sugar itslef as an ingredient is still vegan, it has been PROCESSED in a non-vegan way.
I think eventually as we speak out more, and the world start paying attention to their food more, these processs will stop...I already know of one large sugar producer here in Toronto (red Path) that does NOT use bone char in their process...
if you are craving sweets and they contain no animal ingredients, but it is not specified if the sugar was done with a method without bonechar, the item is still vegan, the process used may not be.
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Fri, March 28, 2008 - 1:00 PMHoly crap, dolphin - that's like having a cruelty-free department store on my laptop! :) Thanks!
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Thu, March 27, 2008 - 11:03 AMsomeone tried to tell me recently that they heard that the gelatin most often used in production these days is no longer of the hoof/cartilage meat variety. but a synthetic variety. i called bullsh*t on that one but was wondering if anyone's heard similar claims? -
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Re: Vegan candy?
Thu, March 27, 2008 - 5:17 PMI would second your bullshit call...but I would be interested to find out more.
maybe they got confused with glycerin,a s that can be vegetable glycerin, but vegetable or synthetic gelatin??? never heard of it! -
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Re: Vegan candy?
Thu, March 27, 2008 - 8:22 PMI have to split hairs with you on this one Antoine. To me, Vegan is a philosophy, not a state of being or an ingredients list. If sugar is processed through bone char, it is not Vegan. It may be animal product free, but it is not Vegan. I feel the same about beer that has been clarified with Isinglas. Even though no fish product remains in the final beer supposedly, it is still a fining process involving an animal product, and thus is not Vegan.
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Re: Vegan candy?
Thu, March 27, 2008 - 10:41 PMFood Fight sells some alternatives: store.foodfightgrocery.com/candy.html -
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Fri, March 28, 2008 - 9:40 AMand I love the fact that their image for vegan condoms is a sock: store.foodfightgrocery.com/glyd....html -
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Re: Vegan candy?
Fri, March 28, 2008 - 12:54 PMLOL Jenni -
Even funnier is the caption below the tube sock:
<<These go on your weiner and help protect you from babies and germs. You get 4 for $2. They are made by Glyde and are "cruelty-free".>>
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Re: Vegan candy?
Thu, March 27, 2008 - 11:36 PMNot a candy, but have you tried dates when you're craving chewy candy? Dates are as sweet, and they are chewy, you could even get those date nugget things that aren't whole dates with seeds in them. They are often sold in the bulk foods area. -
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Re: Vegan candy?
Fri, March 28, 2008 - 12:49 PM:::yay::: for dates! my new favorite sweet!
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Fri, March 28, 2008 - 12:51 PMThanks everybody for all the great ideas! I am kind of new to Austin, but since one of your posts reminded me that there exist grocery stores specifically for vegans/vegetarians (besides Whole Foods, where there's still a lot of meat, etc.), I did some google searching and found that Austin is quite vegan-friendly. :) There are excellent vegan restaurants here too!
I have been trying to eat no candy lately (I usually only eat it once every few weeks anyway), and I think I'l eventually try to replace the habit with dates and other chewy fruits (as one of you intelligently suggested). Still, I'm sure I'll need my sugary fix every now and then, so thanks for all the awesome responses! -
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Re: Vegan candy?
Mon, March 31, 2008 - 9:24 PMOK, so I went to Whole Foods and bought some dates from the bulk bin (no sugar added, just rolled in a bit of soy flour, I suppose to keep them from sticking together). They weren't colorful or particularly attractive (no cute little cartoonish shapes); in fact, they looked like the poop of some small animal...
...but OMG! They tasted sweeter and even better than candy!! They're even cheaper than candy! And they're good for me! Yay! Also, they satisfied my sweet tooth WAY faster than candy normally does (I can eat a lot of sweets before putting them down). The best part - I didn'thave to worry about animal products or whether the sugar was filtered using bone char.
I forgot to look and see who suggested dates the other day, but THANK YOU! I might just break my candy habit (or cut it way down) after all. :D -
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Re: Vegan candy?
Mon, March 31, 2008 - 9:25 PMIt was Christie who suggested the dates. Thanks, Christie! :) -
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Re: Vegan candy?
Mon, March 31, 2008 - 9:32 PMYour welcome. I'm glad the date nuggets fit the bill. :-) -
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Re: Vegan candy?
Mon, March 31, 2008 - 10:30 PMMmmmm....date rolls.....(drool)
My local natch carries these amazing date rolls. Basically just squished up dates rolled in shredded coconut. They are SOOO good. Also, I highly recommend stuffed dates. The ones I have had were stuffed with chopped agave coated hazelnuts. On a related note, ever tried dried figs? They are also quite candy-like to me. -
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Re: Vegan candy?
Mon, April 7, 2008 - 8:46 PMI've tried figs, but I definitely prefer dates (actually date nuggets). Figs are kind of big - not like the little candies I'm trying to get over. :) Maybe I would like them more if Whole Foods cut them up and dusted them with flour like they do the dates. (Size does matter hehe.) -
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Re: Vegan candy?
Tue, April 8, 2008 - 11:27 AMnothing beats a fresh perfectly ripe fig fresh off the tree. nothing. -
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Re: Vegan candy?
Tue, April 8, 2008 - 1:50 PMOh yes, I agree with that. Fresh figs plucked and eaten are the best!
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