It's no secret that vegans love to eat, and we love our sweets as much as anyone else. Luckily, many sweets are vegan, so we can satisfy our cravings (usually) without guilt. Most dark chocolate is vegan, as are popular candies such asSmarties(known in Canada as Rockets), Oreos, Airheads, Jujubes and Swedish Fish (some Swedish fish containbeeswax(so be sure to check the label). Look at PETA'sdatabase of unintentionally vegan foodsfor a complete list, including candy, cookies and ice cream. You can also purchase our bespoke range of vegan chocolates, sweets and snacks atPETA treats.
Although we update the list regularly, companies change their ingredients from time to time. The main ingredients to look for in candy are carmine, a red pigment made from the ground female cochineal insect; gelatin, obtained by boiling the skin, tendons, ligaments and bones of cows and pigs; and shellac (also called confectioner's glaze), which gives candies a glossy coating and is made from the resinous secretions of certain insects. Some sugars can also be refined with bone charcoal – see PETA's position on bone charcoalher.
The most important thing to remember is that being vegan is not about personal cleanliness, but about reducing animal suffering. If we avoid products that are 99.9 percent vegan but contain traces of animal products, we are sending the message to companies that there is no market for more animal-friendly products, and we have hurt more animals than we have helped. It also makes being vegan seem difficult and time-consuming to those around us. PETA encourages people to do their best to maintain a vegan lifestyle, but not to spend time worrying about trace amounts of ingredients that may come from animals.
