While Skittles may look vegan at first glance, many would argue otherwise. Unfortunately, several of the ingredients in these candies are not vegan-friendly.
Any vegan will probably tell you it’s challenging to live a 100 percent vegan lifestyle. From medication to sugar and beer, many things are surprisingly not vegan. Just because a product does not have animal products in it, does not mean animals were not harmed in the production process. Plus, some products seem to be vegan but are technically not. For example, some people argue that figs are not vegan, due to the wasps which die in production. At the end of the day, where you draw the line regarding your veganism is up to you.
There are several ingredients in Skittles that are questionable. While none of the flavors contain animal products, they do contain sugar, palm oil, artificial colors, and carnauba wax, all of which are arguably not vegan.
Skittles Ingredients Explained
(Foto: CC0 / Pixabay / axe_mechanic)
Depending on how strict you are about your vegan lifestyle, you may or may not choose to treat yourself to some Skittles. Here are some details on the current ingredients.
- Sugar: Technically, conventional white sugar is not vegan, because it is filtered using animal bone char.
- Palm Oil: Palm oil is also problematic. The production of palm oil is a huge contributor to the destruction of the rainforest. It’s a very environmentally damaging industry, which is especially harmful to Orangutans and their habitat, making it arguably not vegan
- Carnauba Wax: Carnauba wax is another ingredient from palm trees. This presents several ethical and sustainability issues. While carnauba wax is technically vegan, the deforestation that comes along with its production means it might be better to avoid.
- Artificial Colors: The artificial colors in Skittles are derived from the oil industry. Colors in Skittles like Red 40, Yellow 5, and Blue 1 are actually manufactured using harmful chemicals like formaldehyde, aniline, hydroxides, and sulfuric acids. Since their production comes at a cost to the environment, some would argue that Skittles are actually not vegan.
Current Skittles Flavors
(Foto: CC0 / Pixabay / 2092512)
Currently, there are six different flavors of Skittles Chewy Candy. These include the Original Fruity, Wild Berry, Sour, Brightside, Tropical and Smoothies flavors. All six flavors contain the same ingredients: sugar, corn syrup, hydrogenated palm oil, citric acid, tapioca dextrin, modified corn starch, and natural and artificial flavors. They do not contain any animal products directly, so for some, they can be considered vegan. Skittles also carries several flavors of gummies, in the flavors Original Fruity and Wild Berry. The gummies contain gelatin, however, so they are not vegan or vegetarian.
Read more:
- Are Swedish Fish Vegan? Yes and No.
- 5 Vegan Gummy Bear Brands – and Ones That Are Not
- Would You Have Known? These 15 Foods Contain Gelatin
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