At first glance, it is easy to think Sour Patch Kids are vegan, however, this might not necessarily be the case. Even though the candies do not have any ingredients listed which are directly animal-derived, there is a good chance animal products were used while making some of the ingredients.
Ingredients Found In Sour Patch Kids
There are several types of Sour Patch Kids recipes, however, many of them have the following ingredients on the package: Sugar, invert sugar, corn syrup, modified corn starch, contains less than 2% of tartaric acid, citric acid, natural and artificial flavor, Yellow 6, Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1. At first glance, there doesn’t appear to be any issues for vegans, however, it all comes down to how the sugar is processed.
There are two ways to make sugar, using sugar-beets, or sugarcane, with sugar cane being made from bone char. Bone char is the charred and crushed bones of cattle which is used in the making of cane sugar. Bone char is not in the cane sugar itself, however, the sugar does come into contact with the bone char in the process.
Depending on how devout of a vegan you are, would determine your comfortableness of eating Sour Patch Kids. If you go by the the definition of veganism, however, which is, “The practice of eating only food not derived from animals and typically of avoiding the use of other animal products,” I think it is clear that be the definition, Sour Patch Kids are not vegan due to animal products being used in the production.
Additionally, the company which makes Sour Patch Kids, Mondelez, have also stated they have several sugar suppliers who use bone char in their sugar refining process, and some do not. As such, they could not guarantee which sugar was being used at that current moment in time.
Are Sour Patch Kids Vegan? – The Conclusion
It is our opinion that Sour Patch Kids are not vegan, simply because bone char could have been used in the sugar refining process. The use of food colorings or dies could also make Sour Patch Kids not vegan as they are commonly tested on animals such as dogs, mice, and rats prior to human consumption.
As always, this is only our opinion, but one we think is a logical conclusion. If you have a different idea, or have ideas for alternatives, let us know as we would love to hear from you!
Cooking With Alfred 