Like many of you, I have a love/hate relationship with Halloween candy. But mostly hate, because it has a hold on me. I can’t stop eating it. I hit the first piece about 10 am, another couple after lunch, followed by maybe three or four in the afternoon and for sure one more after dinner. I know candy isn’t a snack (it’s not even a “real” food”), but I have a problem. That being said, it’s tradition and we must have some offering for those adorable mini goblins and princesses that show up, bags open, wide-eyed and sugar high at our doorstep come Halloween eve. So here goes—a list of vegan-friendly candy. Hopefully you’ll have more self control and won’t scarf the whole bag before the trick-or-treaters arrive. If you’re wanting any additional information on vegan candy and what ingredients to look for, check out the PETA site. You’ll find a lot of helpful, sugary information there.
Airheads taffy
Blow Pop
Bottlecaps
Brach's Cinnamon Hard Candy
Brach's Hi-C Fruit Slices
Brach's Hi-C Orange Slices
Brach's Root Beer Barrels
Brach's Star Brites
Chocolove Dark Chocolate bar
Chocolove Cherries and Almonds Dark Chocolate Bar
Chocolove Crystallized Ginger Dark Chocolate Bar
Chocolove Orange Peel Dark Chocolate Bar
Chocolove Raspberry Dark Chocolate bar
Chick-o-Sticks
Cry Babies
Dots
Dum-Dums
Fireballs
Gob Stoppers
Hot Tamales
Hubba Bubba bubblegum
Jolly Ranchers (lollipops and hard candy)
Jujubees
Jujyfruits
Laffy Taffy (some varieties)
Lemonheads
Mary Janes (regular and peanut butter kisses)
Mike and Ike
Nerds
Panda Licorice
Pez
Runts
Skittles
Smarties (U.S. Brand)
Sour Patch Kids
Super Bubble
Swedish Fish
Sweet Tarts
Twizzlers
Zotz
Monique Machado
Hot tamales and other candy have shellac or confectioners glaze that come from bugs.
Adrienne
Nerds are not vegan as they contain Carmine color, derived from insects, unfortunately.
Katie Koteen
Oh gross. Thanks for letting us know!
Mark
Great list, thanks for the post. I have a question about a candy, or snack not mentioned: oreos. Seems like there's been some debate about them, do you know what the latest information is?
Holly Bishop
Artificial flavor, you have to look out for that and yellow number5 , red number 40 it's poison to the body so if your vegan , if it doesn't say Vegan and non gmo, you don't eat it,Ive been vegan for 16 years .
Pauline Olivia Head
I'm not Jewish or Muslim, but these religions have very strict dietary laws. When I go shopping I look for either the Kosher symbol or the Halal symbol. From there I read the ingredients on the package.
J
I agree that PETA's list doesn't consider bone char, and that their lists in general aren't reliable. I've been surfing the web for an hour trying to find information about the sugar in Skittles with no luck. :/ Maybe someone will be able to make an in-depth list of where the biggest candy brands source their sugar, but until then I think I'd better stick to ones that are clearly bone char free.
Connie
I agree with Jacquie. PETA does not verify whether or not sugar has been refined with bone char because they feel it would be "impossible" to trace the sugar in all products. Most of the items listed above do not use organic sugar and likely contain bone-char sugar. I would not consider these to be truly vegan.
I would love to see a vegan Halloween candy list for once that is well researched and not just copy/pasted from PETA :/
Jacquie
Sorry, I meant certified vegan sugar 🙂
Jacquie
PETA does not consider the sugar in the USA to be non-vegan even though all of it is processed with animal char bones. They are constantly promoting products that contain non-vegan sugar. The only sugar that is vegan is the organic kind, and the brands that are certified organic. I buy all my Halloween candy from vegan stores or the Natural Candy Store online (they have a vegan section!).
georgia
sour patch kids and skittles both include red 40!
stephanie
Hot tamales are not vegan there is confectioners glaze in it,made by insects.
Well Vegan
GROSS!!! Thanks for letting us know! I guess PETA steered us wrong on that one.
emily
hi I was just wondering some sugar is made with bone char. are the candys listed above natural sugar or is it made with bone char. please answer back I am a kid and want to eat some candy on Halloween. (:
Well Vegan
Hi Emily! As far as I know, there's no bone char. We working working from a list PETA puts out and they're a super reliable source 🙂