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Dippin’ Dots is an iconic dessert that has been beloved by kids and adults alike for many years. Developed in the late 1980s, this whimsical and nostalgic treat is a special type of ice cream that comes in tiny spheres, or “dots”. But, are Dippin’ Dots vegan?
Most flavors of Dippin’ Dots are not vegan because they contain milk. However there are some flavors such as Blue Raspberry Ice, Lemon Ice and Lime Ice that might be suitable for dietary vegans but they contain natural flavors, which could contain ingredients sourced from animals.
Below is a table showing Dippin’ Dots flavors and its vegan status.
| Flavor | Vegan Status |
| Banana Split Ice Cream | No, contains Milk. |
| Birthday Cake Ice Cream | No, contains Milk. |
| Blue Raspberry Ice | Maybe, contains Natural Flavor. |
| Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream | No, contains Milk. |
| Chocolate Ice Cream | No, contains Milk. |
| Cookies ‘n Cream Ice Cream | No, contains Milk. |
| Cool Mint Crunch Ice Cream | No, contains Milk. |
| Cotton Candy Ice Cream | No, contains Milk. |
| ICEE Cherry ‘n Blue Razz Ice | Maybe, contains Natural Flavor. |
| Lemon Ice | Maybe, contains Natural Flavor. |
| Lime Ice | Maybe, contains Natural Flavor. |
| Orange Ice | Maybe, contains Natural Flavor. |
| Rainbow Ice | Maybe, contains Natural Flavor. |
| Spookies ‘n Cream | No, contains Milk. |
| Strawberry Ice | Maybe, contains Natural Flavor. |
| Strawberry Ice Cream | No, contains Milk. |
| Ultimate Brownie Batter Ice Cream | No, contains Milk. |
| Vanilla Ice Cream | No, contains Milk. |
| YoDots™ Strawberry Cheesecake | No, contains Milk. |
| YoDots™ Banana Split | No, contains Milk. |
| YoDots™ Cookie Dough | No, contains Milk. |
| YoDots™ Cookies ‘N Cream | No, contains Milk. |
| YoDots™ Cotton Candy | No, contains Milk. |
Dippin’ Dots Ingredients
Below is a list of ingredients from all the flavors that I could find.
- Annatto [Color]
- Artificial Flavor
- Baking Soda
- Bifido Bacterium Lactius
- Blue 1
- Brown Sugar
- Caramel Color
- Carrageenan
- Cellulose Gum
- Chocolate Chips
- Chocolate Liquor
- Citric Acid
- Cocoa Butter
- Cocoa Processed With Alkali
- Coconut Oil
- Corn Syrup
- Cream
- Dextrose
- Lactobacillus Bulgaricus
- Locust Bean Gum
- Margarine
- Milk
- Milk Fat
- Natural And Artificial Flavors
- Natural Butter Flavor
- Nonfat Milk
- Palm Oil
- Red 40
- Salt
- Skim Milk
- Sodium Bicarbonate
- Soy Lecithin
- Strawberry Juice
- Streptococcus Thermophilus
- Sucrose
- Sugar
- Vanilla
- Vegetable Mono And Diglycerides
- Vitamin A Palmitate
- Water
- White Coating
- Xanthan Gum
- Yellow 5
- Yellow 6
[Source]
As always I’ve highlighted the ingredients that we need to take a closer look at.
Non-Vegan Ingredients
Milk
Since cows milk comes from animals, it’s not a vegan-friendly ingredient.
Questionable Ingredients
Sugar
Sugar is one of the most common ingredients in candy and sweets. Two of the most common type of sugars used are beet sugar and cane sugar. Beet sugar together with raw cane sugar are 100% vegan-friendly.
But before the cane sugar is used it’s often refined and in this process the sugar is also bleached. A common bleaching method is to use bone char from dead cows and this does not align with veganism.
It’s impossible to know if bone char has been used and the only way to to be sure is to contact the company.
Natural Flavors
Natural flavors is an umbrella term, meaning that it consists of several ingredients. The problem is that the source of these ingredients is not disclosed on the ingredients label, making it impossible for vegans to know if it’s vegan-friendly or not.
Palm Oil
Palm oil is a common ingredient in many products. It contains no animal-derived ingredient, however the production of palm oil is a problem, because it’s very damaging to the environment. The industry is responsible for a severe deforestation that is forcing wild life away from their natural habitat.
A solution was set in place to but an end to the deforestation and to help companies to produce more sustainable palm oil with minimum impact on the environment. This is called RSPO and it stands for Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
This would make the palm oil more vegan-friendly.
Artificial Colors
This ingredient is widely debated within the vegan community. Most vegans will stay away from these colors because it’s known to be tested on animals. There are other testing methods such as computer simulations that can do a great job.
There are also several health issues connected to these colors such as hyperactivity in kids. So if you are strictly a vegan, then you definitely want to stay away from these colors. If you are a dietary vegan, then it’s a personal choice to consume these colors or not.
Soy & Corn
Soy and corn are two of the most common GMO crops in the US and the problem with GMO crops is the fact that they require a high amount of herbicide to grow. This can pollute the surrounding ecosystem and damage it severely.
Vitamin A Palmitate
This ingredient can be sourced from both plants and animals.
Conclusion
Most of the flavors of Dippin’ Dot are ice cream flavors contain milk making them non-vegan. They also offer many Ice flavors, which all contain natural flavors and artificial colors, so they could be suitable for dietary vegans, but we still don’t know if natural flavors is vegan-friendly.
Thanks for reading, take care!
