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Dot’s Pretzels is a small, family-owned business that makes pretzels from scratch using only the finest ingredients. The company prides itself on its fresh, handcrafted pretzels that are perfect for any occasion. But, are Dot’s Pretzels vegan?
No Flavors of Dot’s Pretzels are vegan because they all contain milk.
Below is a table showing Dot’s Pretzels flavors and its vegan status.
| Flavor | Vegan Status |
| Dot’s Pretzels Original Seasoned | No, contains Milk. |
| Dot’s Pretzels Southwest Seasoned | No, contains Milk. |
| Dot’s Pretzels Pretzel Crumble | No, contains Milk. |
Dot’s Pretzels Ingredients
Below is a list of ingredients from all the flavors that I could find.
- Artificial Butter Flavor
- Artificial Flavor
- Buttermilk
- Calcium Lactate
- Calcium Stearate
- Canola
- Carboxymethylcellulose
- Carrot Powder
- Cheddar Cheese
- Citric Acid
- Corn Syrup
- Corn Syrup Solids
- Corn Oil
- Cottonseed
- Dehydrated Red Bell Pepper
- Disodium Inosinate and Disodium Guanylate
- Dried Garlic
- Dried Onion
- Enriched Wheat Flour
- Enzymes
- Extractives of Annatto
- Folic Acid
- Garlic Powder
- Guar Gum
- Jalapeno Pepper
- Lactic Acid
- Lime Juice Solids
- Malic Acid
- Monosodium Glutamate
- Natural and Artificial Flavors
- Niacin
- Paprika
- Potassium Chloride
- Reduced Iron
- Riboflavin
- Salt
- Silicon Dioxide
- Soybean Oil
- Spices
- Sugar
- Sunflower Oil
- Thiamin Mononitrate
- Tomato Powder
- Vegetable Oil
- Whey
- Xanthum Gum
- Yeast Extract
[Source]
As always I’ve highlighted the ingredients that we need to take a closer look at.
Non-Vegan Ingredients
Milk
Several ingredients made from milk can be found in Dot’s pretzels such as whey and cheddar cheese. It’s made from cow’s milk, which is not vegan.
Questionable Ingredients
Sugar
Sugar is a controversial ingredient because there is an instance where the sugar could be classified as not vegan-friendly. Beet is sugar is always vegan-friendly, but cane sugar is another story. Cane sugar is the one of most popular types of sugar and in order for it to fit the product it needs to be refined.
In the refining process the cane sugar is also bleached and a common method is to use bone char from dead cows. If a product uses animal-sourced products in the production process that product could be classified as non-vegan by many vegans. So when exploiting cows in the bleaching process of cane sugar, that sugar would not be vegan-friendly.
Natural & Artificial Flavors
This ingredient is another tricky ingredient for vegans, It’s an umbrella term, meaning that natural flavors can consists of multiple ingredients and it can be sourced from animals. Natural flavors is a risky ingredient because the source is not disclosed on the ingredients label and therefore there is no way of knowing if it’s vegan-friendly or not.
If the products has a vegan label from a trusted organisation such as vegan.org or vegan society, then the natural flavors would be vegan. If you want to consume a product containing natural flavors and are unsure of it’s source, then contacting the company would be a good option.
Disodium Inosinate and Disodium Guanylate
These ingredients can be made with ingredients derived from animals or plants.
Vegan Alternative To Dot’s Pretzels
I found a great alternative called Bachman Pretzels.
They are tasty and delicious, really recommended.
Conclusion
You think that products such as pretzels would be vegan, but ingredients such as milk is often used making them non-vegan. After some research I found a great alternative, which I hope you will enjoy.
Remember that products can contain ingredients that might look vegan at a first glance, but can be the exact opposite such as natural flavors, sugar, palm oil just to name a few.
Thanks for reading, take care!
