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Frooties have become a beloved candy since their introduction in the 1950s. Known for their unique, chewy texture and delicious fruity flavour, Frooties have made their way into the hearts of many Americans. But, are Frooties vegan?
Frooties are not vegan because they contain milk.
Below is a table showing Frooties flavors and its vegan status.
| Flavor | Vegan Status |
| Sour Cherry | No, contains Milk. |
| Strawberry | No, contains Milk. |
| Grape | No, contains Milk. |
| Fruit Punch | No, contains Milk. |
| Mango | No, contains Milk. |
| Blue Raspberry | No, contains Milk. |
| Green Apple | No, contains Milk. |
| Lemon Lime | No, contains Milk. |
| Watermelon | No, contains Milk. |
| Strawberry Lemonade | No, contains Milk. |
Frooties Ingredients
Below is a list of ingredients from all the flavors that I could find.
- Artificial Flavor
- Blue 1
- Condensed Skim Milk
- Corn Syrup
- Malic Acid
- Natural & Artificial Flavors
- Palm Oil
- Red 40
- Soy Lecithin
- Sugar
- Whey
- Yellow 5
[Source]
As always I’ve highlighted the ingredients that we need to take a closer look at.
Non-Vegan Ingredients
Milk
Milk comes from cows and eating ingredients from animals does not align with veganism.
Questionable Ingredients
Sugar
Sugar is a controversial ingredient within the vegan community and reason for this is the risk of bone char from dead cows being used in the production process. This problem is narrowed down to refined cane sugar, which means that raw cane sugar is always vegan-friendly.
So why is the cane sugar refined? It’s because it helps the sugar fit the product better and it’s in this refining process the cane sugar could have been bleached using bone char. So some vegans tends to stay away from sugar all together while others don’t. The choice is yours here.
Artificial Colors
The next controversial ingredient on the list is artificial colors. The vegan community is torn about this ingredient and I will try and explain why as good as I can. The main issue here is the animal testing that i still being conducted.
It’s old and outdated. There are several modern ways to performs tests and of them is computer simulations, which can yield great results.
I tend to stay away from artificial colors, but it’s also for health reasons. I look at this way, the day they stop the animal testing on artificial colors is the day that this ingredient can become vegan-friendly.
Palm Oil
Palm oil is a major controversial ingredient, not only by vegans, but by people all over the world. The huge deforestation taking place to make room for palm oil plantations is a big issue when it comes to the environment.
This is because the tropical rain forest is being destroyed and animals are being forced out of their homes. The production of palm oil is very profitable, making it a very lucrative product.
There is an organisation called Roundtable On Sustainable Palm Oil, which helps companies to produce and buy sustainable palm oil. So if you are in the market for a vegan-certified product, then make sure that it contains sustainable palm oil.
Natural Flavors
Natural flavors is a tricky ingredient for vegans and the reason for that is because it’s an umbrella term, which means that it often consists of several ingredients and the source of these ingredients are very rarely disclosed on the ingredients label.
So natural flavors could contain ingredients sourced from animals and it would not show on the ingredients label. If you want to be sure about this ingredient then the best option would be to contact the company and ask.
Soy & Corn
Corn and soy are two of the most common GMO crops in the US and the problem with these is the high amount of herbicide used in order for the crops to grow. This can pollute the surrounding ecosystem, damaging it beyond repair.
Conclusion
Many brands use milk in their candy, but luckily many brands also produce vegan-friendly options. Always read the ingredients label because companies can change their recipes.
Thanks for reading, take care!
