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Whether its a party, a birthday or just a chill evening, chips always suits its purpose as a snack. A lot of chips are vegan, but are Lay’s Vegan?
Several flavors of Lay’s potato chips are vegan such as Lay’s Classic, Lightly Salted and Simply Sea Salt just to name a few. They are vegan vegan because they don’t contain any ingredient derived from animals.
I made a table that shows all Lay’s flavors I could find together with its vegan status.
| Flavor | Vegan Status |
| Lay’s Classic Potato Chips | Vegan. |
| Lay’s Cheddar Jalapeño | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s BBQ Flavored Potato Chips | Could be vegan, but contains natural flavors. |
| Lay’s Sour Cream & Onion Flavored Potato Chips | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Cheddar & Sour Cream Flavored Potato Chips | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Flamin’ Hot Flavored Potato Chips | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Salt & Vinegar Flavored Potato Chips | Could be vegan, but contains natural flavors. |
| Lay’s Sweet Southern Heat BBQ Flavored Potato Chips | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Honey BBQ Flavored Potato Chips | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Chile Limón Flavored Potato Chips | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Limón Flavored Potato Chips | Could be vegan, but contains natural flavors. |
| Lay’s Dill Pickle Flavored Potato Chips | Could be vegan, but contains natural flavors. |
| Lay’s Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle Flavored Potato Chips | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Chesapeake Bay Crab Spice Flavored Potato Chips | Could be vegan, but contains natural flavors. |
| Lay’s Adobadas Flavored Potato Chips | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Lightly Salted Potato Chips | Vegan. |
| Lay’s Lightly Salted BBQ Flavored Potato Chips | Could be vegan, but contains natural flavors. |
| Lay’s Kettle Cooked Reduced Fat Original Potato Chips | Vegan. |
| Lay’s Simply Sea Salt Flavored Thick Cut Potato Chips | Vegan. |
| Lay’s Simply BBQ Flavored Thick Cut Potato Chips | Could be vegan, but contains natural flavors. |
| Lay’s Baked BBQ Flavored Potato Crisps | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Baked Original Potato Crisps | Vegan, but contains soy. |
| Lay’s Kettle Cooked Flamin’ Hot | No, it contains milk and artificial colors. |
| Lay’s Kettle Cooked Original Potato Chips | Vegan. |
| Lay’s Kettle Cooked Jalapeño Flavored Potato Chips | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Kettle Cooked Mesquite BBQ Flavored Potato Chips | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Kettle Cooked Sea Salt & Vinegar Flavored Potato Chips | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Kettle Cooked Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper Flavored Potato Chips | Could be vegan, but contains natural flavors. |
| Lay’s Kettle Cooked Maui Onion Flavored Potato Chips | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Poppables Sea Salt & Vinegar | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Poppables Sea Salt Potato Snacks | Vegan. |
| Lay’s Poppables™ White Cheddar Flavored Potato Snacks | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Poppables Honey BBQ Flavored Potato Snacks | No, it contains Honey BBQ Seasoning. |
| Lay’s STAX Original Potato Crisps | Can be vegan, but contains Mono- And Diglycerides. |
| Lay’s STAX Sour Cream & Onion Flavored Potato Crisps | No, it contains milk and artificial colors. |
| Lay’s STAX Mesquite BBQ Flavored Potato Crisps | No, it contains milk and artificial colors. |
| Lay’s STAX Cheddar Flavored Potato Crisps | No, it contains milk and artificial colors. |
| Lay’s STAX Salt & Vinegar Flavored Potato Crisps | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s STAX Bacon & Cheddar Potato Skins Flavored Potato Crisps | No, it contains milk , bacon fat and artificial colors. |
| Lay’s STAX Buffalo Wings with Ranch Flavored Potato Crisps | No, it contains milk , chicken fat and artificial colors. |
| Lay’s STAX XTRA Flamin’ Hot Flavored Potato Crisps | No, it contains milk and artificial colors. |
| Lay’s STAX® Flamas Flavored Potato Crisps | No, it contains milk and artificial colors. |
| Lay’s STAX Chile Limón Flavored Potato Crisps | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Wavy Reduced Fat | Vegan. |
| Lay’s Wavy Original Potato Chips | Vegan. |
| Lay’s Wavy Ranch Flavored Potato Chips | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Wavy Hickory BBQ Flavored Potato Chips | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Wavy Salt & Pepper Flavored Potato Chips | Vegan, but contains natural flavors. |
| Lay’s Wavy Lightly Salted Potato Chips | Vegan. |
| Lay’s French Onion Dip | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Smooth Ranch Dip | No, it contains milk. |
| Lay’s Creamy Jalapeno Dip | No, it contains milk. |
If you want more chips alternatives be sure to check out our Top List Of Best Vegan Potato Chips.
Lay’s Ingredients
I’ve found a lot of ingredients and below I’ve listed all ingredients from all flavors of Lay’s.
As always I’ve highlighted the questionable and non-vegan ingredients.
- Potatoes
- Vegetable Oil (Sunflower, Corn and/or Canola Oil)
- Salt
- Cheddar Cheese
- Enzymes
- Maltodextrin [Made From Corn]
- Natural Flavors
- Onion Powder
- Whey
- Spices
- Sugar
- Yeast Extract
- Lactose
- Garlic Powder
- Gum Arabic
- Jalapeño Pepper
- Buttermilk
- Corn Oil
- Corn Syrup Solids
- Skim Milk
- Sodium Caseinate (milk)
- Sour Cream
- Paprika Extracts
- Annatto Extracts
- Butter
- Blue Cheese
- Molasses
- Torula Yeast
- Spices
- Tomato Powder
- Paprika
- Corn Starch
- Caramel Color
- Mustard Seed Oil
- Citric Acid
- Vegetable Juice (Color)
- Malic Acid
- Lime Juice
- Vinegar
- Annatto Extracts
- Red 40 Lake
- Yellow 6 Lake
- Yellow 5 Lake
- Mono- And Diglycerides
- Disodium Inosinate
- Disodium Guanylate
- Bacon Fat
- Chicken Fat
[Source]
That was a lot of ingredient now let’s take a deep dive and read more about the highlighed ones.
Non-Vegan Ingredients
Milk & Dairy
First non-vegan ingredients are cheese, butter, whey and milk.
All made from cow milk.
Artificial Colors
In some flavors there are artificial colors added and you might wonder why this is listed as a non-vegan ingredient.
Well it does not contain any ingredients derived from animal, but as it turns out, animal testing is still beeing conducted.
These types of test does not have to be on animals anymore.
We have come a long way when it comes to testing ingredients and products.
Some testing method that don’t include animals are computer simulations and cell cultures.
This ingredient will remain non-vegan until the animal testing stops.
Disodium Inosinate
It’s mainly used as an flavor enhancer and it’s most often derived from pigs and chickens.
Disodium Inosinate can be vegan-friendly if it’s made from tapioca starch.
Bacon & Chicken Fat
Nothing much to say here. These ingredients are derived from animals, making them non-vegan.
Questionable Ingredients
Enzymes
This ingredient can be made from both plants and animals.
No way of knowing, unless it’s disclosed by the company.
Natural Flavors
This is an umbrella term and a lot of ingredients can be hidden here.
Beaver butts secrete can be used for vanilla flavor.
No I’m not kidding, you can read more about here.
So it’s not 100% sure natural flavors are vegan, unless the product has a vegan label from a trusted organisation, then it’s safe.
Sugar
Sugar is not derived from animals, but there is a situation that can make sugar non-vegan.
There are several different types of sugar that can be found in chips and candy.
Beet sugar and cane sugar are very common and if it’s refined cane sugar then it might not be vegan.
The problem with refined cane sugar is the fact that bone char is often used in the bleeching process.
The bone char is often from dead cows.
There is no evidence that the bone char stays in the sugar after the bleeching process, but the fact that an animal derived ingredient is used makes a lot of refined cane sugar not vegan-friendly.
Beet sugar is natural white and vegan-friendly.
The origin of the sugar is not specified that often.
You can always contact the company and ask.
Spices
Most spices are vegan, but there can be flavors derived from animals here as well and that’s why this ingredient fall under the category questionable ingredients.
Mono- And Diglycerides
Mono- And Diglycerides are mainly made from plants but can be made from animals.
As I mentioned before if you see this on a product and the product has a vegan label from a trusted organisation then it’s safe to consume for vegans.
Most of the time it’s best to stay away from this ingredient.
Disodium Guanylate
This ingredient if often paired with Disodium Inosinate since it’s a natural flavor enhancer.
It can be made from mushrooms and animals.
Since it’s no way of knowing where this ingredient comes from it’s impossible to know if it’s vegan or not.
The only way to be sure is to call the company and ask.
Corn Oil & Corn Syrup Solids
Corn beeing a common GMO crop makes this ingredient questionable.
The problem with GMO crops is the high amount of pesticide needed, which effects the environment in a negative way.
FAQ’s
Are Lays Lime Chips Vegan?
The Lay’s Limón flavor could be vegan it contains natural flavors. Since this is an umbrella term and a lot of non-vegan flavors can be added here, it’s hard to know if it’s vegan-friendly.
Does Lay’s Chips contain GMO’s?
Well there is a high chance the crops used for Corn oil is GMO. It’s a very common GMO crop in the US.
Conclusion
As you see there are quite a few flavors of Lay’s that are vegan, while a lot of the flavors are not.
There are also a few flavors that could potentionally be vegan, but contain natural flavors, which can be non-vegan.
If you are not bothered by this, then you have a lot more flavors you can eat. These flavors have “Could be vegan” in the status field in the table.
I hope you found this article informational and can help you in your vegan journey.
