Are Maui Style Potato Chips Vegan 2023? All Flavors Reviewed


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Potato chips is a popular snack for vegan, however that does not mean all potato chips are vegan. I found a potato chips brand that I had not yet to try called Maui Style, so today I will answer the question, are Maui Style potato chips vegan?

Maui Style Potato Chips Regular is vegan because it does not contain any animal produced ingredients. The rest of the flavors contains milk making them non-vegan.

Below is a table showing Maui Style potato chips flavors and its vegan status.

FlavorVegan Status
Maui Style Potato Chips RegularVegan.
Maui Style Potato Chips Maui Onion No, contains Milk.
Maui Style Potato Chips Salt & VinegarNo, contains Milk.

Check out or best vegan chips flavors list for more tips.

Maui Style Potato Chips Ingredients

Below is a list of ingredients from all the flavors that I could find.

  • Canola Oil
  • Brown Sugar
  • Buttermilk
  • Canola Oil
  • Citric Acid
  • Corn
  • Dextrose
  • Garlic Powder
  • Lactose
  • Maltodextrin [Made From Corn]
  • Maui Onion Powder
  • Maui Onion Seasoning
  • Molasses
  • Natural Flavor [Including Milk]
  • Potatoes
  • Salt
  • Sea Salt
  • Sugar
  • Sunflower Oil
  • Yeast Extract

[Source]

As always I’ve highlighted the ingredients that we need to take a closer look at.

Non-Vegan Ingredients

Milk

Lactose and buttermilk can be found in two Maui Style chips flavors.

These are made from cow’s milk and is not vegan.

Natural Flavor [Including Milk]

Next we have natural flavors and the ingredients label discloses that it contains milk. The problem with natural flavors is that it can also contain animal-derived ingredients and it’s no way of knowing the ingredients source unless it’s disclosed.

More often than not natural flavors is vegan-friendly.

Questionable Ingredients

Sugar

When it comes to chips, sugar might be added for better taste. The two most common sugar types are beet- and cane sugar. With the latter being more popular. This can be an issue for vegan, because of how the cane sugar is produced when it’s refined.

The cane sugar needs to be refined in order to fit the product better and in this process the sugar is also bleached. The most common process to bleach cane sugar is to use bone char from dead cows. This would classify the cane sugar as non-vegan.

A lot of ethical vegans tends to stay away from cane sugar to be sure. Another option to contact the company and ask.

Corn

Now you might wonder why I put corn under questionable ingredients? Well I felt the need to mention that corn is a very common GMO crop in USA. The problem is the high amount of herbicide that is needed to be able to grow GMO crops.

This herbicide can damage the surrounding ecosystem severely and a lot of vegans tends to stay away from GMO corn.

FAQ

Are Maui Style Potato Chips Vegetarian?

Maui Style Potato Chips Regular is suited for all vegetarians, while the flavors Maui Onion and Salt & Vinegar is suited for lacto-ovo and lacto vegetarians.

FlavorVegan Status
Maui Style Potato Chips RegularVegan.
Maui Style Potato Chips Maui Onion No, contains Milk.
Maui Style Potato Chips Salt & VinegarNo, contains Milk.

Conclusion

One out of three flavors being vegan is good and as you can see milk is a popular ingredients in chips. But most of the times, at least the original flavors is vegan.

I hope you found the article helpful.

Thanks for reading, take care!

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