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Sour Punch Straws are an exciting flavor of candy that have been around for decades. With their chewy texture and fruity taste, Sour Punch Straws have become a popular snack choice for many people. But, are Sour Punch Straws vegan?
Sour Punch Straws are suited for dietary vegan because they don’t contain ingredients sourced from animals. They are not suited for ethical vegans because they contain artificial colors.
Below is a table showing Sour Punch Straws flavors and its vegan status.
| Flavor | Vegan Status |
| Sour Punch Blue Raspberry Straws | Dietary vegan. |
| Sour Punch Grape Straws | Dietary vegan. |
| Sour Punch Rainbow Straws | Dietary vegan. |
| Sour Punch Strawberry Straws | Dietary vegan. |
Sour Punch Straws Ingredients
Below is a list of ingredients from all the flavors that I could find.
- Artificial Flavors
- Blue 1
- Citric Acid
- Corn Syrup
- Glycerin
- Glyceryl Monostearate
- High Fructose Corn Syrup
- Malic Acid
- Red 40
- Sugar
- Tartaric Acid
- Wheat Flour
- Yellow 5 (Tartrazine)
[Source]
As always I’ve highlighted the ingredients that we need to take a closer look at.
Questionable Ingredients
Sugar
Sugar is a tricky ingredient because there is an instance where sugar could be classified as non-vegan. The most common sugar types are beet sugar and cane sugar, with the latter being the most popular sugar in the candy and sweets industry.
Beet sugar is vegan and so is raw cane sugar, but the cane sugar is often refined to be more suited to the products. In this refining process the cane sugar is also bleached. A common method is to use bone char from dead cows and this does not align with veganism.
Artificial Colors
This ingredient is highly discussed within the vegan community because it’s a controversial ingredient. Veganism is about animal rights and this ingredient is known for being tested on animals.
there are several other methods of testing that can be used instead, such as computer simulations, but these animal testing might still be going on. There are also health issues such as hyperactivity in kids that are linked to these colors.
Corn
Corn is one of the most GMO crops in the US and many vegans tends to stay away from GMO’s. The reason for this is the high amount of herbicide that is being used, which can can cause severe damage to the surrounding environment.
Glycerin
This can be sourced from animals and plants.
Conclusion
It’s that all flavors of Sour Punch Straws are suitable for dietary vegans, a.k.a. people eating a plant-based diet for other reasons than to stop animal-cruelty. Ethical vegans tends to stay away from artificial colors and this ingredient can be found in all of the flavors.
Thanks for reading, take care!
