Warheads candy have been a part of many people growing up and I’m no exception. It was invented in Tawain in 1975 to later be exported to USA. There are a lot of flavors, but my personal favorite has always been extreme sour hard candy. I wanted to give my kids this candy, but I knew I needed to to some research and answer the question, are Warheads vegan?
A lot of Warheads flavors can be consumed by dietary vegans and none of the flavors can be consumed by ethical vegans, this largely due to the fact that most flavors contains Artificial Colors. Some flavors also contains Gelatin and Confectioner’s Glaze.
Below is a table of Warheads flavors and its vegan status.
| Flavor | Dietary Vegan | Ethical Vegan |
| Warheads Extreme Sour Hard Candy | Yes | No, contains Artificial colors. |
| Warheads Sour Cubes | Yes | No, contains Artificial colors. |
| Warheads Blizzard Cubes | Yes | No, contains Artificial colors. |
| Warheads Galactic Cubes | No | No, contains Confectioner’s Glaze. |
| Warheads Chewy Bunnies | Yes | No, contains Artificial colors. |
| Warheads Chewy Wally Heads | Yes | No, contains Artificial colors. |
| Warheads Grubs | No | No, contains Gelatin. |
| Warheads Lil’ Worms | No | No, contains Gelatin. |
| Warheads Sour Jelly Beans | Yes | No, contains Artificial colors. |
| Warheads Sour Twists | Maybe | No, contains Artificial colors. |
| Warheads Super Sour Double Drops | Yes | No, contains Artificial colors. |
| Warheads Super Sour Spray Candy | Yes | No, contains Artificial colors. |
| Warheads Sour Dippin’ Pucker Packs | Maybe | No, contains Artificial colors. |
| Warheads Sour Booms | Yes | No, contains Artificial colors and palm oil. |
| Warheads Colossal Sours | Yes | No, contains Artificial colors. |
| Warheads Bubble Gum Pops | Yes | No, contains Artificial colors. |
| Warheads Sour Worms | No | No, contains Gelatin. |
| Warheads Sour Watermelon Slices | Yes | No, contains Artificial colors. |
Warheads Ingredients
Below are the ingredients for the most popular flavors of warheads.
I will highlight a few that we need to take a closer look at.
- Sugar
- Corn Syrup
- Malic Acid
- Citric Acid
- Magnesium Stearate ( Processing Aid )
- Gum Acacia
- Ascorbic Acid
- Artificial Flavors
- Carnauba Wax
- Corn Starch
- Blue 1
- Red 40
- Yellow 5
- Gelatin
- Titanium Dioxide
- Fumaric Acid
- Sodium Citrate
- Tartaric Acid
- Confectioner’s Glaze
- Mono and Diglycerides
- Magnesium Stearate
- Dydrogenated Palm Oil
[source]
Non-Vegan Ingredients
Confectioner’s Glaze
Also known as shellac is made from lady bugs in east Asia.
They leave a goo when they eat, that is used to make this ingredient.
Ingredients derived from insects cannot be consumed by vegan either.
Gelatin
Gelatin is made from animals and is a non-vegan ingredient.
Questionable Ingredients
Sugar
Sugar in itself is vegan, but there are refining processes that can make sugar non-vegan.
The most common sugar in the candy industry is cane sugar, more specifically refined cane sugar.
Cane sugar in it’s raw form is brown and vegan-friendly.
But when in order to make the sugar fit the candy product better it needs to be refined.
A common way to refine cane sugar is to use bone char from dead cows in the bleaching process.
This is a problem for vegans because using animal-derived ingredients in products or exploiting animals to produce a product does not align with veganism.
Unless the product is labeled vegan by a trusted organisation, then it’s no way to know if the sugar used i vegan-friendly.
Some companies uses beet sugar instead and this sugar is perfect for vegans.
Palm Oil
Palm oil in itself does not contain any animal-derived ingredients.
Still most vegans avoid this ingredient, why is that?
The biggest reason is the deforestation that needs to be done to make place new palm oil farms.
This deforestation cause sever damage to the environment and to the wildlife.
Orangutans are getting their homes destroyed, because we want palm oil in our food and sweets.
This exploit has led to a boycott for a lot of vegans when it comes to palm oil.
However there is an non-for-profit organisation called RSPO, that specializes in helping companies to product sustainable palm oil that has minimal effect on the environment.
They also connect companies to purchase sustainable palm oil.
Impact Confections cannot be found among the RSPO members.
This means that the palm oil in Warheads Sour Booms is not vegan-friendly.
Corn
Corn is one of the most common GMO crops.
The problem with GMO crops is the amount of herbicide that is needed.
Herbicide does effect the surrounding ecosystem in a negative way.
Artificial Colors
Artificial colors are one of the most controversial ingredients in the vegan community.
This ingredient should be easy to determine if it’s vegan or not, because animal testing is still being conducted and as we all know, if animals are being exploited in the production process, then the product is not vegan-friendly.
For me I’m defining vegans into two categories; dietary vegan and ethical vegans.
Dietary vegans can eat artificial colors, but ethical vegans choose not to consume this ingredient.
There are also several health issues connected to consuming artificial colors such as hyper activity.
Mono and Diglycerides
This ingredient can be derived from both animals and plants.
Even tho this ingredient is most derived from plants, it must be put under questionable ingredients because it could potentially not be vegan.
Magnesium Stearate
One ingredient in magnesium stearate is called stearic acid.
This can be derived from both plants and animals.
Vegan Alternative To Warheads
I found a great vegan alternative that ethical vegans can eat as well.
It’s called YumEarth Organic Giggles Sour Chewy Candy Bites.
They are 100% vegan and taste amazing!
FAQ’s
Are Warheads Vegetarian?
Most flavors of Warheads are vegetarian. Warheads Grubs, Warheads Lil’ Worms and Warheads Sour Worms contains gelatin and are not vegetarian. Below is a table with Warheads flavors and its vegetarian status.
| Flavor | Vegetarian Status |
| Warheads Extreme Sour Hard Candy | Yes |
| Warheads Sour Cubes | Yes |
| Warheads Blizzard Cubes | Yes |
| Warheads Galactic Cubes | Yes |
| Warheads Chewy Bunnies | Yes |
| Warheads Chewy Wally Heads | Yes |
| Warheads Grubs | No, contains Gelatin. |
| Warheads Lil’ Worms | No, contains Gelatin. |
| Warheads Sour Jelly Beans | Yes |
| Warheads Sour Twists | Yes |
| Warheads Super Sour Double Drops | Yes |
| Warheads Super Sour Spray Candy | Yes |
| Warheads Sour Dippin’ Pucker Packs | Yes |
| Warheads Sour Booms | Yes |
| Warheads Colossal Sours | Yes |
| Warheads Bubble Gum Pops | Yes |
| Warheads Sour Worms | No, contains Gelatin. |
| Warheads Sour Watermelon Slices | Yes |
Are Warheads Spray Vegan?
Warheads Super Sour Spray Candy can be consumed by dietary vegans because it contains no animal-derived ingredients. It is not fit for ethical vegans because it contains artificial colors that is still being tested on animals.
Are Warheads Sour Jelly Beans Vegan?
Warheads Sour Jelly Beans is a good fit for dietary vegans. They don’t contain any animal-derived ingredients, but as for ethical vegans, they are not suited. Tests are still being conducted on animals such as mice and vegans tends to stay away from products that exploit animals.
Conclusion
Luckily for dietary vegans, most of the Warheads flavors can be eaten and for ethical vegans I found a great vegan alternative from YumEarth.
Knowing what is vegan or not is not always that easy. Everything is not that black and white when it comes to veganism. It’s important that you choose your vegan path and eat what fits your lifestyle.
Thanks for reading, take care!
