Zapp’s are crunchy potato chips, produced by a company called Utz Quality Food. It was launched in 1985 and is now one of Americas favorite chips. Zapp’s has a wide range of flavors to satisfy most peoples needs, but one important question remains, are Zapp’s vegan?
Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Regular, Voodoo and Spicy Cajun Crawtator are all vegan and a lot of the other flavors might be vegan as well, but they contain natural flavors, which can be derived from both animals and plants.
Potato chips are not always vegan because they made from potatoes, you would be surprised how many brands of chips that are not vegan-friendly.
I made a table below showing Zapp’s flavors and its vegan status.
| Flavor | Vegan Status | Link |
| Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Regular | Vegan. | View On Amazon |
| Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Voodoo | Vegan. | View On Amazon |
| Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Spicy Cajun Crawtator | Vegan. | View On Amazon |
| Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Evil Eye | Vegan, contains natural flavors. | View On Amazon |
| Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Voodoo Heat | Vegan, contains natural flavors. | View On Amazon |
| Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Jalapeno | Vegan, contains natural flavors. | View On Amazon |
| Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Salt & Vinegar | No, it contains Milk. | View On Amazon |
| Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Cajun Dill Gator-tator | Vegan, contains natural flavors. | View On Amazon |
| Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Mesquite BBQ | Vegan, contains natural flavors. | View On Amazon |
For more vegan potato chips flavors make sure to check out best vegan chips list.
Zapp’s Chips Ingredients
Let’s take a look at the ingredients that can be found throughout Zapp’s flavors.
I have highlighted the ingredients that we need to take a closer look at.
- Artificial Flavor
- Canola Oil
- Caramel Color
- Citric Acid
- Corn Oil
- Corn Syrup
- Cottonseed Oil
- Dextrose
- Extractives of Paprika
- FD& C Red 40 Lake
- Garlic Powder
- Jalapeno Pepper Powder
- Lactic Acid
- Lactose
- Malic Acid
- Maltodextrin
- Molasses
- Natural Flavors
- Natural Hickory Smoke Flavor
- Natural Smoke Flavor
- Onion Powder
- Paprika
- Peanut Oil
- Potatoes
- Safflower Oil
- Salt
- Sea Salt
- Sodium Citrate
- Spices
- Soybean Oil
- Sugar
- Sunflower Oil
- Tamarind
- Turmeric Extract
- Torula Yeast
[source]
Non-Vegan Ingredients
Lactose
Lactose is sugar from cows milk and is not vegan.
Questionable Ingredients
Sugar
Sugar and dextrose by itself is indeed a vegan-friendly ingredient, but what not might be vegan is the production process of sugar within the candy and snacks industry. The most common used sugar is cane sugar and more often than not refined cane sugar. This means that the sugar have been bleached to better suit the need for the candy or snack.
A very popular way to bleach cane sugar is to use bone char from dead cows. Even tho there are no evidence that suggests that the bone char would somehow contaminate the sugar, the mere fact that it bone char is used in the production process does make refined sugar a non-vegan ingredient.
There is no way of knowing the origin of the sugar used in Zapp’s chips, but the sugar might be from beets and they are indeed vegan-friendly.
Artificial Colors
Artificial colors are common in the USA and whether or not they are vegan-friendly is still a debate to this day. In Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Evil Eye an artificial color called red 40 lake can be found. There are several studies that links red 40 to health problems and there animal testing is still being conducted.
This has the vegan community torn because there are no animal-derived ingredients in red 40 lake, but the fact that animals has to suffer for us to be able to consume it is enough to call it non-vegan. We can divide vegans into two groups; dietary vegans and ethical vegans.
This would make artificial colors suited for dietary vegans, but not for ethical vegans. There are several other methods to do testing today such as advanced computer simulations, where animals would not be needed.
Corn & Soy
Corn and soy are of course vegan-friendly and does contain any animal-derived ingredients. The problem here is the strong presence of GMO’s. GMO crops requires a lot of herbicide to give good yields and this has a very negative impact on the ecosystems surrounding the farms.
Water can be contaminated and the effect on insects as well as animals can be severe.
Natural Flavors
Natural flavors can be a tricky ingredient, because it is an umbrella term. This means that the companies can add which ever flavors they want and put it under natural flavors. Both animal- and plant-derived ingredients can be found in this ingredient and unless the company discloses the source, there is no way to know.
There is an article on the National Geographic website where they confirm a very unusual ingredient that can be found in vanilla flavors. It is FDA approved and the ingredient is goo from the butt of beavers.
I could not believe my eyes when I read this and this just shows that you need to be careful as a vegan when it comes to different flavors and natural flavors. The best way to be sure is to contact the company and ask about the source.
Related Questions
Are Zapp’s Chips Vegetarian?
Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Regular, Voodoo and Spicy Cajun Crawtator are suited for all vegetarians and Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Salt & Vinegar can be consumed by lacto and lacto-ovo vegetarians. The rest of the flavors might be vegetarian, but they contain natural flavors, which can be derived from both plants and animals.
| Flavor | Vegetarian Status |
| Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Regular | All Vegetarians. |
| Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Voodoo | All Vegetarians. |
| Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Spicy Cajun Crawtator | All Vegetarians. |
| Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Evil Eye | Maybe, it contains Natural Flavors. |
| Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Voodoo Heat | Maybe, it contains Natural Flavors. |
| Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Jalapeno | Maybe, it contains Natural Flavors. |
| Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Salt & Vinegar | Lacto & Lacto-Ovo Vegetarians. |
| Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Cajun Dill Gator-tator | Maybe, it contains Natural Flavors. |
| Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Mesquite BBQ | Maybe, it contains Natural Flavors. |
Conclusion
It’s great that a lot of Zapp’s flavors are suited for both vegans and vegetarians. The problem is the natural flavors, where the source is unclear. If this do not bother you, then a lot more flavors are available for you.
Being a vegan today is not easy and that is why made this article. Reading the plan ingredients might not tell you the whole truth about the origin or production process that lies behind it.
I hope you found this article useful, have a great day!
