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Betty Crocker has been a trusted name in baking for generations, providing an easy and reliable way to create delicious cakes and desserts. For decades, Betty Crocker cake mix has been the go-to product for home bakers looking for a foolproof solution for their treat-making needs. But, is Betty Crocker Cake Mix vegan?
Betty Crocker Cake Mix might be vegan since they don’t contain milk or eggs, however there are several questionable ingredients that can be sourced from animals such as Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate and Monoglycerides.
Below is a table showing Betty Crocker Cake Mix flavors and its vegan status.
Flavor | Vegan Status |
Betty Crocker Super Moist Delights Butter Pecan Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Super Moist Delights Carrot Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Super Moist Delights Cherry Chip Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Super Moist Delights Dark Chocolate Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Super Moist Delights French Vanilla Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Super Moist Delights German Chocolate Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Super Moist Delights Lemon Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Super Moist Delights Rainbow Chip Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Super Moist Delights Red Velvet Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Super Moist Delights Spice Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Super Moist Delights Strawberry Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Super Moist Delights Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Super Moist Favorites Devil’s Food Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Super Moist Favorites Milk Chocolate Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Super Moist Favorites Vanilla Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Super Moist Favorites White Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Super Moist Favorites Yellow Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Angel Food Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Confetti Angel Food Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Gingerbread Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Pineapple Upside Down Cake Mix and Topping | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Pound Cake Mix | Might be vegan. |
Betty Crocker Cake Mix Ingredients
Below is a list of ingredients from all the flavors that I could find.
- Baking Soda
- Carrot Flavored Pieces
- Carrot Powder
- Cellulose Gum
- Cinnamon
- Corn Cereal
- Corn Starch
- Corn Syrup
- Dicalcium Phosphate
- Distilled Monoglycerides
- Enriched Flour Bleached
- Folic Acid
- Iron
- Malted Barley Flour
- Monocalcium Phosphate
- Monoglycerides
- Natural And Artificial Flavor
- Niacin
- Palm Oil
- Propylene Glycol Mono And Diesters
- Red 40
- Riboflavin
- Salt
- Sodium Aluminum Phosphate
- Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate
- Spice
- Sugar
- Thiamin Mononitrate
- Xanthan Gum
- Yellow 6
[Source]
As always I’ve highlighted the ingredients that we need to take a closer look at.
Questionable Ingredients
Palm Oil
Palm oil is one of the most controversial ingredients, not only because of the deforestation issues that takes place, but also because of the cruelty to wildlife. Orangutans and rhinos are some of the animals that are being forced out of their homes.
Because of this many vegans are staying away from palm oil, which is not an easy things since it’s a very popular vegetable oil in many products. But, there is a way for the palm oil to become more vegan-friendly and it’s all thanks to an non-profit organization called RSPO.
They help companies produce sustainable palm oil, which has a low impact on the environment.
Sugar
Sugar is a controversial ingredient for vegans and reason for this is the risk of bone char from dead cows being used in the production process. This problem is narrowed down to refined cane sugar, which means that raw cane sugar is always 100% vegan-friendly.
So why is the cane sugar refined? It’s to make the sugar fit the product better and in this refining process the cane sugar could have been bleached using bone char. So some vegans tends to stay away from sugar all together while others don’t. The choice is yours here.
Natural Flavor
Natural flavor is an umbrella term, meaning that it consists of several ingredients and the source of these ingredients are never disclosed. This means that the ingredients could be from animals and it’s impossible to know because these ingredients are not disclosed on the ingredients label.
Artificial Colors
This is a very controversial ingredient in the vegan community and the issue with artificial colors is the fact that they are tested on animals. There are other testing methods such as computer simulations that can be used instead.
Red 40 and yellow 6 are two artificial colors that can be found in some of Betty Crocker Cake Mixes, which would make those not suitable for ethical vegans. There are also several health issues connected to artificial colors such as hyperactivity in children.
Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate & Monoglycerides
These two ingredients can be sourced from animals, which makes them highly questionable.
Corn
Corn is one of the most common GMO crops in the US and the problem with them is the fact that they require a high amount of herbicide in order to grow. This can pollute the surrounding ecosystem and create severe damage to the environment.
Conclusion
To recap it’s very hard to determine if the Betty Crocker Cake Mixes are vegan-friendly or not since they all contain so many questionable ingredients. It’s great that they contain popular non-vegan ingredients such as milk and eggs, but some of the other ingredients could very well be sourced from animals.
Thanks for reading, take care!