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Graeter’s Ice Cream is a beloved staple in Cincinnati, Ohio and beyond. For over 145 years, this family-run business has been churning out delicious artisanal ice cream that has garnered national attention. But, is Graeter’s Ice Cream vegan?
Graeter’s Lemon Sorbet, Mango Sorbet and Raspberry Sorbet are all vegan because they don’t contain ingredients sourced from animals.
Below is a table showing Graeter’s Ice Cream flavors and its vegan status.
| Flavor | Vegan Status |
| Rum Raisin | No, contains Milk. |
| Cinnamon | No, contains Milk. |
| Peppermint Stick | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Eggnog | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Birthday Cake | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Black Cherry Chocolate Chip | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Boldly Bearcat | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Brown Butter Bourbon Pecan | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Buckeye Blitz Chocolate Chip | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Butter Pecan | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Caramel Macchiato | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Chocolate Chip | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Coconut Chocolate Chip | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Cookie Dough Chocolate Chip | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Cookie & Cream | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Cotton Candy | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Dark Chocolate Brownie | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Double Chocolate Chip | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Dutch Milk Chocolate | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Lemon Sorbet | Vegan. |
| Madagascar Vanilla Bean | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Mango Sorbet | Vegan. |
| Midnight Snack | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Mint Chocolate Chip | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Mocha Chocolate Chip | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Oregon Strawberry | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Original Salted Caramel | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Raspberry Sorbet | Vegan. |
| S’mores | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Toffee Chocolate Chip | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
| Vienna Coffee | No, contains Milk & Egg. |
Graeter’s Ice Cream Ingredients
Below is a list of ingredients from all the flavors that I could find.
- And Turmeric Extract For Color
- Annatto Color
- Baking Powder
- Buttermilk Powder
- Cane Sugar
- Carob Bean Gum
- Cinnamon
- Coconut Oil
- Corn Starch
- Corn Syrup
- Cream
- Eggs
- Enriched Flour
- Folic Acid
- Guar Gum
- Lemon Juice Concentrate
- Milk
- Mono Calcium Phosphate
- Natural Flavors
- Niacin
- Nonfat Milk
- Palm Oil
- Paprika Extract
- Raisins
- Reduced Iron
- Riboflavin
- Sea Salt
- Skim Milk
- Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate
- Sodium Bicarbonate
- Soy Lecithin
- Spirulina Extract
- Sprinkles
- Sugar
- Sweetened Condensed Skim Milk
- Thiamin Mononitrate
- Water
- Unbleached Wheat Flour
[Source]
As always I’ve highlighted the ingredients that we need to take a closer look at.
Non-Vegan Ingredients
Milk & Egg
Both these ingredients comes from animals and is not vegan.
Questionable Ingredients
Palm Oil
Palm oil has been making the news for years and the reason for it is the severe deforestation taking place, which is very detrimental for the surrounding wild life. Orangutans and rhinos are two animals that are forced from their homes and this made many people upset, not only vegans.
So a large boycott of products containing palm oil took place and today many vegans are still avoiding this ingredient. However there is a way for the palm oil to become more vegan-friendly and it’s called RSPO.
It stands for Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. They are a non-profit organization that helps companies produce sustainable palm oil that has a minimal impact on the environment. They have a members page where you can search for all RSPO members.
Sugar
Sugar is a controversial ingredient in the candy and sweets industry and reason for this is the risk of bone char from dead cows being used in the production process. Raw cane sugar and beet sugar are always vegan, but when the cane sugar gets refined it can cause problem for vegans.
Before cane sugar is used in product it’s often refined and in this refining process the sugar is also bleached. A common method is to use bone char from dead cows and exploiting animals in the production process would classify the product as non-vegan by many vegans.
Natural Flavors
Natural flavors is an umbrella term, which means that it can consist of several ingredients and the source of these ingredients are never disclosed on the ingredients label. So the ingredients can be sourced from animals and vegans would not know because the ingredient would not be disclosed on the ingredients label.
The only time ingredients are disclosed in natural flavors is if they contain milk or other common ingredient that people can be allergic to.
Corn & Soy
Corn and soy are two of the most common GMO crop in USA and many vegans tend to stay away from these. The reason for this is the high amount of herbicide that is used in order for the crop to grow properly. It can pollute the surrounding ecosystem and inflict severe damage to the environment.
Conclusion
Many ice cream brands uses milk in their ice cream and this is a problem for vegans since the milk comes from cows. Graeter’s is no different, but they do offer some sorbet flavors, which is entirely vegan.
Thanks for reading, take care!
