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With Pillsbury Pie Crust, home bakers can whip up delicious homemade pies with minimal effort. Whether you’re baking a sweet or savory pie, Pillsbury Pie Crust makes it easy to create the perfect crust. But, is Pillsbury Pie Crust vegan?
Pillsbury Deep Dish Pie Crusts is suitable for dietary vegans because it does not contain ingredients derived from animals. The other Pillsbury crusts products contains lard and is not vegan-friendly.
Below is a table showing Pillsbury Pie Crust products and its vegan status.
| Product | Vegan Status |
| Pillsbury refrigerated Pie Crust | No, contains Lard. |
| Pillsbury Frozen Pie Crusts Regular | No, contains Lard. |
| Pillsbury Deep Dish Pie Crusts Frozen Pie Dough | No, contains Lard. |
| Pillsbury Deep Dish Pie Crusts | Dietary vegan. |
| Pillsbury Mini Pie Crusts | No, contains Lard. |
Pillsbury Pie Crust Ingredients
Below is a list of ingredients from all the products that I could find.
- Annatto Extract (For Color)
- Baking Soda
- Citric Acid
- Corn Starch
- Enriched Wheat Flour
- Ferrous Sulfate
- Folic Acid
- Hydrogenated Soybean Oil
- Iron
- Lard And Hydrogenated Lard With BHA And BHT Added To Protect Flavor
- Niacin
- Palm Oil
- Riboflavin
- Rice Flour
- Salt
- Sodium Metabisulfite (Preservative)
- Sodium Propionate And Potassium Sorbate (Preservatives)
- Soybean Oil
- Sugar
- Thiamin Mononitrate
- Water
- Wheat Starch
- Xanthan Gum
- Yellow 5
- Yellow 6
[Source]
As always I’ve highlighted the ingredients that we need to take a closer look at.
Non-Vegan Ingredients
Lard
Since lard is animal-fat, mostly from pigs, it’s not a vegan-friendly ingredient.
Questionable Ingredients
Sugar
Sugar can be a tricky ingredient for vegans, because there is an instance where sugar could be classified as non-vegan. Two of the most common sugar types are beet sugar and cane sugar, with the latter being the most used in the candy and snacks industry.
Beet sugar is always vegan and so is raw cane sugar, but the cane sugar is often refined to fit the product and in this 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 make the sugar non-vegan.
Palm Oil
Palm oil is a very controversial oil and has made many people aware of the fact that the palm oil industry is damaging the environment. Not only do the orangutans and rhinos lose their homes, but the rain forest is being destroyed and the wildlife suffers.
Many vegans are staying away from products containing palm oil because it’s not a vegan-friendly ingredient. However there is a way to make the palm oil more vegan-friendly and it’s called RSPO. This non-profit organisation help companies produce and buy sustainable palm oil.
This would have a minimal impact on the environment and many vegans are okay with consuming sustainable palm oil.
Artificial Colors
This ingredient is very controversial within the vegan community. A lot of vegans would call this ingredient non-vegan and the reason for this is the fact that animal testing that has been done and maybe still is going on.
This has made vegan split into two groups, ethical vegans and dietary vegans. As you might have guessed the ethical vegans don’t want to consume artificial colors whereas the dietary vegan might not have a problem with it.
Soy & Corn
Soy and corn are two of the most common GMO crops in USA and the problem with these crops is the high amount of herbicide that is needed to grow. This can pollute the surrounding ecosystem and damage it beyond repair.
Conclusion
Pillsbury Pie Crusts are not the most vegan-friendly ones in the world. Almost all flavors contains lard, but Pillsbury Deep Dish Pie Crusts does not contain lard, however it contains artificial colors, which many ethical vegans stays away from. Make sure to read the ingredients label because companies can change their recipes.
Thanks for reading, take care!
