Whilst many well known brands are dipping their toes into the vegan sweet market, the Vegan ranges still too often find themselves cast aside to the highest points of most supermarket shelves.
The Accidentally Vegan Sweets in Supermarkets Right Now
A sugar coated minefield awaits any shopper trying to fulfill their sugar fix and under the current circumstances, prolonged browsing time isn't exactly a luxury any of us have.
To aid your Vegan supermarket sweep we've compiled a list of all the very best Vegan sweets currently available.
Skittles (personal favorite)
Who knew tasting the rainbow could be so good for the planet? Skittles made the forward thinking decision back in 2009 to remove Gelatin from their sweets. Their range available in most supermarkets includes:
Standard Skittles
Sour Skittles
NEW - Fruit Chewy Skittle (no shell)
Millions
Whilst i remember when these were 45p for a large bag instead of £1.00 they are still a great addition to any vegan sweet fans secret draw. Tons of fab flavors but in most supermarkets you'll find the classic Bubblegum, Blackcurrant and Strawberry.
Jelly Tots
With a name like Jelly Tots you may think these fruity gems are aimed at children. You're probably right.... but i can rarely leave a supermarket without a "share" bag.
StarBurst
Definitively not one for the waste conscious when every individual sweet is wrapped but perhaps they would otherwise end up as one big fruity ball if not for the wrapping.
Starburst have released various flavours and combinations but none seem to stay on the supermarket shelves for long other than the trusty originals.
Swizzels
These old fashioned sweet shop favorites have been brought into the 21st century since removing the gelatin from much of the range. Whilst unfortunately Gelatin has yet to be removed from their Squashy's, they do have a considerable amount of vegan choices:
Candy Whistles
Double Lollies
Drumstick
Refresher Choos
Parma Violets
Rainbow Drops
Fruit Pops
Lovehearts
What Haribo are Vegan?
Only a select few Haribo have so far made the vegan cut. You're in luck if one of these are your favorite:
· Haribo Sour Rainbow Spaghetti
· Haribo Sour Rainbow Strips
· Haribo Sour Rainbow Twists
TOP TIP: You'll often find the Rainbow Twists in the foreign food isle so check there before losing all hope.
Tutti Frooties (Rowntrees) - Discontinued
Remember breaking your teeth on these as a youngster? Well turns out they are completely Vegan. However, don't get too excited because i've just found out they were discontinued last year. Perhaps all of the tooth chipping finally caught up to them. Who knows. They will be missed.
Supermarket Own Brand
They might no longer be 3 for a £1.00 but many supermarkets now boast a large 'own brand' vegan sweet range. Lidl and Aldi in particular offer some great Vegan Choices. However if you want the supermarket with the largest vegan range, that would have to be M&S.
To help a vegan navigate through the vast amount of own brand sweet choices i've left a breakdown at the bottom of this blog outlining the most common non vegan ingredients to look out for.
Now some Vegan only brands you may already know
Candy Kittens
Jaime Laing did good on this one. His team of kittens have been coming up with awesome flavour combinations since 2012. So much so they've now taken prime spots in most UK major supermarkets and have become one of thee recognisable Vegan brands. I would suggest you go and try out their Peach Fizz or Wild Strawberry.
Free From Fellows
Less well know than Candy Kittens and a smaller range but they have managed to crack the elusive Vegan Cola Bottle. These guys are Gluten Free, Vegan and Sugar Free so whilst they might not be everyone's cup of tea, they are inclusive of everyone so they get the thumbs up from us.
Jealous Sweets
Out of all the Vegan sweet brands in the UK, Jealous sweets have got closer than anyone to achieving the 'chew factor' of Gelatin containing sweet. From Tangy Worms to Love Bears and Fizzy Friends they have some great flavors which will leave you thinking you've pick up their Evil Gelatin containing Twin.
Fruit-tella
Made with Fruit Juice, natural flavourings and colourings, this fruit-tella duo are irresistibly fruity. If you don't pull a face when you try these sour snakes then somethings not right.
Online Vegan Pick & Mix
For years the Pick and Mix world has been a hard to navigate one as a vegan. Many independent Pick & Mix shops fail miserably at labeling the Gelatin free choices, leaving it to past experience or extended reading of a very small ingredient lists to decipher the Vegan friendly choices.
Rubydoobys pull all the Vegan pick and mix choices into one place thereby doing all the work for you. As an added bonus, every bit of packaging they use is either Recyclable, Compostable or Biodegradable - the signature sweet pouches are compostable within 10 weeks.
Now with over 50 choices of Vegan sweets, if you're favorite can no longer be your favorite since switching to veganism, you're bound to find the perfect replacement.
Spotting the common non-vegan ingredients
Supermarkets are frequently introducing Vegan own brand sweet choices but again these aren't always easily identifiable as Vegan.
If you do ever find yourself in a pickle of 'is it or isn't it vegan' then these are the primary ingredients to look out for which are not vegan friendly:
Gelatine (E441)
Beeswax (E901)
Shellac (E904)
Carmine (E120
Remembering these four most common non vegan ingredients will be a big help when you next optimistically scan the ingredients list of a brand new sweet.
If we've missed any well known Vegan sweets off this list feel free to get in touch.
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