What Brands of Candy Canes are 100% Vegan?

Most candy canes you encounter will most likely be vegan. Candy canes are generally a compressed sugary curved stick with food-coloring and peppermint oil. However, some candy canes are non-vegan due to the red coloring used to make the red and white stripes. Instead of using something like Red 40 that is suitable for vegans, in some cases, they use an animal-based red coloring derived from crushed beetles.

Below we will go over the most popular brands, domestically in North America and internationally. Generally, homemade or “artisan” candy canes like you may find at a German Christmas market are vegan. That is because non-vegan food coloring ingredients are only really sold to industrial companies that mass-produce products.

Are Spangler Candy Canes Vegan?

Absolutely!

As far as we can tell, all Spangler Candy Canes are vegan. They have yet to introduce any strange non-vegan chocolate candy canes. Instead, they mostly stick to fruit and peppermint flavors that do not use bug-derived food colorings.

Are Jolly Rancher Candy Canes Vegan?

According to the manufacturer of Jolly Rancher Candy Canes, they should be vegan. They do not contain animal-derived ingredients, and the ingredient label suggests they’re vegan. Some ingredients can be from animals or plants, but it sounds like they source those from plants, so Jolly Rancher Candy Canes should be vegan.

Keep in mind that if you buy Jolly Rancher Candy Canes, they won’t taste pepperminty like regular candy canes but instead will taste slightly like, well, jolly ranchers. They’re a little more creamy than the original candies.

Are SweeTart Candy Canes Vegan?

Yes, just like regular SweeTarts, the candy canes made by this company are completely vegan and contain no animal products whatsoever.

Are Brach’s (Bobs) Candy Canes Vegan?

This is probably the most popular and common brand of Candy Canes. You can find them at pretty much every grocery store or pharmacy (CVS/Walgreens/Rite-Aid) in the USA and Canada around the holiday season, and thankfully they are vegan. You can also find them on websites like Amazon for even cheaper than in-stores.

Are Allan Candy Canes Vegan?

This brand is smaller but still fairly common. Despite being owned by the Hershey’s Company which rarely has vegan products, Allan’s Candy Canes are generally all vegan. Maybe Hershey’s will release one in the future with chocolate on it, and if they do, it likely won’t be vegan. These classic red and white candy canes are vegan.

Are Warheads Candy Canes Vegan?

Yes, they should be completely vegan. They are not as easy to find in stores as they used to be, but you can always find Warheads Candy Canes online.

Are Jelly Belly Candy Canes Vegan?

Yes. Jelly Belly’s Jelly Beans aren’t always vegan, but the candy canes should be fine. According to the manufacturer and ingredient label, the candy canes they make should always be safe.

Are Starburst Candy Canes vegan?

Yes, Starburst Candy Canes are vegan. We got in touch with the company, and they confirmed:

“As of the moment, STARBURST doesn’t have a plant-based product except for the Candy Canes. Rest assured that your comments are important to us and will be shared with our Marketing Team who have an extensive market research program to track market trends and consumers preferences.”

Are peppermint candy canes vegan?

Basically, It is vegan. It shouldn’t contain anything else, but sugar, corn syrup, natural flavor, and color added (includes Red 40). However, sometimes there could be some non-plant-based ingredients. So always read the label! For example, carmine is a common red food dye that is totally not vegan.

Are Oreo Candy Canes vegan?

Good news! Just like Oreo, the Oreo Candy Canes is accidently vegan as well. Here is the ingredient list: Sugar, Corn Syrup, Natural & Artificial Flavor, Color Added (Red 40, Blue 1, Yellow 5). It doesn’t look healthy, but at least It is totally plant-based!

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