Are Skittles Vegan?
Although Skittles are not the healthiest choice for those following a plant-based diet, the ingredients in most of them can be considered vegan-friendly! So, if you’re craving an indulgent sweet treat, these may be a reasonable choice for you. Keep reading to discover which varieties are suitable for your animal-friendly diet.
Original Skittles Ingredients: Our Breakdown
Here’s our vegan breakdown of the ingredients currently found in Skittles Fruits:
“Ingredients: Sugar, glucose syrup, palm fat, acids, citric acid, malic acid; dextrin, maltodextrin, flavourings, colours E162, E171, E100, E160a, E132, E133, E163, E160e; Modified starch, acidity regulator trisodium citrate, glazing agent carnauba wax”
Most of these ingredients are 100% plant-derived, or artificial. The only ingredient that may be animal-derived is ‘flavourings’. However, because it’s not listed as ‘natural flavourings’, it gives us reason to believe that this ingredient is artificially-made, making it generally suitable for an animal-friendly diet.
However, other ingredients, like sugar and palm fat are more questionable. Sugar produced in the U.S. is oftentimes processed using animal bone char. This means animal cruelty may still be associated with this ingredient.
Additionally, the production of palm fat/oil is currently wreaking havoc on rainforest ecosystems in Indonesia, Malaysia, and West Africa, due to the industry’s harmful deforestation practices. This reckless plundering of nature has caused the endangerment of various animal species, namely that of orangutans, elephants, rhinos, and tigers. For this reason, palm oil has become a controversial ingredient for vegans and wild animal activists everywhere.
Another factor to consider is animal testing. Skittles is a brand by Mars. Although Mars has stated that they do not typically undertake, support, or sponsor studies that harm animals in their daily operations, they have also warned that they may occasionally “sponsor a limited number of studies involving rats, mice, fish, and other aquatic species.” So, there is a small chance that the development of Skittles products has at some point involved some animal testing.
Our Final Thoughts
Although Skittles are a tasty sweet treat for many, their vegan status depends on your personal standards and possibilities. If you believe keeping certain questionable—albeit animal-free—familiar foods in your vegan diet will keep you from giving up, we would suggest you go for it! It’s better to do what you can, than to fall off the bandwagon entirely. However, if you were never really a fan of this candy anyway, this new information shouldn’t necessarily give you an incentive to go out and buy a pack.
We hope we were able to provide enough information to help you decide whether or not to consume this product. If you’d like to try 100% vegan-certified candy, you’ll want to check out our complete list of vegan candies here! Thanks for doing all you do for the animals and our planet. To your vegan success!
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