Vegan Sweets

As someone who isn't vegan, I didn't have a clue what to look out for when buying sweets as a gift for a vegan friend.

So here is a quick how to guide to finding the best sweets for your vegan mate.

What to look out for?

Not every sweet packaging annoyingly states whether it is suitable for vegans, so for several minutes, I had to read the small print painstakingly searching for certain ingredients.

Ingredients you should avoid

Gelatin is the first thing that should come to mind to avoid. This is the substance made from boiling down different parts of animals such as the skin, bones, tendons and ligaments.

Bone Char comes from the bones of cattle which then is used to process sugar.

Carmine should also be avoided as this is the red pigment found on sweets, which is made out of crushed insects.

Shellac is a resin secreted by a female lac bug and this is used to give sweets a shiner finish. This is also known as confectioner's glaze.

But what sweets can I buy?

Love Hearts

What could be a better gift than with the messages of Love Hearts? These sweets can even be personalised on Swizzles own site.

Starbursts

For a softer, chewier sweet with tasty fruit flavours, starbursts are a good option.

Jelly Tots

These sweets have no artificial colourings and 25% fruit juice so these sweets are guilt-free for vegans and vegetarians to eat.

Skittles

If you want a smarties equivalent to vegan sweets, this is the sweet for you.

Lindt's Excellent Dark Chocolate

For chocolate, the best way to avoid the non-vegan ingredients is to look into dark chocolate. The higher the percentage of chocolate means the companies have used less dairy products in the food. Lindt's excellent dark chocolate is fine for vegans to eat so long as it is 70%, 85% and 90% varieties.