All in the Sweets in the UK that are Accidentally Vegan

The great news for vegans (particularly vegans with a sweet tooth), many of their beloved childhood products are – or are now – suitable for vegans. This article explores all the accidentally vegan sweets in the UK.

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What is “Accidentally Vegan” Food?

Accidentally vegan food is typically that which, although not manufactured to be vegan friendly, contains no animal products. This can be down to a lack of knowledge on the part of individual manufacturers or may be the result of product ingredients changing between batches.

While these foods aren’t intended to be vegan-friendly – they are!

It is important to note that while these products do not contain any animal compounds, they are often manufactured in factories and other environments that handle meat and dairy products, so there is a small chance of cross-contamination.

Accidentally Vegan Sweets in the UK

Sweets

• Rowntree’s Jelly Tots
• Skittles
• Mr Tom Peanut Bar
• Millions
• Haribo Rainbow Twists Sour
• Refresher Choos
• Fruit Pastilles
• Rainbow Drops
• Sainsbury’s Flying Saucers
• Waitrose Turkish Delight
• Love Hearts
• Polo Mints Original
• Sherbet Fountain

Chocolate

• Ritter Sport Marzipan
• Green & Black’s Orange & Almond Dark Chocolate
• Choceur Dark Mint Chocolate Waves
• Fry’s Peppermint Cream
• Asda Mint Thins
• Lindt Excellence Dark Chocolate
• Elizabeth Shaw Mint Crisp Dark Chocolates
• Divine – Dark Chocolate Mint Thins, Dark Chocolate Ginger Thins, dark chocolate bars in various flavours
• Cadbury Bournville Dark Chocolate

Biscuits

• Lotus Biscoff Sandwich Cookies
• Sainsbury’s Bourbon Cream Biscuits
• Jammie Dodgers
• McVities Ginger Nuts
• Belvita Breakfast ‘Tops’
• McVities Hobnobs
• Fox’s Party Rings
• Oreo Original
• Crawford’s Pink Wafers
• Asda Nice Biscuits
• Asda Bourbon Cream Biscuits
• Lotus Original Caramelised Biscuits
• Fox’s Ginger Crinkle Crunch Biscuits
• Fox’s Cookie Minis
• Bourbon Biscuits
• Maryland Chocolate Chip Sugar Free Cookies
• Nairn’s Biscuits – Dark Chocolate Chip Oat, Stem Ginger Oat, Mixed Berries Oat, Fruit & Spice Wheat Free
• Rich Tea Biscuits

Cakes & Desserts

• Mr Kipling Treacle Tart
• Co-op Custard & Jam Doughnuts
• Tesco Apple Strudel
• Tesco Filled Mini Churros
• Jus-rol bake-it croissants
• Mr Kipling Apple & Blackcurrant Pies
• Devil’s Food Cake Mix
• Soreen Banana Loaf Bar

Other

• Hartley’s Jelly
• Askey’s Chocolate Flavour Topping
• Cadbury’s hot chocolate
• Most popcorn
• Coca-Cola
• Maple syrup
• Reese’s Shell Topping

Deliberately Vegan Sweets in the UK

If you’re strictly vegan and you don’t wish to risk any of the above products in case of cross-contamination (or would like to support fully-vegan companies) the below products are all from deliberately vegan brands.

The Conscious Candy Co

The Conscious Candy Company all started when the founder Laura Scott noticed there was a gap in the market for new and exciting vegan sweets, and decided to rectify this. 

Some of their products include:

• Fizzy Pick & Mix 1kg – £9.99
• Non-Fizzy Pick & Mix 1kg  – £9.99 
• Foam Bananas – £3.99
• Fizzy Favourites Pouch 1kg – £9.99
• Sea Salt Fudge – £3.49
• Handmade Chocolate Fudge – £3.49
• Fiji Fruits Tub – £2.49
• Brazilian Blossoms Tub – £2.49
• Bubs Pouch – £2.49
• Arctic Bears Tub – £2.49
• Mallow Tree Fruit Mix Marshmallows – £2.49
• Mallow Tree Vanilla Marshmallows – £2.49
• Vegan Vanilla Fudge – £2.49
• Summer Sunshine Tub – £2.49
• Marmalade Foxes Tub – £2.49
• Vegan Marshmallows – £2.49
• Vegan Strawberries & Cream Fudge – £2.49
• Charms Birthday Cake Cotton Candy – £1.99
• Rainbow Sherbet Cotton Candy – £1.99
• Conscious Candy Teddy Bear Tub – £2.49
• Foamy Fruit Slices Tub – £2.49
• Fizzy Strawberries – £2.49
• Sour Dummies – £2.49
• Fizzy Cherries – £2.49
• Tongue Painters – £2.49
• Lollipops – £0.50
• Mermaids – £2.49
• Space Mix – £2.49
• Jelly Bean Love Hearts – £2.49
• Fruity Rings Tub – £2.49
• Bubblegum Spaghetti – £0.99
• Tutti Frutti Spaghetti – £0.99
• TNT Candyfloss – £1.99
• Unicorn Candy Floss – £1.99
• Baby Bear Pops Tutti Frutti (white & pink) £0.75 each
• Original liquorice – £2.99
• Strawberry liquorice – £2.99
• Seaside Sweets Ice Cream Lollies – £0.99
• Mini Pencil Tub £2.49 – £2.49
• 200g Bubblegum Bottles – £2.49
• Tie Dye Sherbet Crystals – £0.99
• Neon Fizzy Worms Tub – £2.49
• Crystal Rock Lollipop – £0.99
• Swigle Pop Cherry Cola Lollipop – £0.49
• Vimto Candy Floss – £1.99

Vegummies

Vegummies began because the founders felt they couldn’t find anywhere that sold Pick & Mix sweets that were vegan. They are committed to creating environmentally-friendly and ethical products, which include using compostable packaging.

They also commit to planting one tree per every order. They are partnered with Ecologi, who support sustainable tree planting around the world.

Some of their products include:

Pick ‘n’ Mix

• Apple Belts – £0.35
• Raspberry & Blueberry Foams – £0.55
• Dracula Teeth – £0.44
• Strawberry Gummies – £0.55
• Bubblegum Bottles – £0.55
• Fizzy Dummies – £0.55
• Banana Foams – £0.55
• Fizzy Cherry Cola Bottles – £0.55
• Fizzy Strawberries – £0.55
• Funky Fruit Gummies – £0.55
• Fizzy Cherries – £0.55
• Sour Shocks – £0.55
• Fruity Sour Octopus – £0.60
• Gummy Cherries – £0.55
• Strawberry Cheesecake Foams – £0.60

Other Sweet Treats

• Artisan Fudge – £2.55
• Walnut Whirls – £2.50
• Dirty Cow Chocolate – £2.70
• HiP Chocolate – £2.65
• Brownie Mug Kit – £2.00
• Prodigy Bars – £1.59
• M!lk Buttons – £2.99

Vegan All Sorts 

Vegan All Sorts has made waves in the confectionary world for creating sweets that are completely free from cruelty. They provide the widest selection of vegan sweets in the UK, from big retro cola bottles to rainbow pelts, fizzy strawberries, watermelon slices, and sour apples.

You can choose your own mix or select one of our vegan pick and mix bags, which give you a moreish medley of classic flavours at affordable prices.

Some of their products include:

• Mega Bag – £10.99
• Fruit Mega Bag – £10.99
• Date Night Hamper – £24.99
• Gluten-Free Hamper – £24.99
• Cookies Hamper – £19.99
• Vanilla Fudge – £3.99
• Salted Caramel Fudge – £3.99
• Chocolate Fudge – £3.99
• Strawberries & Cream Fudge – £3.99

Candy Kittens

Developed in London, Candy Kittens blend fruity flavours with natural ingredients to bring you sweets that taste as great as they look. 

Some of their products include:

• Sweet raspberry & guava Gourmies – £3.00
• Blood orange & pomegranate Gourmies – £3.00
• Orchard apple & dragonfruit Gourmies – £3.00

Vegan Town Chocolate Store

They are a UK-based vegan-owned and run small business dedicated to bringing you the most delicious vegan confectionery on the planet. 

Some of their products include:

• Vegan Treat Box – Surprise Hamper – £20.00
• Smootch 75g (Choco Caramel Chunks) – £3.15
• Rizo Bar 55g (Toffee Crisp) – £3.15
• Jeavons Salted Caramel Bar 44g – £1.80
• Limited Edition: Rose & Raspberry Round Up 85g – £3.25
• Holdsworth Bee Friendly Vegan Selection Box 110g – £10.00
• Kakoa Golden Sea Salted Caramel Truffle Eggs 62g – £5.95
• Jealous Sweets Fizzy Friends 40g – £1.35
• Jealous Sweets Grizzly Bears 40g – £1.35

Vegan Chocolate in the UK

Vegans with a special penchant for chocolate need not despair! There are plenty of delicious vegan chocolate options available in the UK, some of which include:

• Cadbury Plant Bar
• Milky Way
• Lindt
• Kit Kat
• Mars
• Nomo
• Moo Free
• Love Raw
• Buttermilk
• Vego
• Rhythm 108
• Happi
• Hotel Chocolat Vegan Range

What Stops Sweets Being Vegan?

As with any foodstuff that includes a number of different and sometimes complex ingredients, there are a massive number of animal-derived constituents that could find their way into the final product.

Some of which include:

• Gelatine – One of the most common animal-derived ingredients that is found in a wide variety of sweets (from jelly sweets to boiled ones and more), gelatine is made from animal collagen, often from hooves of cows or pigs. 
• Shellac – Also known as E904, shellac (which is also used in various cosmetics and as a wood finish) is used to coat various hard, shiny sweets.
• Milk – Milk, including the various proteins derived from it, is added to many sweets, most notably caramels and those containing chocolate. Milk or milk-derived ingredients are an allergen, meaning they have to be written in bold in the ingredients on products sold in the UK, which at least makes them easy to spot for vegans.
• Honey – Used as a natural flavouring or sweetener in some sweets, honey is not vegan due to it being a product from bees. Same goes for the sometimes used ingredient of beeswax.
• Animal-Derived Flavouring – Other animal-derived flavourings could be added to sweets, often written as their E number or scientific name (for example, E640, or glycine, which is often derived from gelatine).
• Cochineal – Included as a colouring in various sweets, cochineal comes from crushed insects, which might put off non-vegans as well as those following a plant-based diet. It is also known as carmine, carmine lake, natural red or E120.

Conclusion 

So, we have learned that the term “accidentally vegan” refers to products that aren’t specifically designed to be vegan-friendly, but nevertheless, contain no meat or dairy components.

This can refer to confectionary items such as sweets, chocolate, and biscuits, and other household food products such as cereals, baked goods, and drinks. This could also be relevant to cosmetic or household products.

There are many accidentally vegan sweets to choose from, such as Jelly Tots, Starburst, Polos, and Skittles. However, if you want to be absolutely certain your sweeties are cruelty-free, then look into investing in one of the fully-vegan sweet companies as mentioned above.

Satisfying our sweet tooth doesn’t have to go hand-in-hand with cruelty, and we’re glad many companies are beginning to realise this!