by Christine Pesta
October is the month to enjoy autumn as it kicks into high gear. The trees have begun to change colors and the comforting scents of pies, soups, and casseroles of the season waft through homes, as thoughts turn to preparations for the holidays.
First up for many is Halloween. If you’re a kid, or have kids, candy is one thing that comes to mind during October as the holiday approaches. For vegans, making sure that the candy taken or passed out for Halloween is ethical, and able to be consumed, is an annual concern.
To make the purchasing of candy, or the sorting out of vegan from non-vegan candy easier, we have provided a list of candies that are vegan-friendly. Most of the brands are completely vegan, although there are a few that do have certain candies within their brand that may contain non-vegan ingredients. Keep in mind that companies can change ingredients at anytime, so it is always wise to double-check the ingredients, even if it is a brand you buy every year to pass out, or give to your kids.
While perhaps not a complete list, we’ve made this list as a rather extensive one in order to provide not only a bit of variety, but also to assist people in various locations, as not every brand may be sold in your town.
Since candy is passed out throughout the holidays, we hope this helps to make it easier to bring joy to your family and friends. Happy Holidays!
Vegan candy brands below, with some particular mentions if there are exceptions:
Air Heads
Air Heads Xtreme Strips
Air Heads Xtreme Bites
Atomic Fireballs
Big League Chew
Blow Pops
Bottle Caps
Brach’s (many types and flavors, but not all)
Chick-O-Stick
Cracker Jacks
Cry Baby
Cry Baby Tears
Dots
Dum-Dums
Enjoy Life (Jack O’Lantern or Bat is fine – Ghost not vegan)
Free 2b Sun Cups
Fruit by the Foot
Fruit Roll Ups
Fun Dip
Hubba Bubba
Jolly Ranchers
Jujubes
Jujufruits
Justin’s Mini Peanut Butter Cups
Laffy Taffy
Lemonheads
Mamba Fruit Chews
Mary Jane’s (Original & Peanut Butter)
Mike and Ike (both their regular and Halloween special edition candies)
Now and Laters
Pez
Pixy Stix
Red Vines (both red and black licorice)
Ring Pops
Skittles (both the sweet and sour)
Sour Patch (many types and flavors)
Sour Punch (a variety to choose from)
Smarties
Starburst Minis (minis only – regular size candy is not vegan)
Swedish Fish
SweetTarts
Twizzlers
Unreal Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Warheads
Wonka Everlasting Gobstopper
Wonka Nerds
Wonka Runts
Wonka Spooky Nerds
Yum Earth Pops
Yum Earth Sour Beans
Extra!
While not “candy”, there are also things like:
Cracker Jacks
Oreos (yes, they are “accidentally” vegan; you can find them in individual pouches of two cookies)
Christine Pesta is a writer, and the owner and Executive Editor of Live Your Life Vegan. You can follow her here, on Live Your Life Vegan, where she contributes regularly, as well as on social media.
