Why Are M&Ms Not Vegan?
Naturally, it’s all about the ingredients. And in this specific case, it’s mostly because milk is one of the main ingredients in all of the M&M flavors. In other words, M&Ms are not suitable for vegans nor are they dairy-free or suitable for people who are lactose intolerant.
However, besides the milk, there are a couple of other ingredients that are neither vegan or cruelty-free.
Let’s take a look at the ingredients of one of the most popular M&M flavors so we can explain what we mean.
M&Ms Milk Chocolate Ingredients:
Milk Chocolate (Sugar, Chocolate, Skim Milk, Cocoa Butter, Lactose, Milkfat, Soy Lecithin, Salt, Artificial Flavor), Sugar, Cornstarch, Less than 1% - Corn Syrup, Dextrin, Coloring (Includes Blue 1 Lake, Yellow 6, Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1, Red 40 Lake, Blue 2 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake, Blue 2, Gum Acacia. Contains Milk and Soy. May Contain Peanuts.
As you can clearly see, the main reason M&Ms aren't vegan is because of the dairy, it’s even one of the first ingredients. But, as mentioned, there are other ingredients that vegans should avoid, mainly the coloring.
You see, even though food colors such as Red 40 and Yellow 6 don’t contain any animal-derived ingredients, they are regularly tested on animals meaning they are not cruelty-free.
We've covered the dilemma behind artificial colors in detail in our articlewhy vegans should avoid Red 40.
