Do you want to know if Funyuns are vegan-friendly?
Funyuns is the brand name of an onion-flavored corn snack introduced in the United States.
The snack consists of a ring-shaped cornmeal goodie that represents the shape and texture of fried onion rings. They are mostly loved by kids and make a great snack. But are Funyuns vegan-friendly? Let’s find out…
Table of Contents
Are Funyuns Chips Vegan-Friendly?
The answer is: No
No. Sadly, Funyuns Onion Rings are not vegan friendly. Even though they are mainly cornmeal, Funyuns contain buttermilk, sugar, and natural flavors. Buttermilk is a byproduct of cow milk, while sugar uses bone char (burnt animal bones) to give it a white color. Also, natural flavors have both plant and animal sources. Funyuns does not specify the source of the natural flavor used.
What Are Funyuns Chips Made Out Of?
Nutritional Facts
Ingredients
Funyuns are made out of the following ingredients:
- Enriched cornmeal
- Vegetable oil (Corn oil, canola, and sunflower oil)
- Salt
- Corn starch
- Sugar
- Cornflour
- Buttermilk
- Maltodextrin
- Onion powder
- Monosodium glutamate
- Hydrolyzed corn protein
- Dextrose
- Garlic powder
- Natural flavors
- Gum Arabic
Why Are Funyuns Not Vegan-Friendly?
Ingredients such as sugar, buttermilk and natural flavors make Funyuns not vegan friendly. For instance, brown cane sugar uses bone char to bleach and get white color. Bone char is a product of burnt animal bones that produces a natural black carbon filter.
Additionally, buttermilk is a dairy product made of fermented cow milk. Besides, natural flavors can have non-vegan components such as eggs, meat, dairy products, and poultry.
Sugar
Sugar is a controversial ingredient. Bone char bleaches sugar by filtering out the original brown color in cane sugar. Bone char is the burning of animal bones in extremely high temperatures to get a natural black carbon, responsible for decolorization.
Buttermilk
Buttermilk is cow milk that is fermented and curdled to make it denser than milk. Buttermilk contains live active lactic acid bacteria that is responsible for making fresh milk curdle and sour. Since buttermilk is a dairy product, Funyuns is not vegan-friendly.
Natural flavors
Natural flavors are either plant or animal-based. Plant flavors are from essential oils, spices, fruits, vegetables, roots, leaves, buds or herbs.
Animal flavors can be from meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, or dairy products. It is nearly impossible to know which natural flavors are vegan or not unless a company specifies. Funyuns does not state the source of natural flavors used. Hence it cannot be classified as vegan friendly.
Final Thoughts
Funyuns is a favorite cornmeal onion-flavored snack that has millions of its bags consumed monthly. It consists of cornmeal, buttermilk, and natural flavors, among other ingredients. These three elements are not considered vegan friendly hence rule out Funyuns as vegan friendly.