Are you wondering if McDonald’s pancakes are vegan-friendly or not?
McDonald’s pancakes are deliciously fluffy and fresh pancakes made from real salted whipped butter and topped with sweet maple syrup. Served with a hot cup of premium-roast coffee, this meal is perfect for breakfast. But how healthy is this meal and is it vegan-friendly? Continue reading to find out.
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Are McDonald’s Pancakes Vegan-Friendly?
The answer is: No
McDonald’s pancakes contain ingredients that are not vegan and are animal byproducts such as sugar, eggs, natural flavors, egg, milk, caramel color, salted whipped butter, and sweet cream.
Why are McDonald’s Pancakes Not Vegan-Friendly?
McDonald’s pancakes are not vegan-friendly because they contain ingredients that are animal byproducts. Let us go into deeper detail to find out what makes these ingredients non-vegan.
- Sugar: What makes sugar vegan is that it is often processed using bone char which is animal bones. Bone char is made by burning animal bones until they are a powder. The contact the sugar makes with bone char makes it non-vegan.
- Eggs: Eggs are animal byproducts and not vegan at all.
- Natural flavors: Natural flavors may be derived from plants or from animals. Because it is not clearly stated where McDonald’s sources its natural flavors from, we must assume that it is not vegan.
- Milk: We can safely assume that this milk is from cows and is thus non-vegan.
- Caramel color: Caramel color is from sugar and it being vegan or non-vegan is dependent on the sugar used and the filtering process it undergoes. We can assume that the caramel color used in McDonald’s pancakes is not vegan.
- Salted whipped butter: Butter is made from churning milk or cream to separate the fat from the buttermilk. It is an animal byproduct and not vegan-friendly.
- Sweet cream: Sweet cream is formulated from milk, which is an animal byproduct. It is not a vegan product.
Final Thoughts
McDonald’s pancakes are a well-loved breakfast choice for many people. Unfortunately, they are not a safe food choice for vegans because they contain animal byproducts namely sugar, eggs, natural flavors, egg, milk, caramel color, salted whipped butter, and sweet cream.
There are healthier, vegan-friendly pancake alternatives that vegans can try if they wish. Hopefully, McDonald’s will venture into more vegan-friendly products and pancakes in the future.
If you would like to find out more about McDonald’s Pancakes, please visit the official website https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/product/hotcakes.html.