Are you wondering if M&M’s are vegan-friendly?
It is one of the most popular chocolate candies in the world. Its tiny button shape makes it easy to spill a few in your hand and pop into your mouth. It’s a fun treat for anyone and is enjoyed any time of day. It is also used in many chocolate dessert recipes. Yes, M&M’s have taken the chocolate world by storm. But can it weather the demands of a vegan diet? Continue reading to find out.
Table of Contents
Are M&M’s Chocolate Candies Vegan-Friendly?
The answer is: No
No. M&Ms contain animal-sourced ingredients. It isn’t suitable for a vegan diet because they contain skimmed milk powder, lactose, and milk fat
What Are M&M’s Made Out Of?
Nutrition Facts
Ingredients
M&M is made out of the following ingredients:
Milk chocolate (68%) in a sugar shell.
Ingredients: sugar, cocoa mass, skimmed milk powder, cocoa butter, lactose, starch, milk fat, palm fat, glucose syrup, shea fat, stabiliser (gum arabic), dextrin, glazing agents (beeswax, carnauba wax), colors (E100, carmine, E132, E133, E150a, E150c, E150d, E153, E160a, E160e, E162, E163, E170), beetroot concentrate, emulsifiers (soya lecithin, E445), salt, flavorings, palm kernel oil, antioxidant (E306). (May contain: peanut, hazelnut, almond). Milk chocolate contains milk solids 14% minimum.
Milk chocolate contains vegetable fats in addition to cocoa butter.
Why Are M&M’s Not Vegans?
M&M’s contain products from animal sources. Some of the ingredients in question are skimmed milk powder, lactose, and milk fat. These of course are all derived from milk. As milk is an animal product that comes from cows among other animals, the product is not vegan-friendly.
Another ingredient from animal sources is beeswax. It is used to glaze the M&M chocolates. Beeswax is made by worker bees. The wax is created to store the honey they make. Vegans of course believe that is precisely what it should be doing instead of glazing candy!
The coloring is also an issue with vegans. Carmine is used to creating a wide range of colors. It is of course responsible for the diverse colors of the M&M chocolates. Carmine is extracted from the crushed and dried bodies of native Latin American insects called cochineal. The cochineal is a very small insect that lives off the moisture and nutrients of plants like cacti.
Final Thoughts
While Palm Kernel Oil is not animal-sourced, its production has affected the lives of thousands of animals per year. Many animals in the tropical regions are having their habitats uprooted in order to make way for palm plants. This does not concern all vegans though. Some are okay with eating products that have palm oil. But it will concern the vegans with the goal of protecting animals.
M&M’s are not vegan-friendly. They have animal sources such as milk, beeswax, and carmine. It also has palm kernel oil. The production of which has caused many animals to suffer. Unfortunately, you’ll have to pass something else around at your next vegan get-together.
For more information on M&Ms check out the official website here: https://www.mms.com