Is Rockstar Vegan-Friendly?

Are you wondering if Rockstar is vegan-friendly?

Rockstar Energy Drink was founded in 2001 by Russ Weiner and was acquired by PepsiCo in 2020. This brand is one of the top three energy drink brands in North America and has marketed itself as being formulated to speed the recovery time of people who lead highly active lives.

Now, let us find out if Rockstar is vegan or not.

Is Rockstar Energy Drink Vegan?

The answer is: Yes

Rockstar Energy markets its products as vegan, but let us take a closer look at the ingredients to find out if they are vegan-friendly.

Why Is Rockstar Vegan-Friendly?

At first glance, there are a few ingredients featured in the products that may be a cause for concern for vegans. These ingredients are sugar, taurine, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, and milk thistle extract. Rockstar has already stated that all these products are vegan-friendly but let us find out what sometimes makes these ingredients non-vegan.

• Sugar: Is sometimes processed using bone char. Bone char is animal bones that have been burned at extremely high temperatures until they reach a powder state. Sugar processed using this method is non-vegan. Considering that Rockstar is said to be vegan, it may be safe to assume that the sugar used in the product is vegan-friendly. 

• Taurine: Used to be derived from bull semen but can now be artificially manufactured. The taurine used in Rockstar is artificially manufactured and vegan.

• Natural flavors: Natural flavors may be sourced from animals or plants. Natural flavors sourced from animals are not vegan-friendly. The natural flavors in Rockstar are derived from plants.

• Artificial flavors: Although artificial flavors may not contain any animal byproducts, they may be non-vegan due to the way they were tested. Artificial flavors are commonly tested on animals and this is unethical and problematic for vegans.

• Natural flavors: Natural flavors may be sourced from animals or plants. Natural flavors sourced from animals are not vegan-friendly. The natural flavors in Rockstar are derived from plants. The artificial flavors in this product are vegan-friendly.

• Caramel color: Caramel color is manufactured by browning sugar and the brown color is extracted and commonly used in processed food and drinks. The caramel color being vegan is dependent on the sugar being vegan as well. The sugar in Rockstar Energy Drink is vegan and so is the caramel coloring.

• Milk thistle extract: Vegans may initially think that this ingredient is non-vegan by virtue of the word “milk” being present. This is not true at all. Milk thistle is actually a plant and this product is completely plant-based. 

Final Thoughts – Can Vegans Drink Rockstar?

Rockstar is vegan-friendly because it does not contain any animal byproducts. Rest assure, vegans can drink Rockstar. This brand proudly markets itself as vegan, which is good news for vegans because it can sometimes be difficult to find vegan energy drinks. We can only hope that this is more popular and normalized in the future.

For more information, please visit www.rockstarenergy.com and www.pepsicopartners.com.