Vegan Sweets (better brands to choose)
A bag of sweets is obviously not a health food, but millions of people in England enjoy chomping on a bag of fruit pastilles or wine gums. That’s not going to change, so let’s find better brands, and also learn how and where to recycle the packaging.
Unless you have a Terracycle recycling point locally, sweet wrappers for now can only be recycled at supermarket bag recycling bins. But that’s better than not at all, so just collect them up and deposit, next time you’re passing (stash somewhere secure, to keep away from young children and pets).
Avoid sweets for small children due to choking hazards (use a letterbox guard for online deliveries if you live with pets). Never litter sweets (xylitol in some brands can be lethal to pets and wildlife).
Liquorice should not be consumed during pregnancy/nursing (it can cause early labour) or for medical conditions, as it can blood pressure and lower potassium.
What’s wrong with conventional sweet brands?
Quite a lot. For a start, some (as stated above) are sweetened with xylitol, which is lethal to pets (and likely birds and wildlife) if littered on the streets). Many of the best-selling brands are made with gelatine (animal bones) from factory farms. And most of those that aren’t are made with beeswax (so not suitable for vegans). And may don’t contain real fruit, just cheap flavourings. Why not support some better artisan brands instead?
- Haribo sweets contain refined sugar and gelatine (pork fat).
- Rowntree’s make fruit pastilles and jelly tots. These are vegan, but sweetened with refined sugar.
- Fruittella and Starburst are chewy fruit candies. Both are made with refined sugar and palm fat, some versions abroad contain pork fat.
- Maybards Bassetts make wine gums and liquorice allsorts, again both contain pork fat.
All of M & S’s own brand sweets are vegetarian, and most are vegan. They do use refined sugar, but are better than Haribo’s and other alternatives made with pork fat, and easy to find if you don’t want to order online.
Most are fruit-based, the designers could do without putting pictures of animals releasing balloons on the packaging, as balloon releases harm all creatures.
JOM Organic Vegan Sweets (from Sweden)
JOM is an organic independent brand of ‘gourmet gummies’ from Sweden. Just 85 calories per bag, these are vegan, organic, made from natural fruits and contain no palm oil. Flavours include:
- Raspberry & blackcurrant
- Sour blueberry & raspberry
- Strawberry & peach
- Sour retro cola
These sweets are available wholesale for independent sweet shops (do we have any left?)
Other good organic vegan sweet brands are:
Just Wholefoods is an organic company that makes frooty sweets in cute shapes (hedgehogs to bears) made from vegan ingredients, and real fruit flavours. They do contain glucose syrup (so are not ‘healthy’) but a better alternative to conventional brands. Made with kind ingredients (and lots of love) in The Cotswolds.
Biona offers a range of organic vegan sweets, all made with natural ingredients and uplifting flavours. From fruity gums and sour snakes to nostalgic cola bottles and playful jelly dinosaurs! The range also includes organic liquorice spirals.
Wild Thingz makes organic plant-based sweets, with half the sugar of conventional brands. Choose from Fruity Flyz, Gummy Grubs or Zesty Pests!
Candy Kittens (traditional gourmet vegan sweets)
Candy Kittens is a range of gourmet vegan sweets, widely sold in shops. The bags have to be recycled at supermarket bag bins (hopefully at home by March 2027 due to government law changes), and the gift jars are made from recycled plastic that can be recycled at home.
The range (made with responsibly-sourced carnauba wax) includes wild strawberry, Eton Mess, lucky cherry and soul pop (strawberry, cherry, peach and tropical).
Jealous Sweets (stevia-sweetened candy)
Jealous Sweets is a range of quality candy, created by two entrepreneurs who left their corporate jobs, to create something better. Everything is vegan, gluten-free and made with real ingredients (and no palm oil).
The flavours include peach, grapefruit, mango and pineapple in fun shapes, sweetened with stevia and coloured with potato and carrot:
- Love bears
- Tangy worms
- Grizzly bears
- Tropical wonder
- Fizzy lips
Free From Fellows (vegan sweets and marshmallows)
Free From Fellows are not sold in shops, the range includes wine gums, gummy bears, pear drops, rhubarb and custard and classic cola bottles. Sweetened with stevia and maltitol syrup (again not healthy but better than xylitol).
There are also vegan marshmallows (conventional ones are made from gelatine – animal bones). Ideal for snacking, roasting when camping or topping your vegan hot chocolate! They are also suitable for Kosher and Halal diets.
Vesweeties (an online pick and mix shop!)
Vesweeties is an online sweet shop. It’s like an online version of Woolsworth’s old-fashioned pick-n-mix. But this time everything is vegan, and it’s also sold in eco-friendly packaging, with trees planted for all orders. A portion of profits on orders also support rotating charities (like farm charities to help rescued barnyard friends).
The pick and mix bags even have easy-to-recycle stickers. You can buy ready-made sweet pouches too in compostable bags, or 1kg sweet boxes. And even sign up to a sweet subscription to get them through your letterbox each month.
Most of the sweets have labels that say ‘palm oil free’ so presumably all are okay, you may have to check.
