Skittles Gone Vegan!

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Posted by Sarah Mirk on Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 3:22 PM

My vegan friends were all excited this weekend over a sweet discovery: Skittles

candy has gone vegan. And, if anyone cares, gluten-free. The bags of delicious

sugar droplets were vegan in other countries (specifically, their website notes,

India and Indonesia) but in the USA Skittles still included gelatin until very

recently. The real-life vegan with the giant Skittles feedbag below reported

that some Skittles packages on Safeway's shelves still contained gelatin this

weekend, others had a newly-revised ingredients list.

 

It looks like Skittles made this switch quietly for some reason. There's no news

articles or info on their website about banishing gelatin from their US

ingredients. You'd think they would be exciting about opening up Skittles to 8

million more sugar-crazed consumers. Maybe they're worried about stirring up

more wrath from PETA?

 

..Comments (20) RSS Sort Oldest to Newest Newest to Oldest Showing 1-20 of 20

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Oh, vegans, so silly. Nothing says " healthy eating " like NINE different food

colorings.

..Posted by GLV on July 21, 2009 at 3:26 PM | Report this comment

All tested by the FDA as safe. If you find food colorings to be unsafe, I ask:

what do you eat instead?

..Posted by ?pqM)mH{5i*7V7wVNiH?tcvUk'j>tH\VF5!V+00HY?jgK7@iA<_(B0Mii*:@e9Iq on

July 21, 2009 at 3:38 PM | Report this comment

Are you kidding? Most food colorings have never been tested; many common ones in

the U.S. are banned in the EU. I avoid artificial food colorings entirely.

..Posted by GLV on July 21, 2009 at 4:13 PM | Report this comment

The M & Ms have Stigmata...?

..Posted by Kyle! on July 21, 2009 at 4:15 PM | Report this comment

http://www.foodsafety.gov/~lrd/colorfac.ht…

 

Blah blah blah FUD.

..Posted by ?pqM)mH{5i*7V7wVNiH?tcvUk'j>tH\VF5!V+00HY?jgK7@iA<_(B0Mii*:@e9Iq on

July 21, 2009 at 4:28 PM | Report this comment

Find something more recent than 1993, and I'll consider reading it.

..Posted by GLV on July 21, 2009 at 4:46 PM | Report this comment

WOO! Now vegans can eat the same nasty shit that made omnivores morbidly obese.

Just what we need, fat whiny vegans complaining about " body image hatred " as

they fucking wolf down handful after handful of " tasting the rainbow " non-foods.

..Posted by Graham on July 21, 2009 at 4:46 PM | Report this comment

But wait! It's not quite as simple as all that. My vegetarian friends and I

discovered that some bags of Skittles are gelatin-free a few months ago. The

weird thing is, though, that only about half of the original flavor, red-bag

Skittles are Gelatin Free. The ones that are are clearly marked as such as in

your picture. But, from box to box, even within the same store, some will be

veggie-friendly, and others will not.

 

On the other hand, every bag/box of the non-original flavor that we've seen

(Sour, Wild Berry, Tropical etc.), IS vegan/vegetarian/gelatin-free. Why this

split status, I don't know. But be vigilant if this matters to you - check those

bags/boxes.

..Posted by Cary Clarke on July 21, 2009 at 5:48 PM | Report this comment

GLV, I hear ya. Reminds me of religous sheep: They want us to prove the lack of

a God, whereas it is the onus of the mumbling Theists in fact to prove a single

God exists out of the thousands identified.

 

In other words: YOU prove the link between the 7 approved food colorings and a

single illness or condition in humans.

..Posted by ?pqM)mH{5i*7V7wVNiH?tcvUk'j>tH\VF5!V+00HY?jgK7@iA<_(B0Mii*:@e9Iq on

July 21, 2009 at 5:50 PM | Report this comment

most people i know go vegan for morel, not health reasons.this is why SweetPea

sucks away so much of my money...and why Voodoo Donuts has an entire vegan

shelf, perhaps with a skittle covered confection soon

 

..Posted by ntrecek on July 21, 2009 at 6:12 PM | Report this comment

ntrecek: I like mushrooms as much as the next guy but wouldn't go vegan for

them.

..Posted by wka on July 21, 2009 at 6:21 PM | Report this comment

can i get a hi-five for that remaining " hydrogenated " goodness?

..Posted by anotherone on July 22, 2009 at 2:33 AM | Report this comment

Boo to the commenters who think that we should all avoid food colorings or

" 'hydrogenated' goodness " . Food colorings (except carmine) and hydrogenated fats

are not from tortured animals. Veganism and eating for health are not exclusive.

I, for one, enjoy gelatin-free skittles from time to time as a compassionate,

ethical vegan.

..Posted by kylo on July 22, 2009 at 8:27 AM | Report this comment

This would be a great opportunity for you to become familiar with google.

..Posted by GLV on July 22, 2009 at 8:54 AM | Report this comment

Actually, I'll do you a favor: read Fast Food Nation. There is a good discussion

of it in there, with many, specific examples of food additives and colorings

that are banned in the EU but legal in the US.

..Posted by GLV on July 22, 2009 at 8:56 AM | Report this comment

I'm with GLV. I seriously can't understand why anyone would eat crap like this.

Vegan or no. The 1st 3 ingredients alone are big red flags.

 

As for the " ethical compassionate " commenter. Do you think the packaging just

magically disappears? It is not recyclable or reusable and it won't decompose.

Ethical, compassionate choices involve a lot more thought than whether or not

animals are directly slaughtered or tortured.

 

It's berry season! Go to the fucking farmers market and get some real food you

stupid sheep.

..Posted by Beer Batter on July 22, 2009 at 10:47 AM | Report this comment

Cary (and everyone), the Skittles Crazy Cores were the first ones without

gelatin: http://www.typetive.com/candyblog/item/ski…

..Posted by ROM on July 22, 2009 at 12:06 PM | Report this comment

Berries...who are you kidding Beer Batter? Yeah, when I get to be a bourgeois

douche like you I'll shell out $5 for 4 oz. of raspberries.

..Posted by kylo on July 22, 2009 at 12:19 PM | Report this comment

I knew a vegan once, in high school. Every day for lunch she would have a bag of

bbq flavored potato chips and a can of Dr. Pepper.

..Posted by GLV on July 22, 2009 at 1:55 PM | Report this comment

if you go out to sauvie's island and pick them they are suuuuuper cheap. like

$1.50 a pound.

 

it's not bourgeois to eat fresh fruits. it's common sense!

 

no one should eat hydrogenated oil: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-hydrogenat…

http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2009/07/21/skittles-gon\

e-vegan