More and more people are becoming vegan in recent years due to more information becoming readily available for the public to view, due to documentaries and protests taking place.
A vegan can easily eliminate the primary three vegan-unfriendly food groups from their diets: meat, dairy, and eggs. These food items are immediately identifiable on a store shelf, and can thus be easily avoided.
Other products, on the other hand, blur the lines, requiring a vegan to study the small print on the packages to determine whether or not they can eat the meals.
It might be tough to figure out which pre-made and store-bought items are vegan and which aren’t when they contain a number of different components.
As veganism has grown in popularity in recent years, several businesses have begun to label their products as ‘vegan’ or ‘vegan-friendly’.
Many manufacturers are currently changing their formulations in order to make their products more broadly available.
For some, this is a moral decision, but for others, it is a profitable venture: making a product vegan allows it to be consumed by a wider audience who might not otherwise consider purchasing it, especially in recent years.
These businesses are expanding their customer base and ensuring that they do not lose revenue as more people become vegan.
No matter the reasoning behind creating vegan products, this movement has made shopping considerably easier for vegans.
However, these labels are still fairly uncommon, meaning that it is still difficult for them to find suitable food to eat.
The easiest option is to simply Google search the item itself, reading up whether it is vegan or not.
So, today, we are going to help all you vegans reading this article!
If you have clicked on this link, the likelihood is that you have one specific question on your mind: are Tootsie Pops vegan?
So many of us enjoyed these sweet snacks as a kid, and if you have only become vegan during your adult years, you may be unsure whether you can still consume these sweets.
We are here to help. Continue reading this article to find out if Tootsie Pops are vegan or not.
So, let’s get into it.
What Is A Tootsie Pop?
Let’s start from the beginning.
For those unfamiliar, a Tootsie Pop is a sweet lollipop made from a chewy Tootsie Roll candy (a chocolate-flavored chewy candy) encased in a thick, hardened candy coating.
The idea for the Tootsie Pop was originally created back in 1931, by an employee of The Sweets Company of America.
He had once licked a lollipop whilst eating a Tootsie Roll at the same time and loved the flavor and texture.
Upon this discovery, he immediately decided that he was going to pitch the idea of combining the two sweets at his next meeting.
The idea was approved, and the Tootsie Pop was born!
Since their launch, Tootsie Pops has been considered as one of the best-selling lollipop brands of all time.
The company produces more than 20 million Tootsie Pops every day, making them not only one of the most popular lollipops of all time but one of the most popular American candy sweets.
There are several Tootsie Pop flavors available, such as chocolate, wild berry, and caramel, and the colors of the lollipops switch up along with the flavors.
Tootsie Pops has been vastly popular for many years, notably rising in popularity in the 1970s along with the famous advertisement that introduced the slogan:
‘How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?’
In the 1990s, a new commercial was released in which a boy asked a robot and a dragon how many licks it takes to reach the core.
The slogan was slightly altered, and became: ‘How many licks to the center of a Tootsie Pop?’
Are Tootsie Pops Vegan?
So, returning to the titular question: you are reading this article because you would like to find out if Tootsie Pops are suitable for vegans to consume.
Unfortunately, the answer is no.
They are vegetarian, but they include dairy products.
The chocolate-flavored lollipops include several non-vegan ingredients such as condensed skim milk, whey, and palm oil, which is unfortunate for those with vegan diets.
The Tootsie Pop recipe also contains sugar, soy, artificial colors, and natural flavors, which are all dubious components that are sometimes considered non-vegan.
Sugar, corn syrup, palm oil, citric acid (may contain malic acid), condensed skim milk, whey, artificial and natural flavors, soy lecithin, artificial colors (including FD&C red 40, yellow 5, blue 1), and strawberry taste is all listed on the Tootsie Pops ingredient list.
Due to the use of dairy products within this sweet, it cannot be considered to be vegan.
Are Tootsie Rolls Vegan?
Seeing as Tootsie Pops are created by encasing a Tootsie Roll in a hard, candy covering, it is natural to wonder if the Tootsie Rolls themselves are vegan or not.
Sadly, Tootsie Rolls are also not suitable for vegan consumption. They are, however, suitable for vegetarians.
Sugar, corn syrup, palm oil, condensed skim milk, chocolate, whey, soy lecithin, and artificial and natural flavors are among the components publicly reported to be in a Tootsie Roll.
The dairy products within this product make it non-vegan.
If a Tootsie Pop did not contain the Tootsie Roll itself, it may very well be suitable for vegans, as it is the Tootsie Roll that contains the dairy products.
Without a Tootsie Roll, a Tootsie Pop would be a simple lollipop, and many lollipops are vegan-friendly.
Final Thoughts
So, to answer the question originally asked, the answer is unfortunately ‘no’: Tootsie Pops are not vegan.
While this is the case right now, hopefully, Tootsie Roll Industries may release a vegan-friendly variation of the product in time to come!
As we previously mentioned, many companies are getting on board with selling vegan products in recent years, so it would not be surprising if Tootsie Roll Industries joined them soon enough.
Keep an eye out, and hopefully, things will change soon, allowing you to enjoy your favorite, nostalgic, childhood treat once again!
Hi, my name is Brett White, and I have a passion for cooking, and following a raw diet. Eating raw has completely changed how I view food, and has led me down a much healthier and happier path in life over the last three years.
Through Addicted To Veggies, I want to share with you my favorite raw recipes. From brownie recipes, to recipes containing pumpkin, my site is full of delicious and wonderful options to consider.
