In today’s world, being a vegan is challenging. Animal abuse is caused by a variety of everyday foods. It’s very difficult to tell what’s vegan and what isn’t.
Cotton candy is a popular carnival and amusement park treat. It’s vegan heaven because it’s a quick dessert that’ll put you in a good mood while consuming a few calories.
Cotton candy is commonly thought to be ideal for light snacking because it is difficult to find vegan desserts such as dark chocolate or baked goods that are both organic and vegan. However, is cotton candy vegan? This topic is still being debated.
How Is Cotton Candy Made?
Cotton candy is simple to make and only requires a few simple ingredients. Confectioners sugar is a mixture of refined sugar, and corn starch used to make cotton candy.
In the cotton candy maker, sugar is heated to make syrup. The machine’s high-speed spinning motion whips the syrup through tiny holes in the container. High-speed spinning and airflow quickly cool the melted syrup.
Sugar is unable to recrystallize due to a lack of time. Cotton candy is made of thin strands of fluffy, cotton-like, delicious material instead of a crystalline structure.
To make the sugar syrup more appealing, additional food coloring and flavoring are added. Vanilla, blueberry, grapes, and apple are among the natural and artificial flavors available. Red, blue, yellow, and green are the most commonly used food colorings, which are mixed in various proportions to achieve a soft pastel shade.
Cotton Candy Ingredients
Cotton candy is usually made with only three ingredients:
Sugar
Natural or artificial colors
Artificial flavors
Allow us to provide you with proper explanations below as to why these ingredients may not be vegan (according to stricter vegans).
Sugar
While sugar appears to be a completely vegan ingredient at first glance, vegans are concerned about ethical issues in the manufacturing process. Sugar cane or sugar beets are the two most commonly used sources of sugar.
While sugar extracted from beets is produced in a vegan manner using only vegan additives, cane sugar is not. Bone char, which is made by heating the bones of cattle until they’re charred black and completely grainy, is used to crystallize cane sugar. The pristine white color we associate with cane sugar is due to this bone char.
Artificial Flavor
To determine what are the ingredients in cotton candy, a distinction must be made between natural and artificial flavoring. According to the FDA, there is a significant difference between natural and artificial flavoring, which may lead vegans to prefer artificial flavoring over natural flavoring.
Natural food flavoring is said to be derived from plant or animal-based substances that occur naturally (for instance, honey and castoreum). On the other hand, Artificial food flavoring is created synthetically and does not contain any of these substances.
Artificial Coloring
Finally, it is widely known that all artificial colorings are tested on animals. While they do not technically contain animal-based substances, the manufacturing process still results in large-scale animal exploitation in laboratories.
As a result, artificial coloring is a controversial subject in the vegan community, as stricter vegans refuse to consume products that have been subjected to animal testing.
Animals are caged before the testing process and then force-fed the coloring for experimentation in the production of artificial coloring. Other processes include exposure to harmful radiation and animal inhalation of toxic fumes.
Is Cotton Candy Healthy?
Cotton candy isn’t exactly a nutritious snack. It’s mostly sugar and has no nutritional value. Foods that are high in sugar and low in nutrients are referred to as “empty calories” because they don’t provide much in the way of nutrition.
Cotton candy contains about 70% air, so the sugar content isn’t as concentrated as other sugary treats. This point is perfectly illustrated by taking a large bite of fluffy cotton candy and letting it dissolve to almost nothing in your mouth.
Cotton candy may provide less sugar than other sweet treats due to its lower concentration. While labeling sweets as “bad” isn’t always helpful, they should be consumed in moderation.
Is Cotton Candy Vegan?
Whether candy floss is vegan or not is a matter of personal preference. Sugar (which may contain bone char in the United States), natural colors (which may contain crushed beetles), and artificial colors are used to make it (which may have been tested on animals).
The problem with cotton candy is that the only way to find out if the ingredients are vegan is to contact the manufacturer, who may or may not know.
As a result, while some vegans enjoy cotton candy, others avoid it because they are unsure whether it is vegan.
Is Cotton Candy Kosher?
Natural and organic cotton candy will be kosher if no “toppings” or “mix-ins” have been added to the cotton candy. Many vendors add sprinkles, powdered milk, crushed cookies, and other items to their cotton candy after it has been spun. If you’re buying cotton candy with additional toppings, double-check that they’re also kosher.
Alternatives to Cotton Candy
Cotton candy that is natural or organic may be sold in some places.
The following are the most common distinctions between regular cotton candy and organic cotton candy:
Organic cotton contains non-refined sugar rather than refined sugar, which means it hasn’t gone through the filtering and bleaching process that necessitates the use of bone char; it’s also free of dyes (colors) and other artificial ingredients that may have been tested on animals.
To put it another way, organic cotton candy is the way to go if you want to avoid cotton candy that may contain bone char or artificial colors. However, when making cotton candy, you’ll need to find a place that uses organic/unrefined sugar and a dye-free process.
Summary: Cotton Candy Is Technically Vegan
Although cotton candy is technically vegan, there are likely to be some vegans who object to the use of refined sugar and artificial colors.
As we’ve already discussed, regular sugar can be refined with bone char, and artificial colors are known to be tested on animals.
As a result, some “stricter” vegans may object to its consumption.
On the other hand, Cotton candy contains no animal ingredients and is thus classified as a plant-based product.
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.
