In one of our last posts, we looked at if Sour Patch Kids are vegan. There were actually two different types of Sour Patch Kids, and so you had a vegan version and a non-vegan version. But many websites have missed this.
This post will look specifically at, are Sour Patch Watermelon vegan? We will look at the Sour Patch Watermelon ingredients, if they have gelatin, what some ingredients of concern might be, and more.
Let’s jump into the answer below!
Are Sour Patch Watermelon Vegan?
Sour Patch Watermelon do not have any gelatin which would make them obviously non-vegan. But there are also some other ingredients of concern that might make them not vegan friendly. This might depend on how strict of a vegan you are.
The first thing we need to look at for most chewy candies to know if it is vegan or not is to look for gelatin. Gelatin is said by Peta to be non-vegan. It’s a product that is derived from the grinding of animal bones, mainly cows and pigs.
So, anything that has gelatin in it, would be considered non-vegan. A lot of candies will use gelatin as the gelling agent that causes certain candies to have a chewiness. So even if the candy does not have an obvious animal product in it, it still might not be technically considered a vegan candy.
Also, some candies that you would think have gelatin such as Swedish Fish, do not have gelatin but use other gelling agents.
In the post Does Sour Patch Kids Have Gelatin we examined if Sour Patch Kids had gelatin in them or not. There are two different formulas, depending on your location, so there have been different versions of Sour Patch Kids seen. Some have gelatin and some don’t.
But it seems as if Sour Patch Watermelon may not have two different formulas.
Do Sour Patch Watermelon Have Gelatin?
So, now let’s see if Sour Patch Watermelon have gelatin in them or not. Unlike, Sour Patch Kids, Sour Patch Watermelon only seems to have one version of the candy that I have seen. The ingredients list is found on the Sour Patch Watermelon official page.
Sour Patch Watermelon Ingredients
- SUGAR
- INVERT SUGAR
- CORN SYRUP
- MODIFIED CORN STARCH
- CITRIC ACID
- TARTARIC ACID
- NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR
- TITANIUM DIOXIDE
- RED 40
- YELLOW 5
- BLUE 1
We see that gelatin is not listed as an ingredient. So, that does not need to be worried about. But there may be some other ingredients of concern for some vegans. Let’s have a look at those.
First, let’s understand that Sour Patch Kids and Sour Patch Watermelon are almost the same product. The only difference from the Sour Patch Kids ingredients is the addition of Titanium Dioxide. Since Titanium Dioxide is not an animal-based product of concern, the issue of Sour Patch Watermelon being vegan and Sour Patch Kids being vegan is going to be the same.
Sour Patch Watermelon Ingredients of Concern
The first ingredient of concern for Sour Patch Watermelon is going to be sugar. Sugar is made in two different ways. One way is using beets and is completely vegan friendly.
The other way that sugar is made uses sugar cane. When sugar cane is used, sometimes something called bone char is used to whiten the sugar when it’s processed. Bone char is not vegan friendly since it is derived from the bones of cattle.
The issue is that when it comes to sugar in the U.S., some of it is produced not using bone char or some is produced using bone char. A lot of times since the companies purchase their sugar from outside companies, even they won’t know how the sugar was processed.
There is another way of whitening cane sugar that uses activated charcoal instead of bone char. In fact, almost all sugar in the UK and most sugar in the US is not made using bone char anymore. And also, most sugar in the US is made using sugar beets and not sugar cane as well. (Learn more at Is Sugar Vegan?) But it does still exist.
So, as far as the sugar used in Sour Patch Watermelon, there seems to be no way to know if is created using bone char or not. So we don’t know if the sugar is vegan or not. It might be, but it might not be as well.
The next ingredients of concern are artificial colors and flavors. Although they are made from chemicals and are not derived from animal products, there is an issue with food colorings and stricter vegans. Artificial colors and flavors are tested for safety on animals. For some vegans, this can be a problem and so they want to avoid any artificial colors and flavors.
Sour Patch Watermelon has these artificial colors and flavors.
So, it looks like we don’t know if technically Sour Patch Watermelon can be considered a vegan candy. If you are just looking to avoid gelatin as a vegan or vegetarian, then you should be fine with Sour Patch Watermelon. But, if you are stricter, there are some ingredients of concern.
Are Sour Patch Watermelon Halal?
Sour Patch Watermelon are halal. They do not contain any animal-derived products.
Do Sour Patch Watermelon Have Gluten?
Sour Patch Watermelon do not have gluten in them. They are free of wheat or any added gluten. They are acceptable on a gluten-free diet.
See also: Are Sour Patch Kids Gluten Free?
Are Sour Punch Straws Vegan?
In this separate post, we examined Are Sour Punch Straws Vegan?
Does Sour Patch Watermelon Have Pork?
No, Sour Patch Watermelon do not contain any pork or part of pigs that might be present in gelatin, since they do not contain gelatin.
Are Sour Patch Strawberry Vegan?
Sour Patch Strawberry do not have any gelatin in them which would make them non-vegan. But, there are some ingredients that might be of concern. The first is sugar. A small percentage of sugar is made now using bone char. It’s impossible to know if this is the case for Sour Patch Strawberry.
Another ingredient of concern is the artificial colors and flavors, which are not animal products but might have been tested on animals at some point.
What Candy is Vegan?
You can view more of our articles on vegan sour candy to see if other popular candies are vegan.
Final Thoughts on Are Sour Patch Watermelon Vegan
We’ve seen that it isn’t completely clear if Sour Patch Watermelon is vegan or not, at least not 100% vegan. We know that they don’t have gelatin at least, which is one of the biggest concerns with candy being vegan friendly or not. The rest may depend on how strict of a vegan you are or not.
Lance has been passionate about the plant-based diet and we have been following a whole food plant-based diet for over 5 years. We focus on health, natural healing, weight management, animal rights, and the health of the planet and environment by focusing on whole plant-based foods and sustainable practices.
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