Are Sour Punch Bites Vegan? (It Depends on This)

In previous posts, we looked at if Sour Patch Kids were vegan or not.  There were actually some things discovered that might make them not vegan.

This post will focus on Sour Punch Bites to determine if they are vegan or not as well as if Sour Punch Bites are vegetarian.

See also Are Sour Patch Kids Vegan?

Let’s look at Sour Punch Bites and figure out what the answer might be.

Do Sour Punch Bites Have Gelatin?

One of the first questions to look at when determining if Sour Punch Bites might be vegan or vegetarian is to see if they have gelatin in them.  Why is this so?  That’s because gelatin is made of boiled skin and bones from animals, usually cows and pigs.  This means it’s an animal product, and not vegan.

Gelatin is added to create a gummy texture or as a thickener, so with a gummy candy-like Sour Punch Bites, it is a concern as to whether gelatin is used or not.

Is gelatin used in Sour Punch Bites?  According to the ingredients label for Sour Punch Bites, they do not have any gelatin in them.

Sour Punch Bites Ingredients

Here are the ingredients for Sour Punch Bites.

• Corn Syrup
• Sugar
• Wheat Flour
• Citric Acid
• Malic Acid
• Tartaric Acid
• Food Starch Modified
• Palm Oil
• Glyceryl
• Monostearate
• Sodium Citrate
• Glycerin
• Artificial Flavor
• Color Added Blue 1

As we can see from the ingredients, gelatin is not listed.  This is usually the biggest concern for a gummy candy being vegan or not since it is used a lot.

Are Sour Punch Bites Vegan?

Sour Punch Bites do not contain gelatin which would make them non-vegan.  But there might be other ingredients of concern, depending on how strict of a vegan you might be.  What are these other controversial ingredients?

Sugar

Sugar can be made using either sugar beets or cane sugar.  If the sugar is made using cane sugar, sometimes bone char is used in order to whiten the sugar when it is produced.  Bone char is made from the bones of animals.

But, bone char isn’t always used.  If the sugar is raw, unrefined, or natural, then it has not used any bone char in the process.  Also, when bone char is used, it doesn’t end up in the final product, it is just used in the process of making the cane sugar.

In the U.S. a lot of businesses will outsource the sugar used in their products.  This means, they usually have no way of knowing what kind of sugar is used in different batches of their products.  So, in this case, it is hard to know if bone char was used in the making of Sour Punch Bites.

(Learn more at Is Sugar Vegan?)

Glycerin

Glycerin, which is present in Sour Punch Bites, can be obtained from two methods.  One is derived from plants, and the other is from animal fats.  But usually, the plant-based version is used.

Artificial colors and flavors

Artificial colors and flavors are not derived from animal products.  But, they are usually tested on animals for safety.  These animals usually include rats, rabbits, guinea pigs and sometimes even dogs.

For some strict vegans, they choose to avoid these artificial colors and flavors because they are tested for safety on animals.

So, are Sour Punch Bites Vegan?  It depends on how strict of a vegan you are.  Sour Punch Bites do not contain gelatin or any other direct animal products.  But, some of the products in them such as sugar may have been refined using animal parts, and the artificial colors may have been tested on animals.

Are Sour Punch Mini Bites Vegan?

Sour Punch Mini Bites have the same ingredients as Sour Punch Bites and do not contain gelatin, which would make them non-vegan.  But, they have some ingredients of slight concern for some vegans.

This includes sugar, in which a small amount of sugar is produced using bone char, and also artificial colors and flavors which might have been tested on animals.

Are Sour Punch Bites Vegetarian?

Since Sour Punch Bites do not contain any gelatin or any other direct animal products, they are vegetarian.

Vegan Candy

You can view our other articles on vegan candy, or browse some popular ones below.

• Are Sour Patch Kids Vegan?
• Are Gobstoppers Vegan?
• Are Skittles Vegan?
• Are Swedish Fish Vegan?

Conclusion

Sour Punch Bites do not have any direct ingredients that would make them non-vegan.  But, they do have some controversial ingredients which may be of concern for stricter vegans.

They do not have any gelatin or direct animal parts, so Sour Punch Bites are vegetarian.

Sour Punch Bites official site