According to Wikipedia, ‘Laffy Taffy is a brand of candy first produced in the 1970s as “Beich’s Caramels”, though in fact, they were fruit-flavored taffy squares. The original company later changed the name of the product to “Beich’s Laffy Taffy”, which occurred some years prior to the acquisition of distribution rights and later purchase of the product line by Nestlé. The candies are available in a variety of artificial fruit flavors including Banana, Strawberry, Green Apple, Grape, and Blueberry, as well as a chocolate mousse flavor.’ While all these flavors sound vegan friendly, is Laffy Taffy vegan?
A full vegan-friendly analysis of each Laffy Taffy variety can be found in the following sections.
Controversial Vegan Ingredients
Before we start our vegan analysis, we would like to make note of the controversial ingredients that are assumed to be vegan in this analysis. Even though we consider them to be vegan, we will still highlight these ingredients if they appear in any posted ingredient lists. These controversial ingredients include:
Sugar
In almost all candy products, one of the first few ingredients is Sugar. Sugar is a controversial product in the vegan community because refined cane sugar is processed with bone char to achieve the pure white color. The sugar itself does not contain any bone char particles, but is not vegan due to the processing methods used. Since the type of sugar is typically not stated, it is assumed to be vegan in this analysis. If you choose to avoid non-vegan sugars than all of the products in this analysis should be avoided. A full rundown on if sugar is vegan can be found in our article titled “Is Your Sugar Vegan? Lets Find Out!“
Palm Oil and Palm Fat
Palm oil is a controversial vegan ingredient not because it is animal-derived, but because the cultivation of palm oil has devastating environmental impacts and harms many animals. You can learn more about palm oil in our article titled “Is Palm Oil Vegan?“
Natural and Artificial Flavorings
Natural flavors can come from both animal or plant sources, but the natural flavors in candies are typically from plant sources. Those natural flavors from animal-origin will be highlighted if known.
Colors
Some food colors are controversial in the vegan community. This is because food colors are often tested on animals. In this article we assume all food colors are vegan, unless the color itself is from an animal or insect origin (e.g. Carmine).
Laffy Taffy Minis
Mini Laffy Taffy Ingredients
Corn Syrup, Sugar, Palm Oil, And Less Than 2% of Mono- And Diglycerides, Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil, Malic Acid, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Artificial Flavors, Blue 1, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6. [Source]
Is Mini Laffy Taffy Vegan?
Mini Laffy Taffy are vegan as they contain no animal products! This is confirmed by One Green Planet.
Laffy Taffy Ropes
Laffy Taffy Rope Ingredients
Corn Syrup, Sugar, Palm Oil, And Less Than 2% of Mono- And Diglycerides, Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil, Malic Acid, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Artificial Flavors, Blue 1, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6. [Source]
Are Laffy Taffy Ropes Vegan?
As they have the same ingredients as their mini counterparts, Laffy Taffy Ropes are also vegan!
Laffy Taffy Stretchy and Tangy
Stretchy and Tangy Laffy Taffy Ingredients
Corn syrup, Hydrogenated Coconut Oil, and less than 2% of Malic Acid, Egg Albumen, Sodium Alginate, Calcium Acetate, Monoglycerides, Natural Flavor, Color Added, Red 40. [Source]
Are Strechy and Tangy Laffy Taffy Vegan?
Surprisingly, the ingridents are different for the “Stretchy and Tangy” Laffy Taffy compared to the mini and rope varieties. With this change, Laffy Taffy added Egg Albumen (i.e. Egg Whites) to the ingredients. Therefore, the Stretchy and Tangy Laffy Taffy is not vegan.
Laffy Taffy Jelly Beans
Laffy Taffy Jelly Beans Ingredients
Dextrose, Sugar, Corn Syrup, Modified Food Starch, And Less Than 2% Of Malic Acid, Tapioca Dextrin, Artificial Flavors, Carnauba Wax, White Mineral Oil, Beeswax, Color Added, Blue 1 Lake, Red 40, Red 40 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake. [Source]
Are Laffy Taffy Jelly Beans Vegan?
Laffy Taffy Jelly Beans are also not vegan as beeswax is included in the ingredients list. If want to know if other brands of jelly beans are vegan-friendly, take a look at our article titled “Are Jelly Bellys Gluten Free or Vegan?”
Additional Laffy Taffy FAQs
Q: Is Laffy Taffy Gluten Free?
All of Laffy Taffy’s products (Minis, Ropes, Stretchy and Tangy, and Jelly Beans) are gluten free!
Q: Is Laffy Taffy Dairy Free?
All Laffy Taffy products are dairy free! The only animal products that appear in Laffy Taffys are eggs in the Stretchy and Tangy variety and Beeswax in the Jelly Beans.
Q: Is Laffy Taffy Peanut Free?
All Laffy Taffy products are peanut-free
Summary
We find it very interesting that Laffy Taffy products change ingredients depending on the size. Based on the ingredients we found, the mini and rope varieties of Laffy Taffy are vegan. However, the Stretchy and Tangy Laffy Taffy products are not.
You can read about other vegan snack options here.
