Image Credit: Crazy Sweet
Swedish Fish is a fish-shaped, chewy candy originally developed by Swedish candy producer Malaco in the late 1950s for the U.S. market. They are now made by Mondelēz International in Canada and Turkey according to Wikipedia. Originally colored red with a flavor unique to the candy, Swedish Fish are now also available in several different colors, such as Orange & Lemon-Lime. In this article we seek to answer the question “Are Swedish Fish Vegan?” along with many other commonly asked questions about Swedish Fish.
A full vegan-friendly analysis of Swedish Fish 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).
Swedish Fish
Swedish Fish Ingredients
Regular Packaging – Sugar, Invert Sugar, Corn Syrup, Modified Corn Starch, Citric Acid, White Mineral Oil, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Red 40, Carnauba Wax. [Source]
Peg Bag Packaging – Sugar, Invert Sugar, Corn Syrup, Modified Corn Starch, Citric Acid, Palm Kernel Oil, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Carnauba Wax, Red 40, Beeswax. [Source]
Are Swedish Fish Vegan?
Swedish Fish are one of the few products on the market that vary ingredients based on the packaging used. As can be seen in the ingredients listed above, Swedish Fish that come in a peg bag (bag with a hole at the top like you’d find at a convenience store) adds Palm Oil and Beeswax to the ingredients compared to regular packaging. Beeswax is typically considered an animal-derived product and is not vegan. However, all of the ingredients in the regular packaged Swedish Fish are vegan-friendly. Therefore Swedish Fish are usually vegan, but check the packaging to make sure Beeswax is not included.
Assorted Swedish Fish
Assorted Swedish Fish Ingredients
Sugar, Invert Sugar, Corn Syrup, Modified Corn Starch, Citric Acid, White Mineral Oil, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Carnauba Wax, Red 40, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Blue 1. [Source]
Are Assorted Swedish Fish Vegan?
Based on the ingredients listed on Mondelēz’s website, both the regular and peg bag packaged Assorted Swedish Fish are vegan-friendly. The only ingredients that may cause vegans some concern are those listed in the controversial ingredients section above.
Additional Swedish Fish FAQs
According to the ingredients listed on the Mondelēz website, none of the Swedish Fish products contain gelatin.
While none of the Swedish Fish varieties include gluten-containing ingredients, Mondelēz states the following with regards to allergens:
We do not have dedicated lines for all our products.
We take special precautions to thoroughly clean and sanitize all our production lines between product changeovers on a line. We build these cleaning procedures into our safety systems to make sure there is no carryover from allergens; for example when switching from nut-containing products to ones without nuts.
If there is any risk of cross contamination we will label the allergen in the “manufactured on equipment that processes.
Therefore, there is some risk of cross contamination with other Mondelēz products but it is very minimal. Therefore, Swedish Fish are gluten-free!
According to Mondelēz website, Swedish Fish are NOT certified Kosher.
Swedish Fish are both peanut and tree nut free!
According to Mental Floss, Swedish Fish were developed by Swedish confectionery company Malaco in the late 1950s. There were created as a way to expand to North America and were called “Swedish Fish” because Malaco is a Swedish company and the fishing industry was very large in Sweden.
While they were originally developed in Sweden, Swedish Fish that are consumed in North America today are made in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and Turkey by Mondelēz International according to Wikipedia.
Therefore Swedish Fish were developed in Sweden by a Swedish company, but are now made in Canada and Turkey.
Summary
Swedish Fish are almost always a vegan candy. However, some packages include Beeswax in the ingredients so make sure to check the packaging before purchase.
If you liked this article, you can read about other vegan snack options here.
