Junior Mints are a candy that it’s not abundantly clear whether or not they’re vegan, so we contacted the manufacturer to find out exactly if it’s vegan or not.
According to what Junior Mint’s Manufacturer (Tootsie Roll Industries) said, I’m pretty confident in saying they’re definitely non-vegan at this time. I’ll specify below as to why I believe this to be the case.
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What did the Manufacturer say?
They provided an ingredients list that I’ll mention below, as well as specified about a few ingredients that I brought up as a concern. I brought up Sugar as well as Confectioner’s glaze, as they are the only potential non-vegan ingredients in Junior Mints.
Aside from the ingredients list, they said that they source their sugar from a variety of sources and could not be sure whether or not the sugar in Junior Mints would be vegan or not. What this tells me is that there’s a good chance that at least some of the time the sugar used in Junior Mints is non-vegan.
They also said, which is what makes me confident that Junior Mints aren’t Vegan is that they said that the confectioners glaze does in fact contain shellac flakes, which is derived from crushing insects (Beetles specifically). This hands down makes Junior Mints non-vegan.
Junior Mints Ingredients:
Sugar, Semi-Sweet Chocolate (Sugar, Chocolate Processed with Alkali, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin-An Emulsifier, Vanillin-An Artificial Flavor), Corn Syrup, Confectioner’s Glaze, Food Starch-Modified, Peppermint Oil, Invertase (An Enzyme).
So are Junior Mints Vegan?
Absolutely not, they contain crushed up beetles and may also contain sugar that was refined using animal products. Vegans should avoid buying or consuming Junior Mints.
Unfortunately, I am not familiar with Mint-Chocolates and can’t recommend a good vegan alternative at this time to Junior Mints. If you know of any please let me know about it through the contact page.
- Just want a Minty Chew? – Check out what flavors of 5 Gum, Trident, or Orbit Gums are Vegan.
