Are Mentos Vegan? – 2023

Some people can’t live without Mentos. I prefer other mint and gum options myself, but if you are a big van of Mentos, you may be wondering, are Mentos vegan? Not all Mentos products are safe for plant-based eaters, but there are a few vegan-friendly options.

Whether you want to eat some Mentos or are just looking to prank someone by mixing them with Coke, there are a few things you need to know first if you are trying to stick to a vegan lifestyle.

Are Mentos vegan?

Whether or not Mentos are vegan depends on the flavor and style you choose. Not all Mentos are vegan, but there are a few options for plant-based eaters who can’t live without them.

Mentos varieties that are not suitable for vegans typically contain beeswax, gelatin, or carmine. As you probably already know, these are not vegan-friendly ingredients. If you ever see one of these three ingredients listed on a package of Mentos, it is best to put them back on the shelf.

Whether or not Mentos are vegan can also depend on the country you are in.

Are Mint Mentos vegan?

According to the Mentos website, Mint Mentos contain the following ingredients:

• Sugar
• Wheat Glucose Syrup
• Hydrogenated Coconut Oil
• Rice Starch
• Natural Flavors
• Gum Arabic
• Sucrose Esters Of Fatty
• Acids
• Gellan Gum
• Carnauba Wax
• Beeswax

Beeswax is a non-vegan ingredient. It comes from honeybees and is one of the two main parts of a honeycomb. Because Mint Mentos contain this ingredient, it is best to skip them if you are vegan.

Mentos Spearmint also contains beeswax.

The sugar and natural flavors in Mentos may not be vegan either, but it is difficult to say. Some mint varieties do not contain beeswax and are assumed to be vegan. If you are a strict vegan you may choose to skip them, but most vegan websites approve of those Mentos.

Are Fruit Mentos vegan?

According to the Mentos website, the ingredients in Fruit Mentos are:

• Sugar
• Wheat Glucose Syrup
• Hydrogenated Coconut Oil
• Citric Acid
• Fruit Juices from
• Concentrate (Strawberry, Orange, Lemon) (1%)
• Rice Starch
• Gum Arabic
• Natural Flavors
• Sucrose Esters Of Fatty Acids
• Gellan Gum
• Carnauba Wax
• Colors (Beta-Carotene, Beetroot Red)
• Beeswax

The most obvious ingredient in Fruit Mentos that makes this flavor unsuitable for vegans is beeswax. In the United Kingdom, Fruit Mentos also contain Carmine. Carmine is a red food coloring that comes from insects. These ingredients make it pretty clear that Fruit Mentos are not vegan-friendly.

Other ingredients that might not be vegan are natural flavors and sugar. With these ingredients, it is unclear whether or not they are vegan-friendly unless brands and companies are super upfront about it. In some cases, they contain animal products or byproducts like bone char.

In this case, we do not have to analyze these ingredients because either way, we already know that Fruit Mentos are unsuitable for vegans.

You should also know that Mentos Rainbow contains carmine, and Mentos Strawberry contains beeswax, so they are not vegan either.

Are Mentos Hard Mints vegan?

There are a few types of Mentos Hard Mints. Cleanbreath Peppermint and Cleanbreath Wintergreen are the most popular, and they are both vegan, at least here in the United States.

The ingredients lists are all very similar, but let’s go through one together. Cleanbreath Wintergreen mints contain:

• Sorbitol
• Artificial Flavors
• Magnesium Stearate
• Aspartame
• Sucralose
• Green Tea Extract
• Riboflavin and Blue 1 for color

As you can see, these do not contain anything we vegans should worry about. The only thing that one might question is the artificial flavors. In this case, they appear to be safe.

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