Nerds are one of the world’s most popular candies. Small, crunchy, and delightfully tasty with a mingled tart and tangy flavor, Nerds are so popular that folks following all kinds of diets can’t always resist the urge to munch on a few for a quick snack. But if you’re a vegan, you have to ask whether Nerds are vegan safe or not before giving in to the temptation.
Nerds are not vegan-friendly, with the possible exception of Grape Nerds. It all stems from concerns around food dyes, as well as using sugar filtered using a non-vegan process. To be safe rather than sorry, you’re better off going with a certified vegan-friendly candy choice instead of gambling on Nerds. The best vegan alternative is YumEarth Organic Giggles Candy Bites.
Still have questions? Let’s take a closer look at Nerds in detail and break down why one flavor is your only real option if you want to stick to your vegan diet and crunch down on some tangy Nerds for a snack.
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Grape Nerds: The Only Vegan-Friendly Choice
So, what is it about grape Nerds that make them the only appropriate choice for vegans with a sweet tooth? It’s all because of food dyes.
Specifically, grape Nerds are the only ones that lack a food coloring called carmine or Red 4. Carmine is a red-colored dye traditionally used in a variety of food and candy products. It’s harvested from a species of bugs in Central and South America and has been used for hundreds of years.
But because carmine has to be harvested from bugs, that makes it a non-vegan ingredient since it’s only extracted from animal activity. In many cases, the beetles are killed or crushed in order to extract additional carmine for greater profits. While you can technically extract carmine from the beetles without harming them, most companies don’t do this since unfortunately they may not care.
How do Grape Nerds Differ from the Rest?
As you know, many individual Nerds candies are colored red, pink, or some mixture of the two. Grape Nerds, on the other hand, are not colored with this dye and are instead colored bright purple using artificial coloring. Any box of Nerds that has Red 4 on the back is a non-vegan because it contains carmine.
Therefore, grape Nerds are the only type of this particular brand of candy that is vegan safe. Because of this, it can be very difficult to get enough Nerds to satisfy your sweet tooth. You probably don’t want to spend your time picking through a variety pack of Nerds and only eating the purple-colored candies.
Theoretically, you could purchase the grape Nerds specifically by buying them in bulk from retailers like Amazon or other wholesaling organizations. But you may just wish to purchase a different kind of sweet candy that is verified vegan safe instead. Fortunately, you have lots of other options (more on those below).
Are the Other Ingredients in Nerds Problematic?
Possibly, but not more than the common ingredients found in other candy products like Ring Pops and more.
For example, Nerds all contain sugar, which may or may not be used with the bone charring process. Bone charring is also non-vegan, as it uses charred cattle bones to filter sugar into a fine, grainy state.
Nerds’ manufacturer, Nestlé, isn’t exactly known for its environmental friendliness or its ethical production practices. While they haven’t said one way or the other whether they use bone charring to create their sugar, odds are they don’t discount it and may use it when it makes economic sense.
If bone charring is used in the creation of Nerds, even grape Nerds aren’t safe. Because of this, vegans with ethical concerns rather than only dietary restrictions might wish to look elsewhere for candy choices.
Is Cross-Contamination a Problem with Nerds?
When you look at the back of a Nerds box, you’ll also see a warning: “may contain egg”. This is a common warning given on the back of food products that aren’t made in completely vegan safe environments. It’s essentially a warning against cross-contamination.
But as you can see when looking at the ingredients on the back of a box of Nerds, no eggs can be found. Therefore, it’s unlikely that Nestlé actually makes its Nerds with eggs on purpose. More likely is that Nerds are made in the same factory or manufacturing center as other candies or chocolates.
Many other non-vegan candies, like Jolly Ranchers, have a similar problem.
Grape Nerds Ingredients
If you have your heart set on grabbing some grape-flavored Nerds, you’ll want to know that they are vegan-friendly for certain before you start tossing them in your mouth. Let’s break down their ingredients in more detail.
Grape Nerds’ ingredients are:
- Sugar
- Dextrose
- Corn syrup
- Malic acid
- Artificial flavors
- Carnauba wax
- Blue 1 Lake
- Blue 2 Lake
- Red 40 Lake
Nutrition Facts:
- 60 cal per serving (1 tablespoon)
- 14 g carb hydrate
- 14 g sugar or 5% DV
Red 40 is often thought of as the same dye as Red 4, but they are actually quite different. Red 40 is vegan-friendly, so you don’t need to worry when you see it on the back of a candy or any other food product.
Healthy Vegan Alternatives to Nerds
Good news – you aren’t totally out of luck if you want a tart or sour candy to munch on in your spare time. While Nerds themselves may not be a very good choice for vegans, there are plenty of healthy vegan alternatives to Nerds you can and should check out.
Nerds themselves are crunchy and tangy, but most of your other options will not be as hard, unfortunately. Still, there’s no replacement for environmental friendliness. Do yourself and the planet a favor and try these alternatives instead of purchasing Nerds.
YumEarth Organic Giggles Candy Bites
YumEarth’s Organic Giggles Candy Bites are a great choice if you want something crunchy and tart without having to risk it with Nerds. These Candy bites are gluten-free, dairy-free, fully vegan, and certified organic; everything you want in a tasty candy treat without having to obsess over labels or the potential for cross-contamination. Each bag comes with several flavors, so you don’t need to worry about picking out certain colors of candy, either.
Its ingredients are:
- Organic cane sugar
- Organic rice syrup
- Organic palm oil
- Citric acid
- Organic flavors
- Turmeric
- Sodium citrate
- Organic sunflower lecithin
- Malic acid
- Color
- Organic carnauba wax
- Pectin
Nutrition Facts:
- 120 cal per serving
- 5 g fat or 2% DV
- 50 mg sodium or 2% DV
- 25 g carbohydrate or 9% DV
- 22 g sugar or 44% DV
- 3 mg calcium
- 6 mg potassium
Candy People Swedish Gummy Candy
This line of Swedish-themed gummy candies aren’t crunchy like Nerds, but they do have a similar sour and tart flavor profile that should satisfy your sweet tooth in the same way. More important, there are lots of different flavors to choose from, each of which is vegan safe, including strawberry, pear, cherry, lemon, orange, and blackcurrant. However, note that these candies are not gluten-free since they contain wheat.
Its ingredients are:
- Sugar
- Glucose fructose syrup
- Invert sugar syrup
- Wheat flour
- Cornstarch
- Coconut oil
- Malic acid
- Citric acid
- Tartaric acid
- Glycerol
- Natural colors
- Artificial flavors
- Potato starch
Nutrition Facts:
- 150 cal per serving
- 1 g fat or 2% DV
- 34 g carbohydrate or 11% DV
- 27 g sugar
Torie and Howard Chewie Fruities
Last but not least are these chewy fruit candies with a delightfully sour flavor. There are several flavors available. But more importantly, they are made with organic ingredients so you don’t need to worry about potential issues with your diet. However, they are subject to cross-contamination risk, a fact which is noted on the product’s label.
Its ingredients are:
- Organic brown rice syrup
- Organic cane syrup
- Organic palm shortening
- Citric acid
- Natural sour cherry flavor with other natural flavors
- Organic rice extract
- Ascorbic acid
- Beetroot juice
Nutrition Facts:
- 110 cal per serving
- 2 g fat or 3% DV
- 24 g carb hydrate or 9% DV
- 15 g sugar or 30% DV
Final Thoughts
In the end, only a single variety of Nerds is technically vegan safe, and even then there’s no guarantee that it’s actually a vegan candy given the ambiguity behind its sugar content. Since there are so many great alternatives to Nerds that don’t carry the same problematic ingredients, we recommend checking out vegan candies instead of crunching down on Nerds whenever your sweet tooth starts hankering for some candy.
Related Questions
What about other colors of Nerds aside from red and pink colored Nerds? Are they vegan-friendly?
No, because those colors of Nerds tend to have mixtures of carmine in their food colorings to achieve the desired look and flavor. Grape Nerds are the only real way to go if you want to stick to your vegan diet.
Do Nerds contain pork gelatin?
It’s unclear whether Nerds have pork gelatin or not. Some sources say yes, others say no. This ambiguity is just one more reason why it’s a good idea to avoid Nerds in favor of other, vegan-friendly candy alternatives.