Ring Pops are a fun candy “jewelry” that have been around since the 1970s. Their inventor Frank Richards was a product engineer at a company called Topps who wanted to help his daughter break her habit of sucking her thumb. Ring Pops become popular in the 1980s and 1990s and are still around today. There have been many flavors of Ring Pops over the years, some of which have been discontinued.
Traditional Ring Pops are vegan. They don’t contain any animal-derived ingredients but they do contain refined sugar and artificial coloring which is considered non-vegan by some. The gummy versions of Ring Pops aren’t vegan because they contain gelatin. The best vegan and healthier alternatives to Ring Pops are YumEarth Organic Lollipops, Project 7 Golly Lolli’s, and Zollipops.
Ring Pops are still manufactured by Topps today. They come in the original hard varieties, but also have non-vegan-friendly gummies. There are several flavors, so read on to learn more about the different kinds of Ring Pops, their ingredients, and nutrition information!
Contents
- Questionable ingredients for strict vegans
- Nutritional Information for Ring Pops
- Watermelon
- Blue Raspberry
- Strawberry
- Cherry
- Pink Mystery
- Blue Mystery
- Green Mystery
- Yellow Mystery
- Purple Berry Punch Tongue Painter
- Blue Blast Tongue Painter
- Cherry Explosion Tongue Painter
- Watermelon Rush Tongue Painter
- Berry Punch Freeze
- Blue Raspberry Freeze
- Lemon Lime Freeze
- Rainbow Sherbet Freeze
- Tropical Fruit Punch
- Tropical Lemonade
- Very Berry Punch
- Strawberry Watermelon Splash
- Citrus Craze
- Twisted Blue Raspberry Watermelon
- Twisted Berry Blast
- Strawberry – 16 g size
- Blue Raspberry – 16 g size
- Watermelon – 16 g size
- Sour Cherry
- Sour Lemonade
- Sour Green Apple
- Sour Raspberry
- Sour Watermelon – 14 g size
- Easter Collection Shapes – Blue Raspberry
- Easter Collection Shapes – Strawberry
- Easter Collection Shapes – Grape
- Easter Collection Shapes – Watermelon
- Valentine Hearts
- Giant Ring Pop – 700 grams
- Ring Pop Gummy Chains
- Ring Pop Gummy Rings
- Ring Pop Gummy Gems
- Healthier Vegan Alternatives to Ring Pops
- Final Thoughts
- Related Questions
Questionable ingredients for strict vegans
Refined sugar
Refined sugar (“sugar” on the Ring Pops ingredient list) is sometimes processed with bone char as a filler. You can’t tell for sure if the sugar in Ring Pops contains bone char or not, especially since they aren’t certified vegan. Most vegans eat foods with refined sugar without a second thought, but it might be an issue for some.
Food dyes (artificial coloring)
Ring Pops use several different artificial colors. While natural food colorings are typically vegan, the artificial coloring used in Ring Pops can be an issue for some stricter vegans because they are tested on animals.
For instance, Carmine is a type of food coloring made from beetles. It’s also known as “natural red 4”. However, the red dyes used in Ring Pops aren’t from natural red 4, so they are vegan.
Nutritional Information for Ring Pops
The nutritional information for Ring Pops is the same among a variety of flavors. There are several flavors and slightly different sizes of Ring Pops. They’re all organized below!
Watermelon
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Artificial flavor
- Turmeric (color)
- Blue 1
Blue Raspberry
Ingredients;
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Artificial flavor
- Blue 1
Strawberry
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Natural & artificial flavors
- Red 3
- Blue 1
Cherry
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Natural & artificial flavors
- Red 40
Pink Mystery
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Artificial flavor
- Red 3
- Blue 1
Blue Mystery
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Natural & artificial flavors
- Sodium lactate
- Blue 1
Green Mystery
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Artificial flavor
- Turmeric (color)
- Blue 1
Yellow Mystery
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Natural & artificial flavors
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Yellow 5
Purple Berry Punch Tongue Painter
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Natural & artificial flavors
- Red 3
- Blue 1
- Yellow 6
Blue Blast Tongue Painter
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Natural blueberry flavor with other natural flavors
- Blue 1
Cherry Explosion Tongue Painter
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Artificial flavor
- Red 40
Watermelon Rush Tongue Painter
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Artificial flavor
- Yellow 5
- Blue 1
Berry Punch Freeze
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Natural & artificial flavors
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Red 3
- Blue 1
- Yellow 6
Blue Raspberry Freeze
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Artificial flavors
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Blue 1
Lemon Lime Freeze
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Natural & artificial flavors
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Turmeric (color)
- Blue 1
Rainbow Sherbet Freeze
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Natural & artificial flavors
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Yellow 6
Tropical Fruit Punch
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Artificial flavor
- Yellow 6
Tropical Lemonade
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Natural & artificial flavors
- Yellow 5
Very Berry Punch
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Natural & artificial flavors
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Red 3
- Blue 1
- Yellow 6
Strawberry Watermelon Splash
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Natural & artificial flavors
- Sodium lactate
- Red 3
- Blue 1
Nutrition facts for all flavors above (per one 10 g pop):
- Calories: 40
- Total Fat: 0
- Total Carbohydrate: 10 g
- Total sugars: 5 g
- Added sugars: 5 g
- Protein: 0 g
Citrus Craze
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Natural & artificial flavors
- Titanium dioxide (color)
- Yellow 6 Lake
- Red 40 Lake
- Red 3
Twisted Blue Raspberry Watermelon
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Artificial flavors
- Titanium dioxide (color)
- Yellow 5 Lake
- Yellow 5
- Blue 1
- Blue 1 Lake
Twisted Berry Blast
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Sodium lactate
- Natural & artificial flavors
- Titanium dioxide (color)
- Red 40 Lake
- Red 3
- Blue 1
- Blue 1 Lake
Nutrition facts for all flavors above (plus flavors listed in 10 g pop size) – per one 14 g pop:
- Calories: 60
- Total Fat: 0
- Total Carbohydrate: 14 g
- Total sugars: 7 g
- Added sugars: 7 g
- Protein: 0 g
Strawberry – 16 g size
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Glucose syrup
- Buffered lactic acid
- Contains 2% or less of natural & artificial flavors, red 40
Blue Raspberry – 16 g size
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Glucose syrup
- Buffered lactic acid
- Contains 2% or less of artificial flavor, blue 1
Watermelon – 16 g size
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Glucose syrup
- Buffered lactic acid
- Contains 2% or less of artificial flavor, yellow 5, blue 1
Nutrition facts (per one 16 g pop):
- Calories: 60
- Total Fat: 0
- Total Carbohydrate: 15 g
- Total sugars: 12 g
- Added sugars: 12 g
- Protein: 0 g
Sour Cherry
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Citric acid
- Natural & artificial flavors
- Red 40
Sour Lemonade
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Citric acid
- Natural & artificial flavors
- Yellow 5
Sour Green Apple
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Citric acid
- Artificial flavor
- Turmeric (color)
- Blue 1
Sour Raspberry
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Citric acid
- Natural flavor
- Red 40
- Blue 1
Nutrition facts per 10 g Ring Pop Sours in flavors above:
- Calories: 40
- Total Fat: 0 g
- Total Carbohydrate: 10 g
- Total sugars: 4 g
- Added sugars: 4 g
- Protein: 0 g
Sour Watermelon – 14 g size
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Lactic acid
- Citric acid
- Artificial flavor
- Turmeric (color)
- Blue 1
Nutrition facts for 14 g Sour Pops (in Sour Watermelon, Green Apple & Cherry)
- Calories: 60
- Total Fat: 0 g
- Total Carbohydrate: 14 g
- Total sugars: 6 g
- Added sugars: 6 g
- Protein: 0 g
Easter Collection Shapes – Blue Raspberry
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Buffered lactic acid
- Artificial flavor
- Titanium dioxide (color)
- Blue 1 Lake
- Blue 2 Lake
Easter Collection Shapes – Strawberry
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Buffered lactic acid
- Natural & artificial flavors
- Titanium dioxide (color)
- Red 3
- Blue 1 Lake
Easter Collection Shapes – Grape
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Buffered lactic acid
- Natural & artificial flavors
- Titanium dioxide (color)
- Blue 2 Lake
- Red 3
Easter Collection Shapes – Watermelon
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Buffered lactic acid
- Natural & artificial flavors
- Titanium dioxide (color)
- Yellow 5
- Yellow 5 Lake
- Blue 1 Lake
- Blue 1
Nutrition facts (per each 14 g pop from Easter Collection Shapes above):
- Calories: 60
- Total Fat: 0 g
- Total Carbohydrate: 14 g
- Total sugars: 9 g
- Added sugars: 9 g
- Protein: 0 g
Valentine Hearts
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Corn syrup
- Buffered lactic acid
- Contains 2% or less of natural & artificial flavors, red 40
Nutrition facts (per one 14 g Valentine Heart):
- Calories: 60
- Total Fat: 0 g
- Total Carbohydrate: 14 g
- Total sugars: 9 g
- Added sugars: 9 g
- Protein: 0 g
Giant Ring Pop – 700 grams
Ingredients:
- Sugar
- Glucose Syrup
- Citric acid
- Artificial flavor
- Red 40
- Titanium dioxide (color)
Nutrition facts (per 1/47 pop – 15 g)
- Calories: 60
- Total Fat: 0 g
- Total Carbohydrate: 14 g
- Total sugars: 11 g
- Added sugars: 11 g
- Protein: 0 g
Ring Pop Gummy Chains
Ingredients:
- Glucose Syrup
- Sugar
- Water
- Gelatin
- Contains 2% or less of: sorbitol, citric acid, malic acid, artificial flavor, pectin, palm oil, carnauba wax, red 40, blue 1, yellow 6, yellow 5
- *may contain milk
Nutrition facts (per 1 chain and 3 charms – 30 g)
- Calories: 100
- Total Fat: 0 g
- Total Carbohydrate: 24 g
- Total sugars: 14 g
- Added sugars: 14 g
- Protein: 2 g
Ring Pop Gummy Rings
Ingredients:
- Glucose Syrup
- Sugar
- Water
- Gelatin
- Contains 2% or less of: sorbitol, citric acid, malic acid, artificial flavors, pectin, palm oil, carnauba wax, red 40, yellow 5, blue 1
- *may contain milk
Nutrition facts (per 4-5 pieces – 30-32 g)
- Calories: 110
- Total Fat: 0 g
- Total Carbohydrate: 25 g
- Total sugars: 15 g
- Added sugars: 15 g
- Protein: 2 g
Ring Pop Gummy Gems
Ingredients:
- Glucose Syrup
- Sugar
- Water
- Gelatin
- Contains 2% or less of: sorbitol, citric acid, natural & artificial flavors, malic acid, coconut oil, pectin, glycerin, carnauba wax, sodium citrate, titanium dioxide (color), yellow 5, red 40, blue 1, yellow 6
Nutrition facts (per 5 pieces – 28 g)
- Calories: 90
- Total Fat: 0 g
- Total Carbohydrate: 20 g
- Total sugars: 14 g
- Added sugars: 14 g
- Protein: 2 g
Healthier Vegan Alternatives to Ring Pops
YumEarth Organic Lollipops
These lollipops are certified organic, vegan, and gluten-free, as well as non-GMO verified. They are still a source of added sugar so aren’t necessarily “healthy”, but they don’t contain artificial colors or flavors so are a better choice compared to Ring Pops.
Ingredients:
- Organic Cane Sugar
- Organic Brown Rice Syrup
- Citric Acid
- Ascorbic Acid
- Natural Flavors
- Colored With Concentrate (Carrot, Blackcurrant)
- Colored With Organic Concentrate (Carrot, Apple, Blackcurrant)
- Turmeric (color)
- Organic Annatto (Color)
Nutrition facts (per two pops – 12.4 g)
- Calories: 45
- Total Fat: 0 g
- Total Carbohydrate: 11 g
- Total sugars: 8 g
- Added sugars: 8 g
- Protein: 0 g
Project 7 Golly Lolli’s
These lollipops are vegan, USDA certified organic, and low in net carbs, making them suitable for people on low-carb diets. Net carbs are the number of carbs that impact blood sugar levels and are found by subtracting dietary fiber from total carbohydrates.
Ingredients:
- Organic soluble corn fiber
- Organic rice syrup
- Organic sugar
- Organic inulin
- Citric acid
- Organic monk fruit concentrate
- Natural flavors
- Organic carrot concentrate
- Organic apple concentrate
- Organic blackcurrant concentrate
- Carrot concentrate
- Blackcurrant concentrate
- Turmeric
- Organic annatto
Nutrition facts (per 2 lollipops – 12 g)
- Calories: 30
- Total Fat: 0 g
- Total Carbohydrate: 12 g
- Dietary fiber: 8 g
- Total sugars: 2 g
- Added sugars: 2 g
- Protein: 0 g
Zollipops
Zollipops contain natural flavors and colors. They’re sugar-free and sweetened with erythritol, a sugar alcohol that can help improve oral health and reduce the incidence of cavities.
Ingredients:
- Isomalt syrup
- Erythritol
- Citric acid
- Natural flavors
- Natural colors – Annatto extract, turmeric, redbeet root juice, spirulina, blueberry juice
- Orange oil
- Stevia
Nutrition facts (per two pops – 13 g)
- Calories: 25
- Total Fat: 0 g
- Total Carbohydrate: 13 g
- Total sugars: 22 g
- Added sugars: 0 g
- Sugar alcohols: 12 g
- Protein: 0 g
Final Thoughts
Hard candy Ring Pops are all vegan-friendly. The gummy versions contain gelatin, which is made from animal products so they aren’t vegan.
Ring Pops contain added sugar as well as artificial flavors and colors. Healthier options contain less sugar and more natural ingredients.
Related Questions
Are Ring Pops gluten-free?
Ring Pops are gluten-free. Read all about it here!
Are Ring Pops dairy-free?
Most Ring Pops are dairy-free. However, the Gummy Chains and Gummy Rings have an allergen disclaimer that they “may contain milk”.
Where are Ring Pops made?
Some types of Ring Pops are manufactured in the United States while others are made in China.