There are now many products that are clearly marked with a “vegan” symbol. This makes targeted shopping for vegan products a lot easier. However, there are also some foods on supermarket shelves that are “naturally” vegan, but are not specifically labeled. In fact, there are some products, especially in the sweets sector, that you would never have thought were actually free of animal ingredients. I’m introducing ten of these products today.

Why are these vegan products not explicitly labeled as such?

You probably know the advice “May contain traces of peanuts, milk and eggs”. This is an allergy warning. It states that the product is manufactured, for example, in the same hall as products that contain milk, peanuts or eggs. Therefore, it can theoretically happen that the finest particles (e.g. a peanut) get into the product. For someone who has a severe peanut allergy, this information can be vital. For everyone else, this note is not that important at first. The product itself is made without the ingredients listed in the allergy warning - so it is vegan in itself. But there are also vegans who do not want to consume such products for the reasons listed. In the end, of course, that’s up to each individual. 😊

In any case, this labeling is ultimately the reason why manufacturers are not allowed to give their products the well-known V label.

The foods listed here are sweets. So you can't exactly say that they are “healthy”. But every now and then you should treat yourself to something, right? 😋

One more thing: all the products I mention are purely plant-based. However, products from the same range, the same brand or similar products from other brands may contain animal ingredients. Therefore, when buying related products, it is best to always double-check the ingredient list to be on the safe side.

10 “hidden” vegan sweets

1. Ritter Sport Marzipan

Let’s start with my personal favorite: the “Marzipan” variety from Ritter Sport in the bright red packaging. Because it does not contain any animal ingredients, which is mainly due to the dark chocolate. You probably know that many dark chocolates are naturally vegan, including the one used here. I was super happy when I found out that the variety was vegan, because it was one of my absolute favorite varieties even before I became vegan. Ritter Sport has now also released other vegan varieties (“Dark Almond Quinoa” and “Dark Whole Nut Amaranth”). These even have the V label.

2. Sweets from Hitschler

Not all Hitschler products are vegan, but some are. The UFOs, the Saure Cords, the Volles Rohr Mix and the Snippets all contain no animal ingredients. Great, is not it? And delicious too. You can find an overview of all vegan sweets on the manufacturer's website .

3. Apple strudel and puff pastry

When you think of apple strudel and puff pastry, you immediately think of butter, right? In fact, many ready-made puff pastries (e.g. from REWE Beste Wahl or EDEKA Gut & Günstig) and also apple strudel from the freezer (e.g. from Coppenrath & Wiese) are vegan. Puff pastry in particular is very versatile. And you save a lot of time! The only negative point with these finished products - apart from the sugar not being used sparingly - is the palm fat they often contain.

4. Skittles Crazy Sours

Good news for all Skittles fans: the sour version is vegan! Unfortunately, normal Skittles contain carmine. Carmine is a dye obtained from cochineal scale insects that is used for the red Skittles - this means that the normal Skittles are not vegan. However, carmine is not used for the sour version in the light green packaging! So if you like it sour, you can (more or less) have a clear conscience.

5. take2 soft

take 2? More likely “take the whole pack”! At least that's how it always felt for me. Vegans have to forego the classic version or the laughing gums. Because they contain beeswax or gelatin. The Nimm2 Soft, on the other hand, does not contain any animal ingredients. They don't taste 1:1 like the candies, but they at least stick in your mouth the same way 😉.

6. Chipsfresh Hungarian

All of us have probably eaten Chipsfrisch from funnyfrisch, right? The “Hungarian” variety was not yet vegan, or even vegetarian, because it apparently contained parts of game. This has changed now. The manufacturer has recently stopped using this additive, which makes the spicy chips purely plant-based. Many other varieties such as Chakalaka or Oriental (but not all versions!) of Chipsfrisch are also vegan. On the manufacturer's website you can see whether the respective product is suitable for vegans. It's just a shame that vegan doesn't mean healthy...

Photo by Sean McClintock on Unsplash

7. NicNac's BBQ

A similar case to the Skittles. Unfortunately, the original peanuts in the dough coating are not vegan because they contain sweet whey powder, cheese powder and other dairy products. The BBQ version, however, comes without all of that! And in my opinion they don't taste that different from the normal NicNacs.

8. Crunchy Nougat Bits / Nestlé CINI MINIS

If you eat a plant-based diet, you don't have to give up sugar-laden, unhealthy cereals. Here, too, there are classic products that are vegan. If you like it chocolatey, you can use the Nougat Bits from ALDI. The CINI MINIS from Nestlé also do not contain dairy products - but unfortunately they are from Nestlé... At this point it should be noted again that the “same” products from other manufacturers are not automatically purely plant-based. So if in doubt, always check the ingredients list.

9. Manner Neapolitan waffles

The Manner cuts were already around in my grandparents' time and are still a classic. Did you know that the hazelnuts for the slices originally came from near Naples and that the waffles were therefore called “Neapolitans”? The best thing: The waffle slices with hazelnut cream have been vegan for a very long time - if not always! This makes it one of the vegan “starter sweets”. Just like the last candy on my list...

10. Oreos

Oreos are a classic, but they shouldn't be missing from this list for exactly this reason. The double biscuit had a huge boom in Germany a few years ago and is still a popular product today - despite some criticism of the manufacturer Mondelēz International. Eventually, the candy also made the rounds among vegans because it was one of the products that was vegan but didn't look like it. The creamy consistency of the vanilla cream between the two biscuit parts suggests that it contains milk or at least sweet whey powder. However, the ingredients are all harmless (sugar syrup, vegetable oil, starch). The “Chocolate Creme” and “Mini” versions are also purely plant-based.

If you would like to find out more about the topics of vegan nutrition, mindfulness or sustainability, take a look here .

Photo by SHAYAN IZADI ☄️ on Unsplash