Identifying whether a product like Juicy Fruit is vegan can be a labyrinthine task.
Often, the difficulty arises from manufacturers masking the true nature and origins of their ingredients.
Fear not, dear reader! This article is your guiding beacon, set to uncover the truth and provide essential support in your admirable journey towards a vegan lifestyle.
Is Juicy Fruit Vegan?
Unfortunately, it’s not entirely clear if Juicy Fruit is vegan. The ambiguity arises from certain controversial ingredients such as “natural and artificial flavors” and “glyceryl esters.”
“’Natural and artificial flavors” often pose a challenge for vegans because they can be derived from both animal and plant-based sources. Manufacturers rarely disclose the exact origins of these flavors which leaves consumers like us in the dark. Glyceryl esters, used in the gum base, can be derived from animal fat, which is not vegan friendly.
Is Juicy Fruit Cruelty-Free?
Once again, the waters are muddied when it comes to determining whether Juicy Fruit is cruelty-free. While they do not explicitly involve animal testing or use obvious animal-derived ingredients, the vagueness surrounding the sources of “natural and artificial flavors” makes it difficult to categorically assert that Juicy Fruit is cruelty-free.
What Is Juicy Fruit Made Of?
Before diving into each ingredient, let’s first look at what makes up a piece of Juicy Fruit. Here is a list of its key components:
- Sugar
- Gum base
- Corn syrup
- Natural and artificial flavors
- Less than 2% of: glycerol, hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, soy lecithin, aspartame-acesulfame, mannitol, hydroxylated soy lecithin, acesulfame K, colors (yellow 5 lake, blue 1 lake, yellow 5, blue 1), BHT (to maintain freshness).
Sugar
Sugar, often used as a sweetener in chewing gum, is usually derived from plants like sugar cane or sugar beet. However, it becomes controversial when bone char, derived from animal bones, is used in the refining process. It’s unclear whether the sugar in Juicy Fruit undergoes this process.
Gum base
Gum base is what gives chewing gum its chewiness. This includes elastomers, resins, and fillers. Some gums might contain lanolin, a waxy substance secreted by wool-bearing animals, in their gum base, but it is not specified in Juicy Fruit’s ingredient list.
Corn syrup
Corn syrup is a sweetener derived from cornstarch, making it a vegan-friendly ingredient.
Natural and artificial flavors
These flavors give Juicy Fruit its unique taste. Unfortunately, because they can be derived from both animal and plant sources, it’s impossible to determine their vegan status without additional information from the manufacturer.
Vegan Alternatives to Juicy Fruit
There are a number of vegan-friendly chewing gums available for those who strictly adhere to a plant-based diet. These include:
- Simply Gum: An all-natural gum that only uses plant-based ingredients.
- PUR Gum: This gum is both vegan and aspartame-free. It’s available in a variety of flavors.
- Glee Gum: No, it won’t sing to you, unfortunately. This gum uses a vegan gum base and is available in several natural flavors.
Conclusion
In the quest for a vegan lifestyle, uncertainty can be our greatest obstacle. With products like Juicy Fruit, the ambiguous origins of ingredients like “natural and artificial flavors” and “glyceryl esters” make it challenging to affirm its vegan and cruelty-free status.
While it’s possible that these ingredients are plant based, without explicit clarification from the food brand, we recommend opting for clearly labeled vegan-friendly alternatives. Maintain your commitment to protecting our precious planet and its inhabitants by making informed, compassionate choices about the foods you consume.