Can Vegans Eat Chocolate? What’s Safe, What’s Not!

Can vegans eat chocolate? Yes…sometimes.

That’s pretty good news considering the fact that most humans are obsessed with chocolate. Take the Swiss, for example, who consume 22 pounds of chocolate every year, per capita alone.

So, considering the incredibly serious nature of this topic, let’s find out what vegans need to know before they pick up their next chocolate bar, bonbon, or brownie.

Can Vegans Eat Chocolate?

Vegans can and do eat chocolate, but it depends on how it is made. Not all chocolate is vegan, but like any other foods, vegans can eat chocolate that does not contain animal products and meets vegan dietary guidelines.

Don’t worry! There is a whole slew of vegan chocolates out there. Some vegan certified, some accidentally vegan.

That said, a great majority of chocolate around the world is not vegan. More often than not, a lot of the big chocolate makers like Hershey’s, Nestle, Mars, GODIVA, and Ghirardelli are not vegan. That’s because most chocolate producers add milk, whey, and dairy butter to their chocolates. So, obviously, they won’t make the cut!

If you’re every in doubt, check the ingredients for animal products. They are pretty easy to spot.

Vegan Chocolates

As one of the most popular products on the planet, it’s no surprise that more and more vegan chocolate brands are popping up. These brands are geared to the vegan market and are clearly marked with labels to indicate they are vegan and, thus, do not contain animal products.

Some of the more popular brands are jumping on the vegan bandwagon. We even have vegan Reese’s Cups and KitKats now. Plus, other brands have even begun to make milk chocolate and hot chocolate from non-dairy milks made from almond, soy, oats, peas, and other nuts or grains.

Many of these vegan chocolate companies are bio too, and often fair-trade.

Vegan Chocolate Brands

1. Charm School Chocolates
2. Doisy & Dam
3. Go Max Go Foods
4. iChoc
5. Lagusta’s Lucious
6. Manifest Chocolates
7. Missionary Chocolates
8. MooFree Chocolates
9. Ombar Chocolates
10. Pico Chocolates
11. Plamil So Free Organic Chocolate
12. Raaka Chocolate
13. Raw Chocolate Company
14. Rescue Chocolate
15. Rose City Vegan Chocolatier
16. Sjaaks Organic Chocolates
17. Wei of Chocolates
18. Veganz Chocolates
19. VEGO Chocolates

Other Vegan Chocolate

As with any product, ingredients can vary from country to country, and can change over time. So, please read the ingredients label before making a purchase.

1. Most Endangered Species Chocolates
2. Terra Nostra Rice Milk Choco Bars
3. Chocolove Dark with Orange Peel
4. Trader Joe’s Trader Joe’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
5. Tony’s Chocoloney – Dark Chocolate and Dark Chocolate Almond Sea Salt
6. Ritter Sport – The single-origin 61% Fine Dark Chocolate from Nicaragua, Intense Dark Chocolate from Peru, 50% Dark Chocolate, and the Marzipan chocolate
7. Green & Black’s Dark Chocolate
8. Lindt – Lindt EXCELLENCE range with 70%, 85%, 90% and 99%, Hello-Vegan range
9. Cadbury Plant Bar Line
10. Vivani Chocolate – too many options to mention here.
11. Hershey’s – Plant Based Oat Extra Creamy Milk Chocolate with Almond & Sea Salt, REESE’S Plant Based Oat Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, and vegan KitKats
12. Unreal – Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups, and Dark Chocolate Crispy Quinoa Gems

Also, pure cacao nibs now come in packs that make snacking easy for vegans. But look out, cocoa beans have caffeine, and stimulants can sometimes cause adverse effects if too much is consumed.

But again, there are experts who argue that there are some health benefits to these cocoa nibs. Risk or no risk, vegans do eat chocolate in this form as an easy snack with an energy boost.

So, Can Vegans Eat Chocolate?

Of course, checking for the vegan logo is probably the easiest way to find out if the chocolate is vegan. But chocolate comes in so many different varieties and forms that that is not always so easy.

One tip is that chocolate of high quality can more often than not be vegan, but this too can be a little tricky. The key is simple ingredients in their most basic manner, a short ingredient list is often an indication of a healthier nicely made chocolate. 

Many local chocolatiers also create chocolates that vegans can eat, so jump in and ask them. So, vegans do eat chocolate, and it is easier to find with each passing year.

_{Note: this article is for educational purposes only. Veganism is a personal choice and is not about perfection. If you choose to be vegan, your daily choices are up to you and you alone. Nothing in this article is meant to support the uptight vegan police or tell you how to make choices. We all have to do that for ourselves.}