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Brand names supporting vegan diets will likely not pass the guidelines on ethics even if they will pass the requirements for nutrition and ingredients. The reason is that large companies make both vegan and non-vegan foods and small companies don't produce enough to feed the population. They mostly focus on snacks or add on ingredients.
Alert, Baby Rays Sugar Contains Bone Char
This is a loaded statement for someone that does food research and stated they are vegan friendly. Bone char is currently being reported as possibly safe for vegans. It most likely is not, but like in 2011, some vegans may not have a choice but to consume bone char with their mostly vegan diet. Other than the sugar, Baby Rays uses mostly plant based flavors in its sauces with the exceptions listed earlier.
I actually called Baby Rays and they stated they do use sugar that contains or is processed with bone char.
Bone Char Free Sugar
The Light Brown Sugar from Walmart is Bone Char Free. Their producer emailed me a certificate stating so. I called other sugar companies, one did not return the call or email and another stated they have mixed sources and can not make guarantees about their sugar that is bought in store.
Coca-Cola
Their customer service line stated that they do not use sugar that is treated with bone char in their sodas. They also stated that while they do use cane sugar, it is not processed with bone char and does not contain bone char in it. They provided the name of their manufacturer.
Based on recent taste tests, it seems that Diet and Caffeine free Coca-Cola has been recently reformulated and has a bit of a berry taste. Based on recently established practices, this would most likely be vegan. The main concern in their sodas is often the sugar.
Pepsi
They have different companies that include brands such as Lays, Tostitos, Sun Chips, Fritos, and Lays Stax. None of these contain animal or porcine enzymes. Sun Chips, Fritos, and Lays Stax do not contain milk. Additionally, they list natural flavors that derive from animals as enzymes and not just natural flavors. They do not hide animal ingredients in fortified flavors as those are also listed separately.
Their beverages were in a different department and that will be a call for another day. I was provided several websites where I can look through the ingredients on my own. An interesting find was Ms. Vickies Jalepeno flavor which "contains milk ingredients". This should most likely be safe for vegetarians.
Dr. Pepper
Their customer service line stated they do not track whether or not their products use animal sources for their ingredients. This includes Canada Dry, A&W Cream Soda, A&W Root Beer which would normally be vegan with the exception of the cream soda which would normally at least be vegetarian. Because they do not track ingredients, this can not be recommended as safe for vegans or vegetarians but may be ok for people that are transitioning.
Conagra
They are the makers of Gardein, however, they also make Slim Jim and Healthy Choice. Brands that may be vegan include Hunts, Vlasic, and some flavors of Boom Chicka Pop. Reddi Wip, Orville Redenbacher's, and Swiss Miss may be vegetarian. Snack Pack is unknown but consists of pudding which can be made from milk.
This is example no. 1 in brand research. Gardein provides proteins that many vegans would find difficult to make on their own. Mostly consists of beans, wheat, beans, lentils, and peas. They also have a manufacturing facility that allows a consistent texture and cook time.
Morning Star
The parent company is KellaNova which is associated with Kellogg's. They famously use sheeps wool for vitamin D3 in their cornflakes. They have a vested interest in expanding plant based offerings. To illustrate, in 2011 they were one of a few brands that offered a vegetarian burger patty. It contained egg, milk, and other chemical products. Today most of their Morning Star Brands are mostly vegan, I don't think they have any vegetarian products left. The ingredients are also food safe for even the pickiest eater and any allergies or reactions would be an edge case.
The main thing to consider is that KellaNova bought out MorningStar and that it represents approximately 2% of their net sales after 2020.
Skippy Peanut Butter
This is owned by Hormel, they offer a plant based peanut butter and decided to produce Skippy as a vegan product, having completed the transition 3 years ago, in 2023. Their plant based chili is considered safe for vegetarians and should be free of milk or egg products to be considered vegan safe.
Target
They offer vegan candy selections which can help with a sweet tooth. These are hard to find. They have Shameless, Behave, Reese's Plant Based, Dandies, Joy Ride, and Bob Snail. https://www.target.com/s/vegan+candy
Nissin Top Ramen
This has been and endless search for vegetarian and vegan friendly ramen. I called and provided my email, they replied with 3 Nissin Soups that are plant based, they make no claim of them being vegan as it does not have a formal definition. The three flavors are Chili, Soy, and Sweet Chili. Specifically, they have a plant logo on the packaging. If you go to your grocery store website and search for "chili nissin", you will find there are two packages, be sure to purchase the ones with the plant logo. Also the soy flavor is not the same as oriental flavor. All three soups have the plant logo and are considered vegetarian by Nissin.
The main difference between vegetarian and vegan is cheese, milk, and eggs.
Considerations in Vegan Food Selection
These comments aren't meant to be sarcastic but exploratory in nature. Overall, vegans want products that are made naturally from the Earth's available resources. This most often does not include animal products. There are various challenges in in bringing these statements into the existence of someone's lives. While food is fairly easy to sort through, philosophical questions on the level of detail or examination remain. The other part of the equation is clothes, vehicles, electronics, and housing. Is it possible to live in a plant based home, with plant based computer equipment, plant based shampoos and detergents, and plant based clothing? Possibly, but still not realistic for most humans in 2026. The main goal in recent conversations is the vegan diet and micro or molecular examination of the foods we eat.
Data on Vegan Diets and Global Agriculture
There are approximately 1.6 Billion cows globally for around 8 billion people and they take at least 1-2 years to grow but preferably 4-6 years for most cows. With hormones, some people produce full grown cows that are only 4 months old.
There are approximately 25 Billion Chickens worldwide. If 8 Billion people at 1 chicken a day for 4 days straight, they would be gone in less than 1 week. The reason there are still chickens around is because people vary their diets and we have not had all 8 billion people eating a chicken a day for 1 week straight.
Dairy cows produce 6-8 gallons of milk per day over a 10 month period. Top commercial dairy cows produce up to 14 gallons per day for a period of 40-70 days while calving.
Approximately 73% of of humans have access to drinking water which is 0.5% of the Earth's total water. These are advanced calculation on water tables and water sources, so there is no definitive answer on how many gallons of drinking water are available globally.
There is approximately 1 and 1/4 acres of agricultural land per person which is about the size of a football field. A person would need less than 20 yards to grow enough food for the year.
Examining Bone Char
Tree Hugger provides insightful conversations on why someone that is vegan may want to screen sugar out of their diet or not be concerned with either bone char or bee pollen.
They've put together excellent resources on the considerations and thought process in examining food and deciding on whether it is safe for consumption, and whether it should be included in a diet.
There will be one last post to cover the bone char process and to review a few more brand name items that are considered vegan. However, Tree Hugger is going to be a good blog to follow for most people because the goal is to be able to examine food labels and make decisions.