Like flavors, the colors used in the food industry can be divided into natural and artificial. Wrigley’s Extra uses both in their chewing gums. Are Food Colors Vegan? Glycerol is another sweet-tasting alcohol compound known by the scientific name of trihydric alcohol and the common name of glycerin. Is Glycerol Vegan?

Are you wondering about the issue with palm-derived ingredients? Refer to my article Are M&M’s Vegan for a detailed discussion on it. § Flavors The FDA provides a list of the food colors approved for use in human food along with their sources and code that can come in handy for this purpose. Artificial food colors are essentially vegan. They are made using various chemicals and are free of animal ingredients. However, they are not cruelty-free. There is strong evidence that artificial colors are tested on animals. Some of the Extra chewing gum varieties contain both natural and artificial colors, while others only have one of them. From a strict vegan perspective, you should only consume Extra gum varieties (or any food item per se) that only contain plant-derived natural colors. Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol that is often used as a sweetener in food. It is made from glucose and is found naturally in fruits, such as apples, pears, and peaches. Sorbitol is a vegan-friendly ingredient. Gum base

Looking for some vegan-friendly chewing gum to take on the go? Here are some of my favorite chewing gum brands:

Gum base is the main ingredient in chewing gum. It gives gum its chewiness and texture. Gum base is usually made from latex, resins, and waxes. These ingredients can be from plant or animal sources. In the case of Extra Gum, the gum base is from synthetic sources, making it vegan friendly. GlycerolThe reason being the variety of ingredients that can be used in its manufacturing. There are 46 FDA-approved ingredients that can be used to make the gum base. While the majority of these approved ingredients are vegan, a few are not. These primarily include: Please note that these are the Extra gum flavor options available in the US. The range of flavors varies in different countries. However, the core ingredients are likely to be the same, so those living outside the US can also use this article as a handy guide to evaluating the vegan status of an Extra gum flavor. Is Extra Spearmint gum vegan?

But, if you have been vegan for any length of time, you would know that it doesn’t work that way. You cannot determine the vegan status of any product just based on the presence or absence of animal ingredients or by-products. Glycerol is a clear, colorless liquid that is often used as a food additive. It is made from fats and oils from animal and plant sources. However, animal sources are more commonly used. Unless stated otherwise, glycerol is non-vegan. Natural and artificial flavorsWhile most online sources classify gum base as vegan-friendly, the truth of the matter is that it’s hard to determine the vegan-friendliness of this core gum compound.

However, as I said earlier, it all comes down to what veganism means to you. Is Any Extra Gum Flavor Truly Vegan? I have discussed this issue in some detail in my article on Sour Patch Kids . Give it a read to discover why these widely used ingredients have a controversial status in the vegan world. In the case of Extra Gum, glycerol is most likely derived from pork fat, as this is the cheapest and most commonly used source. Is Extra Gum Cruelty Free?The issue here is that the gum companies do not list the ingredients of their gum bases, so you can’t really tell if they are vegan or not. Is Extra Gum Base Vegan?