Are Vegan Sweets Better For You? Find Out Here

Are vegan sweets better for you?

Are Vegan Sweets Better For You?

A common misconception is that vegan = healthy. This may have once been true…

Let’s think back to 2015 – you’re a vegan looking to do your weekly shop. You head to your local supermarket on a mission. Is there a plant based / vegan section? Not at all - if you’re lucky, there may be a very sad looking “free from” section, filled mostly with products that are free from a specific allergen but including another allergen, making it not vegan.

Picture of Shopping Trolley at Supermarket

So what were our options? Fruits, Vegetables, nuts, tofu? Sounds pretty healthy to me..

Now skip forward to 2022 and you can walk into pretty much any supermarket and there will be dedicated plant based / vegan sections (not just one, but a few – some in the fridge, freezers and pantry aisles!) which is amazing. The downside is that processed meat, cheese, milk alternatives are now so easily available. A die hard health conscious vegan now has decisions to make – stick to the fruits, veg, nuts & grains that they’ve been stuck with for years or indulge on a range of vegan ham, dairy free cheddar cheese & plant based chocolate sundaes. This doesn’t sound so healthy and that’s okay, a diet is supposed to be balanced!

Picture of Fruits & Vegetables at Supermarket

By now I think you have probably worked out the answer to the question in the title. Vegan sweets are not necessarily better for you, purely because they are vegan. One could argue that the absence of Gelatine is a healthier alternative, but vegan sweets still contain sugar & e numbers. Let’s compare nutritional values with a vegan sweet & its non-vegan alternative:

Vegan Fizzy Cola Bottles:

Vegan cola bottles - nutritional information

Non-Vegan Fizzy Cola Bottles

non-vegan cola bottles - nutrition information

As you can see the calorie count is almost exactly the same except the Vegan Cola Bottles have slightly more calories at 345kcal per 100g (compared with the non-vegan 333kcal).

The Vegan Cola Bottles come in slightly higher in carbohydrates and then lower in fibre, protein & salt.

We spot checked a few more of our vegan pick and mix options in comparison to the non-vegan alternative and found very similar results.

I hope that helps solve the mystery!

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