Vegan-Friendly Peanut M&Ms Have Hit the Market
It’s a good time to be vegan. The list of delicious plant-based substitutes for familiar products gets longer by the day, from marshmallows to cheesecake to scrambled eggs.
And now, we can add M&Ms to the list. The traditional version of this uber-popular candy has milk as a main ingredient. But now, Little Secrets has created its own version of vegan peanut M&Ms (and regular M&Ms, too!). And they taste just the childhood candies everyone adores (maybe better).
Best of all, you can buy them on Amazon! WIN!
The product (officially titled Little Secrets Salted Peanut Dark Chocolate) isn’t certified vegan (due to shared equipment in a facility that produces milk products), but here are the ingredients:
dark chocolate (Fair Trade Certified™ unsweetened chocolate, Fair Trade Certified™ sugar, Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa butter, soy lecithin [an emulsifier], Fair Trade Certified™ vanilla), roasted peanuts (peanuts, peanut oil, sea salt), sugar, dried cane syrup, coloring (includes turmeric oleoresin, spirulina extract), gum arabic, confectioner’s glaze
“Little Secrets cannot be called vegan, as they are produced in a facility which also produces milk products. Our Dark Chocolate, Dark Chocolate Raspberry, Dark Chocolate Salted Peanut and seasonal Dark Chocolate Peppermint do NOT contain any milk or dairy in the ingredients, while our Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter, Milk Chocolate, and Dark Chocolate Toasted Coconut do contain dairy.”
(And for those wondering about the confectioner’s glaze, it’s made with carnauba wax and mineral oil.)
In addition to the vegan peanut M&Ms, the company also makes regular M&M-esque candies (Little Secrets Dark Chocolate). They also make Dark Chocolate Peppermint and Dark Chocolate Raspberry varieties (both vegan) — plus Milk Chocolate, Toasted Coconut Dark Chocolate and Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter (not vegan).
Little Secrets are available at a whole host of retailers, from Whole Foods to Amazon.com (click to order!) to Target to Earth Fare and more. But beware. You might get addicted.
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Finding vegan candy packs to hand out at Halloween can be somewhat of a challenge; I hope they have these available in small packs in October for this!
Under the allergic disclaimers they disclose that it could contain milk.
This product is therefore not vegan. Sorry folks.
http://www.sharelittlesecrets.com/product/salted-peanut-dark-chocolate/
Hi Eddie,
That “may contain” label (common on many products considered to be vegan) is only in place due to allergen issues, and refers to the use of shared equipment. In other words, the candies are processed on machinery that also processes milk products, so there may be some cross-contamination/trace amounts. As the ingredients list shows, milk is not an intentional ingredient. We stand with the major animal advocacy orgs in the belief that products with trace amounts are still considered vegan. Given the manufacturing climate, processing contamination is extremely difficult to avoid. In the words of Vegan Action (the organization behind the “Certified Vegan” label): “Our motivation is working to end cruelty to animals and we don’t feel that avoiding trace amounts of animal products in vegan foods helps end animal suffering. It is far better for the animals that these vegan products exist. It is far better for people to realize that they have vegan options instead of nothing.”
What about this from their website?
Are your products vegan?
Our products are not certified vegan. The sugar we use goes through a non-vegan refining process.
I commend Little Secrets! If you are vegan because of health reasons and a potential spot of milk may hit the massive batch and therefore make you ill , then you may not want to eat it, but for those who are vegans because they don’t want to harm animals in anyway , it’s a great option. I commend them on their effort and call everyone to support them! When their vegan M&Ms are purchased enmasse, then they eventually will weed out what is not bought and go 100% vegan. After all that is our goal. Support companies going vegan so that they will add more and more vegan options until they outweight the animal products. Good luck Little Secrets!
Eddie, that’s simply because they are made in a facility that uses milk products. It’s not in the ingredient list. So they are vegan. There is no milk and dairy whatsoever in the product. The reason they write that as a disclaimer is because if allergies because as I said, they are made on machines that make other products that have milk or dairy. I say enjoy them Vegans.
This company can be applauded by moving in a positive direction! I do want to point out, however, that Fair Trade does not always mean no child labor was used. The chocolate industry is the absolute worse in using children labor.. Just some ‘ahem’ food for thought 😉 http://theartofsimple.net/chocolate/
Great explanation, Hannah!
Jean Bettanny – coordinator Vegan Outreach Mentor Program
Would you happen to know if it’s Gluten-Free?
Thank you for explaining the ingredients in the confectioner’s glaze! I almost bought these but stopped when I saw that ingredient and assumed it was bug-based. Now I know better and will buy them!
This is so awsome!!!! ? ? ….MMMMM! ????❤
I was an M&M addict! It was the last thing I was able to give up, and I hate to admit this, but I did give in and cheat occasionally! I had always hoped they would make a vegan option, but you beat them to it! THANK YOU LITTLE SECRETS!!! ??
❤?????????
How wonderful and thank you ! You’re making the goal of a vegan world “sweeter” …. ????
Is the sugar vegan? Thank you.
Also available online at Vegan Essentials 🙂
https://store.veganessentials.com/categories.aspx?Keyword=+Little+Secrets&x=14&y=15
Can I get these in the UK thanks.
As a frequent movie goer who loved my M&M’s, this is great news. I will be looking for this product. This is great news for vegans. Thanks for making a product like this.
Well done for a step in the right direction. Unfortunately I won’t be able to buy any as my daughter has a milk allergy so the “may contain” means I don’t buy.
Is there any way to get a sample(s). I found them on Amazon, but don’t want to purchase 12 at once and not know if I like them.