Answer: Yes.
Table of Contents
Is Mountain Dew Vegan?
The one-word answer that you are looking for is – YES! All the flavors of Mountain Dew are vegan-friendly, at least according to most standards.
Living a vegan life is, at times, intimidating. Vegans find themselves in a dilemma when they first go vegan. “Do I need to drop most of my favorite foods and drinks? Are there enough vegan alternatives out there for me?”
Whatever the answers may be, once you decide to go vegan, you are on a journey of eternal learning and delightful surprises (well, mostly).
Mountain Dew is one of the most desirable sodas everywhere. But there are some contested ingredients in Mountain Dew, like all the other considerably vegan foods you should be aware of. Many a time, vegans choose not to include sodas at all in their diet due to the presence of certain potentially non-vegan ingredients. Let us start this blog with a fundamental question.
What Is Mountain Dew?
In simple terms, Mountain Dew is a fizzy aerated drink. It is unique on its own and has an unnatural color. PepsiCo is the owner and producer of Mountain Dew – a soda manufacturer.
Back in the 1940s, the purpose of a Mountain Dew drink was to work as a whiskey mixer, solely to defuse the strong essence of a whiskey. But it soon evolved into America’s fifth most popular soda. The imaginative outlook from the Mountain Dew team included rebranding each flavor, making it seem like a completely new drink, still works wonders all the time.
What Are the Flavors of a Mountain Dew Drink?
Mountain Dew launched different spin-off flavors that generate the same excitement as the original drink. No Mountain Dew variation looks and tastes the same, and the flavor is unlike any identifiable fruit or flavor.
Some Mountain Dews are yellow, blue, and red and taste parallel to berry or lime. Also, the names “Revolution,” “Voltage,” or “Supernova” do not help in decoding the flavors, unlike other sodas available in the market.
The simple fact that you cannot put your finger on the flavor makes it more unique and appealing to consumers.
What Are the Ingredients of a Mountain Dew Drink?
In 1932, two brothers fused cane sugar, citrus flavoring, and carbonation to prepare a drink and called it Mountain Dew. These were the main ingredients of the original drink.
However, later on, people fused various other ingredients into the drink to make it more flavorsome and profitable.
Without making things complicated, let us take a look at the ingredients of the first official drink to enter the market, which is Mountain Dew Original. The ingredients are:
- Brominated vegetable oil
- Caffeine
- Carbonated water
- Citric acid
- Concentrated orange juice
- EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) – to protect the flavor
- Erythorbic acid – to maintain its freshness
- Gum arabic
- High fructose corn syrup
- Natural flavors
- Sodium benzoate – to preserve its freshness
- Sodium citrate
- Yellow 5 (artificial color)
Since Mountain Dew Original does not contain any animal-based ingredient, technically, the answer to “Is Mountain Dew vegan?” is Maybe Yes.
Are the Artificial Colors in Mountain Dew Vegan-Friendly?
Generally, to prepare artificial colors in laboratories, people use isolated chemicals or chemicals derived from petroleum. As these colors are synthetic, you would think they are vegan.
However, the sad truth is that animals such as mice, rats, and dogs are used to test these colors regularly.
Some people claim that animal testing is mandatory to prove the safety of these ingredients justifiably. Hence it is a tricky and sensitive issue.
If you prefer to consume products with artificial colors depends on your definition of “vegan.” However, it would help if you did not forget that artificial colors or artificial dyes exist due to the extensive animal tests conducted in the past.
Honestly, it all comes down to your personal choices and opinions.
Are All Mountain Dew Varieties Vegan?
No. But there are assorted Mountain Dew flavors that are vegan. Due to the several Mountain Dew products launched through the years, we now have various vegan Mountain Dew drinks.
There are three exceptions – the Black, White, and Green Label. The brand discontinued these Mountain Dew drinks in 2019.
Which Mountain Dew Flavors Are Vegan?
Here are the delectable Mountain Dew drinks that you can enjoy.
- Code Red
- Diet Code Red
- Diet Mountain Dew
- Ice Lemon Lime
- Liberty Blue
- Merry Mash-up
- Live Wire
- Mountain Dew Amp
- Mountain Dew Amp Game Fuel
- Pitch Black
- Mountain Dew Kickstarter
- Mountain Dew Original
- White Out
- Mountain Dew Voltage
Without boring you with the details of every Mountain Dew drink, let us understand at a glance the nuisance ingredients and if or not these drinks are consumable from a vegan point of view.
| MOUNTAIN DEW | SNAG INGREDIENT |
|---|---|
| Original | Yellow 5 |
| Diet | Yellow 5 |
| Code Red | Yellow 5 and Blue 1 |
| Ice Lemon Lime | N/A |
| Merry Mash-up | Red 40 |
| Live Wire | Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 |
| Voltage | Red 40 and Blue 1 |
| White Out | N/A |
| Pitch Black | Red 40 and Blue 1 |
| Diet Code Red | Red 40, Blue 1, and Yellow 5 |
| AMP Original | Blue 1 |
| AMP Tropical Punch | Red 40 |
| AMP Strawberry Limeade | Red 40 |
| AMP Cherry Blast | Red 40 |
| AMP GM Original | Blue 1 |
| AMP GM Cherry Blast | Blue 1 |
| AMP GM Cherry Burst | Red 40 and Blue 1 |
| AMP GM Tropical Strike | Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 |
This table clarifies that there are no specific animal-based ingredients in any of the Mountain Dew drinks. Although these snag ingredients are artificial flavors and colors, they are not exactly the ingredients that nullify vegan principles.
On the contrary, “Taurine” is incorporated in a few drinks like AMP Original, AMP Tropical Punch, AMP Cherry Blast, and AMP Strawberry Limeade.
What Are the Alternative Energy Drinks to Mountain Dew for Vegans?
If you still feel doubtful to guzzle a Mountain Dew, you may try out any vegan-friendly alternatives.
- Redbull
- Monster
- Rockstar
- Reign
- Amino
- Guru
- Rip It
- 3D Energy
- Xyience
- REIZE
We recommend not making it a habit of chugging down a carbonated drink regularly as it may harm your teeth, gums, and overall health.
Verdict
So Mountain Dew is vegan – comparatively, yes. Mostly every single item in the drink aisle is vegan-friendly.
But, if you decide against it, it is probably the best idea for your health too. Here is a quick glimpse at the nutritional properties of Mountain Dew.
One bottle (12 fl. Oz) of Mountain Dew provides:
- Calories: 170
- Calories from fat: 0 g
- Total fat: 0 g
- Trans fat: 0 g
- Saturated fat: 0 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
- Alcohol: 0 g
- Caffeine: 55 mg
- Calcium: 0 mg
- Dietary fiber: 0 g
- Iron: 0 mg
- Potassium: 6 mg
- Protein: 0 g
- Sodium: 60 mg
- Sugars: 46 g
- Total carbohydrates: 46 g
- Vitamin A: 0 mg
- Vitamin C: 0 mg
As you can see, it is not exactly a healthy choice. If you wish, you may enjoy a Mountain Dew once in every while only to keep things spiced up without letting it harm your health. But numerous other delicious options in the market are much safer and better choices for vegans.