Answer: No. Snickers contain multiple animal-sourced ingredients that are not suitable for a vegan lifestyle.
Chocolates have been the go-to snack for everyone, young and adult. It’s just that vegans will have to carefully choose the most ethical brands.
Snickers is among the most popular chocolate brands in the world that’s readily available in almost every store. Two of its key ingredients are milk chocolate and egg whites, which are all sourced from animals. It has different variants available in the U.S., all of which are non-vegan.
Curious about Snickers? Let’s start digging in!
Table of Contents
Snickers, ”It’s So Satisfying”
Snickers is a chocolate bar brand owned and manufactured by American confectionery company Mars, Incorporated.
It’s made with nougat, caramel, and peanuts and coated with milk chocolate. Snickers was created in 1930 and was named after the Mars family’s favorite horse.
In Ireland and the UK, the bar was sold under the name Marathon but was discontinued in 1990 to align the product to its global name, Snickers.
It was only in 2020 when the Marathon retro edition was sold in the UK, exclusive only at Morrisons for 3 months.
The slogan “It’s So Satisfying” was the first advertising campaign for Snickers in 1980. This was replaced by different tag lines in the following years, including “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry.”
Snickers also sponsored the 1984 Olympics alongside M&M’s, also owned by Mars, Incorporated. The company paid $5 million for this sponsorship to name both chocolate brands the official snack of the said Olympics.
Snickers commercials were also aired during the Super Bowl XLI in 2007. It also sponsored the FIFA World Cup from 1990 to 1998 and the UEFA Euro Championship from 1996 to 2000.
NASCAR, WrestleMania, Six Flags, and many more events have also been sponsored by Snickers.
What Is Chocolate Made Of?
Chocolate is made out of the seeds of the cacao tree, native to South and Central America.
Its origins can be dated back to 1750 BC, when the pre-Olmec people in Mexico prepared it as a drink.
Significant evidence has also been found that the Maya and Aztec tribes were the first people to consume and make chocolate drinks.
Chocolate is made from roasted and ground cacao seeds, which undergo different processes.
In 1815, the production of solid chocolate began after Dutch chemist Coenraad van Houten used alkaline salt to reduce the bitter taste.
He also created a press that can remove half of the chocolate fat from the liquid itself, resulting in its texture consistency.
That was the start of modern chocolate production, which is now prevalent worldwide.
Chocolate can be raw, dark, milk chocolate, or white, depending on how it’s processed.
It’s one of the most widely used ingredients in baking, desserts, candies, beverages, and many more.
Today, most coffee shops, restaurants, and food manufacturers, including Mars, Incorporated, use and produce chocolate for consumption.
Snickers Is Not Vegan
Unfortunately for vegans, Snickers is loaded with animal-derived ingredients, which go against the standard vegan lifestyle.
Let’s take a closer look at the ingredients of Snickers’ original bar.
- Milk Chocolate
- It’s made with sugar, butter, skim milk, cocoa, chocolate, milk fat, lactose, and soy lecithin.
- Butter, milk fat, lactose, skim milk, and sometimes sugar is all derived from animals.
- Peanuts. These seeds in pods grow underground and are edible and vegan-friendly as they’re derived from the plant itself.
- Corn Syrup. This is a sweetener derived from corn starch, which is vegan-friendly.
- Sugar. Some vegans consider sugar a controversial ingredient, especially since most manufacturers process it with animal bone char. There are, however, sugar producers that don’t use bone char. So pay attention to the packaging if need be.
- Palm Oil. This is also vegan-friendly, obtained from the palm fruit that grows on African palm trees.
- Skim Milk. This undergoes the skimming process to remove its fat, but it’s basically cow’s milk and is not vegan-friendly.
- Lactose. This is also called milk sugar, found in cow’s milk and other mammals.
- Salt. It’s sourced naturally from nature without the involvement of animals, which makes it suitable for vegans.
- Egg Whites. These are usually obtained from the clear liquid substance found in duck or chicken eggs.
- Artificial Flavor. Here’s another popular food ingredient that’s considered controversial by some vegans. According to the FDA, artificial flavors can be obtained from meat, poultry, fish, plants, fruits, and vegetables. But more often than not, most artificial flavors are derived from plants, which makes them vegan-friendly.
So if you notice, many animal-derived ingredients are involved in Snickers production. So if you ever held one, you can consider taking it off your grocery list this time.
Snickers Variants
Many different Snicker variants are readily available in the U.S. All of these variants, though are not vegan-friendly.
- Snickers Original
- Milk Chocolate
- Almond
- Peanut Butter
- White Chocolate
- Peanut Brownie
- Almond Brownie Dark Chocolate
- Ice Cream
- 100 Calories Chocolate
- Creamy Peanut Butter
- Crunchy Peanut Butter
Is Snickers Chocolate Bar Healthy?
A general rule of thumb says that eating and drinking excessively is unhealthy, which is true!
Any food or beverage, when consumed abnormally, is already considered unhealthy, especially when it happens daily.
This is also the case for Snickers, as well as with other chocolate bar brands.
Besides being non-vegan, Snickers is also loaded with calories, although it’s lower in saturated fat than other brands.
But nutritionists ranked Snickers as the number one healthiest snack bar in the U.S., which belongs to the 3.5 ounces or less category.
Here are the top 10 brands.
- Snickers
- Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar
- Kit Kat
- Twix
- 3 Musketeers
- Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme
- Reese’s Sticks
- Almond Joy
- Milky Way
- Hershey’s Gold
The rankings, though, don’t mean that each can be consumed at any amount a person wants. It’s still important to know your limits, especially when it comes to chocolates.
If you were to eat chocolates, except for Snickers, since it’s not vegan-friendly, you’d want to consider dark chocolates.
These are not just nutritious but are also loaded with powerful antioxidants, help improves blood flow, protect LDL cholesterol from oxidation, reduce heart diseases, and more.
On the other hand, excessive chocolate intake can lead to several health issues over time.
Since chocolates are mostly high in sugar and saturated fat, health problems may arise, such as cardiovascular diseases.
It can also lead to weight gain or obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. So to keep things healthy, always keep track of your intake.
You can check the chocolate bar’s nutritional value on the packaging, which you can see on the label. From there, you’ll know how much calories, sugar, or fat you eat daily.
As with Snickers, its nutritional value is based on a 2000-calorie diet.
For every 100 g of Snickers, it offers the following figures.
- Calories. 488
- Total Fat. 24 g
- Cholesterol. 9 mg
- Sodium. 189 mg
- Total Carbs. 63 g
- Protein. 7 g
- Calcium. 9%
- Iron. 3%
As you can see, Snickers’ calories, total fat, and sodium content at 100 g are a little high. But since you can’t have Snickers because it’s not vegan-friendly, it’s safe to say that you’re not part of this equation.
On the plus side, there are many vegan-friendly chocolate brands out there. Let’s go check them out.
Vegan Chocolate Products to Buy
Luckily for us vegans, many chocolate brands are vegan-friendly. These are readily available in stores or on Amazon, which is more convenient.
To help you out, here’s what I personally like when it comes to vegan chocolates.
- Hershey’s Signature Oat
- Trader Joe’s
- Cadbury Plant Bar
- Alter Eco
- 365 by Whole Foods Market
- Divine Treasures
- Theo
- Ritter Sport
- Ghirardelli
- Green & Black’s Organic Dark Chocolate
There are too many vegan chocolate bar products to choose from. But don’t forget to always check the packaging to ensure that you’re eating the vegan way!
The Bottom Line
Snickers is not vegan as it involves many animal-sourced ingredients such as milk and egg. These ingredients make this chocolate bar not suitable for vegans.
The good news is that there’s a wide selection of vegan chocolate bars. Most of them are easily found in most grocery stores and supermarkets.
Also, there’s more information about cocoa in this article that I previously wrote, which is helpful to your vegan journey. It’s a huge help, especially when you’ve just started following a vegan lifestyle.
Nonetheless, all you need to do is find vegan-friendly products and brands to suit your lifestyle.
Regardless of your reason for becoming vegan, whether due to health, animal welfare, or environmental reasons, going vegan has a huge impact both ways.
So always check the labels and packaging of the products you’re buying to ensure that they don’t involve animal-sourced ingredients.
