Are Fruittella Vegan?

Fruittella have been a popular sweet brand here in the UK for many, many years! They’ve been around since the 1930’s and now sell a few different types of chewy sweets. But are Fruittella vegan? Keep reading to find out!

Fruittella sweets first came around in 1931, when the people at the Italian-Dutch confectionery company, Van Melle, created the classic, chewy Fruittella squares. The sweets first arrived in the UK in the late 1950’s and have been popular ever since. They were all the rage during my childhood in the 90’s!

Fast forward to 2023, Fruit-tella now has a variety of different sweets you can buy, including the classic chews, Duostix, jelly sweets and fruit drops. But are they vegan? Let’s take a look!

Are Fruittella sweets vegan?

The ingredients of their classic strawberry stick chews are as follows:

Glucose syrup, sugar, coconut oil, strawberry juice from concentrate (3%), acids (citric acid, malic acid), maltodextrin, emulsifiers (mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids, sucrose esters of fatty acids), humectant (glycerol), gelling agent (gum arabic), cocoa butter, natural flavouring, concentrates (black carrot, elderberry), thickener (gellan gum).

They have recently removed the gelatine that was in their old recipe, meaning Fruittella chews are vegan-friendly, as well as of course suitable for vegetarians!

Fruittella have some other vegan sweets too. Their sugar free fruit drops are vegan-friendly, coming in red berry and citrus flavours. They did also have a gelatine-free range, including gummy koalas and sour snakes, but these appear to have been discontinued.

Are Duostix, Zoomania or other Fruit-tella sweets vegan?

Their other flavours of classic chews and the Duostix are now vegan! Fruit Jellies Coins, In the Snow sweets, Fruit Jellies Duos, Zoomania, Out In Space, and By the Sea sweets are all made with gelatine (and some also contain beeswax) so are not vegan. 

See also: Are Sour Patch Kids vegan?

Where can I buy vegan Fruittella?

Because Fruit-tella sweets are so popular in the UK, it’s likely you’ll find some variation of them in most supermarkets and shops. However, some products can be a bit harder to come by and you may need to search in the larger stores to find them. I have yet to see the Duostix in my local stores but this may just be my area. You can buy them online via Ocado, along with the many other sweets in the Fruitella range.

Which other sweets are vegan-friendly?

There are quite a few options when it comes to vegan jelly and gummy sweets in the UK. I actually wrote a whole post on the accidentally vegan UK supermarket sweets recently! You can check that post out if you’d like to see an extensive list of vegan sweets. However, when it comes to sweets that were specifically made for vegans, here are some of your options:

• Candy Kittens
• Biona 
• Jealous sweets
• Free-From Fellows
• Haribo Halal Soft Jelly Bear

Other non-vegan ingredients to watch out for

We know that gelatine is not vegan-friendly but what about other ingredients in sweets? There are many accidentally vegan sweets in the supermarkets but you have to be careful when choosing. You’re always on the lookout for eggs and/or dairy, but there are a few non-vegan ingredients that can sometimes slip by- ones you may not notice at first glance. Here are the most common ones:

• Shellac (e904)
• Beeswax (e901)
• Carmine (e120)
• Edible bone phosphate (also known as e542)
• Honey

You can check out my vegan e-numbers guide if there are any other e-numbers or additives that you’re not sure about. 

Summary- are Fruittella vegan?

Many Fruitella sweets are vegan but not all of them. Fruit-tella classic chews, Fruit Drops, and Duostix are vegan-friendly. Their other sweets contain gelatine and some also contain beeswax and are therefore not vegan.