Is Popcorn Vegan? Butterkist, Cineworld, Odeon & More

Posted on September 19, 2023 This post may contain affiliate links

Is popcorn vegan? And if so, what kind of popcorn can vegans have? This post will tell you everything you need to know about this much-loved cinema treat!

A Red And White Box Full Of Popcorn For Is Popcorn Vegan Post

When you’re new to veganism, the world of snacks can feel overwhelming. “Does my favourite candy contain gelatine?”, “Why is there milk powder in everything?”, “Why isn’t it labelled as vegan if there are no animal products in it?”… You know how it is!

A snack people commonly question the vegan status of is popcorn. It is the number 1 movie snack after all, so you’re bound to find yourself wondering this at some point in your vegan journey. So, is it vegan? Let’s take a closer look to find out.

Can vegans have popcorn?

Popcorn in and of itself is vegan-friendly because it comes from corn, which is a plant-based food. However, many of the seasonings and additives in store-bought and cinema popcorn are not vegan. Some ingredients to watch out for are milk and milk powder, honey, and possibly some e-numbers.

Is Butterkist popcorn vegan?

Some flavours of Butterkist popcorn are vegan such as sweet, while other flavours such as toffee are not. Here’s a full list of all of the Butterkist flavours.

Tasty Sweet

Butterkist sweet popcorn is vegan but it is not suitable for those with milk allergies due to a cross-contamination risk. The ingredients are as follows: Popped Maize, Sugar, Rapeseed Oil, Emulsifier: Lecithins.

All of these ingredients are vegan-friendly however, it’s important to reiterate that Butterkist does not mark their ready-popped popcorn as vegan because of the “may contain milk” warning. Avoid this product if you have milk allergies.

Simply Salted

Butterkist salty popcorn is dairy-free. Just like the sweet version, it has a “may contain milk” warning and should be avoided by those with dairy allergies. The ingredients are: Popped Maize, Rapeseed Oil, Salt, Emulsifier: Lecithins.

Sweet & Salty

This is simply a mixture of Butterkist’s sweet popcorn and salted popcorn so it is also vegan-friendly. It is not suitable for dairy allergy sufferers. Ingredients: Popped Maize, Sugar, Rapeseed Oil, Salt, Emulsifier: Lecithins.

Toffee

Butterkist toffee popcorn is not vegan because it contains milk. The ingredients in this are as follows:

Glucose Syrup, Sugar, Popped Maize, Salted Butter (MILK), Rapeseed Oil, Salt, Cane Molasses, Partially Inverted Sugar Syrup, Single Cream (MILK), Emulsifier: Lecithins.

Orange chocolate toffee popcorn

This popcorn contains milk and should be avoided by those following a plant-based diet. The ingredients are:

Glucose Syrup, Sugar, Popped Maize, Salted Butter (MILK), Rapeseed Oil, Brown Sugar, Salt, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder, Emulsifier: Lecithins, Cane Molasses, Natural Orange Flavouring.

Hazelnut chocolate toffee popcorn

This one also contains milk, sadly! The ingredients are: Glucose Syrup, Sugar, Popped Maize, Rapeseed Oil, Salted Butter (Milk), Brown Sugar, Single Cream (Milk), Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder, Salt, Emulsifier: Lecithins, Natural Flavouring, Cane Molasses

Butterkist microwave popcorn

In their FAQ section, Butterkist confirms that all of their microwave popcorn is suitable for vegans. The flavours are sweet, salted, and sweet and salty.

Is cinema popcorn vegan?

Now that we’ve looked at one of the most popular store-bought popcorn brands, what about movie theatre popcorn? Let’s have a look.

Cineworld

Is Cineworld popcorn vegan? According to their allergen information, all 3 flavours of their popcorn (sweet, salted and mixed) are free from allergens, including dairy. This means that Cineworld popcorn is suitable for vegans.

Odeon

Is Odeon popcorn vegan? It sure is! Similar to Cineworld, Odeon has an allergen list that shows both their sweet and salted popcorn are free from dairy.

Vue

Vue Cinema popcorn is vegan. Both their sweet popcorn and salted popcorn are marked as vegan on their food allergen sheet.

Is there any dairy-free toffee popcorn?

I know this is the question most of you came for! Toffee popcorn was always my favourite before going vegan and I missed it a lot. Here are some alternatives:

Joe & Seph’s salted caramel popcorn. This is the closest thing I’ve been able to find to Butterkist toffee popcorn and it’s delicious. A lot of the other vegan toffee popcorn out there is just toffee-flavoured but this one actually has that sweet toffee/caramel coating. 10/10
Popcorn Shed classic caramel. This is another toffee-coated popcorn and although I haven’t personally tried it, it looks promising! It has a decent rating of 4.5/5 on Amazon!
Propercorn salted caramel. This one is caramel-flavoured and although it doesn’t have that sticky toffee/caramel coating, it is very good popcorn and I highly recommend it.

Other vegan flavours

If you’re looking for something a little more exciting than the classics, try some of these tasty popcorn flavours:

Summary

Some popcorn contains milk but there are many flavours of popcorn that are suitable for a plant-based diet, including certain Butterkist flavours and popcorn from cinemas such as Cineworld, Odeon & Vue. If you’re purchasing popcorn from a store, always check the label for ingredients such as milk or honey.

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