My Top 10 Favorite Accidentally Vegan Candies That Leave The Spooky Stuff Out All Year Round
This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s fall editorial intern Jess Newman. Find her on Instagram at @_jess_n_. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Halloween is the perfect time for all things spooky and scary, but I like to leave all those things out of my diet. Now by no means am I saying that these candies are healthy, they are still candy. They just don’t harm any other being in the process of them being made. You’ve probably been eating some of these candies your whole life and didn’t even know they were accidentally vegan!
10. Smarties
Smarties are a classic from my childhood. One of my family’s friends from childhood got divorced and she dated a guy named Dave for a while. He always carried Smarties around for when us kids were waiting in line somewhere or when we were waiting for our food at a restaurant. He would call out “Smarty Party!” and hand them out. Looking back it’s very cute but also strange. They aren’t a bad candy, they taste good, but I don’t crave them. This results in their position at number 10.
9. Lemonheads
Lemonheads are super good if you want a little something sweet but also love sour. They are a refreshing candy that I love in the summertime.
8. Charm Blow Pops
There is something so nostalgic about having a sucker or lollipop, whichever you prefer. When I was young, my family would go to this little diner. I honestly couldn’t tell you the real name of it, but I called it the “Pig Place” because they had all these cute flying pigs everywhere. After dinner, we would go to the counter to pay and my parents would always get me a Charms Blow Pop. They are the best of all the suckers out there in my opinion except the gum is absolute garbage.
7. Airheads
Airheads were always one of my favorite Halloween candies! These are fun because they come in so many flavors. I’m sure you’ll be able to find one you like and for that, they land in the number 7 spot.
6. Nerds
Nerds were always a fun candy to have at school holiday parties. There is no way to get a single box of them at the store. I’ve only seen them in Halloween candy or on Nerds Ropes, but sadly those aren’t accidentally vegan. Due to them being so hard to access, they are in the middle of the pack at number 6.
5. Jolly Ranchers
Oh my gosh do I have a story for you with Jolly Ranchers. My neighborhood best friends would hang out with the girl from the end of the street. She was super annoying to the oldest boy. One day she brought over a gallon bag of Jolly Ranchers and left them there when she went home. The oldest boy decided we should all take a flavor and eat them until they were gone. We did and I didn’t want to look at a Jolly Rancher for a few years after that. Leave it to the teenage boy to come up with that plan. Looking back we could have just hidden them. I had the cherry flavor in case you were wondering.
4. Laffy Taffy
Laffy Taffy is good, but it has to be at the perfect temperature. If it’s too cold it is impossible to bite into and if it’s too hot it melts and sticks to the packaging which makes it impossible to eat! I found out when I moved this summer that they sell a version of Laffy Taffy that is the size of an Airhead at gas stations. Super nostalgic and really tasty.
3. Twizzlers
Twizzlers have always been one of my all-time favorites. Every 4th of July my parents would bring Twizzlers with us to go watch fireworks and on every road trip we took in the summer. Pro-tip- you have to test how bendy they are because some packages are rock hard which is super hard on your teeth.
Numbers 1 and 2 are interchangeable for me. I love Skittles and Sour Patch Kids so much. Skittles would make a great snack for binging some Halloween movies like these. They are hard to eat if you are trying to have a conversation. Skittle juice down the wrong pipe will make you choke! Sour Patch Kids are a classic. Now there are so many flavors and seasonal ones! I tried the apple harvest flavors for fall and they were good, but the caramel apple one didn’t translate well.
Life is too short to not have some candy when you want it! If you are thinking about going vegan, I hope this article made you realize that there are a lot of accidentally vegan candy options out there. I didn’t get into the nitty-gritty about what’s in gelatin, but if you want to have a good scare for Halloween, throw it in the Google search bar.
Let us know what your favorite accidentally vegan candy is and if you have any nostalgic memories with it!