Are Fruity Pebbles Vegan? – Cereal Scrutiny
Who doesn’t remember the all-time favorite childhood cereal Fruity Pebbles? And yes, it’s yet another magical version Cocoa Pebbles which was equally yummy-licious! Most of us have grown up munching on this lip-smacking snack – not just for breakfast but other times of the day as well (it was just too irresistible!) Thanks to growing awareness over veganism, our preferred cereal of childhood times is now being testified. Let’s take a closer look.
What are Fruity Pebbles?
Fruity Pebbles is a rice-based cereal that’s both crispy and delicious. The cereal comes in a wide variety of tasteful fruity flavors, all of which are equally hard to resist. Originally, the rice cereal flakes came in cherry, lemon and orange flavors but later new ones were added to appease growing tastes of the audience. Now Fruity Pebbles is available in grape, lime, Berry Blue, Incrediberry Purple, and Bedrock Berry Pink flavors.
Are Fruity Pebbles Vegan?
While Fruity Pebbles may initially seem vegan-friendly, it’s important to note that they are not entirely vegan. Although the cereal is primarily composed of grains such as corn meal, wheat flour, oat flour, and rice, there is a crucial ingredient to consider—fortified vitamin D3. In most cases, vitamin D3 is derived from animal sources, making it non-vegan.
Ingredients In Fruity Pebbles
- Rice
- Sugar
- Hydrogenated vegetable oil (including coconut and palm kernel oils)
- Salt
- Less than 0.5% of natural and artificial flavors
- Red 40 (check out Red 40’s vegan status)
- Yellow 6
- Turmeric Oleoresin (color)
- Blue 1
- Yellow 5
- Blue 2
- BHA (flavor-protector)
- Vitamin D3
Fruity Pebbles: Non-Vegan Ingredients
1. Vitamin D3
You may have never imagined this but vitamin D3 used in fruity pebbles and cereals like lucky charms, Cinnamon toast crunch, and rice krispies is derived from lanolin or sheep’s wool. Lanolin undergoes a series of chemical processes to extract and purify the vitamin D3. This extracted vitamin D3 is then used as a fortification ingredient in cereals and other food products to enhance their nutritional content making these cereals non-vegan.
2. Sugar
A vital ingredient in nearly every cereal but if you’re a vegan beware of it. White refined sugar, particularly, for its processed with bone char to get the milky white color.
3. Artificial Colors
Fruity Pebbles contains plenty of them – Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Yellow 5, and Blue 2. The problem with these is that they’re tested on animals which amounts to animal cruelty – another thing vegan are strictly against.
Vegan Cereal Alternatives to Fruity Pebbles
We all love to have cereals in our breakfast as they are healthy, filling and super easy to make. And we shouldn’t stop having cereals just because we turned vegan. So, here are some vegan alternatives to fruity pebbles that you can try out.
| Product/Brand | Rating | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats | 4.6/5 | View Products |
| 2. Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes | 4.7/5 | View Products |
| 3. Cheerios Cereal | 4.8/5 | View Products |
| 4. Fruit ‘n Fibre Cereal | 4.4/5 | View Products |
| 5. Kellogg’s All Bran Original | 4.2/5 | View Products |
| 6. Kellogg’s Special K | 4.5/5 | View Products |
| 7. Jordans Country Crisp | 4.7/5 | View Products |
| 8. Cap’N Crunch Cereal | 3.9/5 | View Products |
| 9. Reese’s Puffs Treats | 4.2/5 | View Products |
| 10. Natural Path Cereals | 4.4/5 | View Products |
Some brands in the above section also has some non-vegan products in its bouquet. So, check the reviews of these brands and then purchase the best vegan cereal for yourself. Read more of this article to understand everything about Fruity Pebbles.
Fruity Pebbles over the Years
Fruity Pebbles came into existence in the year 1970 when its name was changed from the original Pebbles (launched in 1969). Around the same time, Cocoa Pebbles was launched by the company as the first variation to Pebbles. The highly popular and most favorite of all kids’ cartoon character – Fred Flintstone – started appearing on the cereal boxes.
The year 2020 marks the golden jubilee of Flintstone stars promoting the cereal, and the characters still continue to play an important role on Fruity Pebbles’ boxes. Other than these, you can find many tasty lightly processed cereals at the beginning of your journey to veganism. With the beginners guide to veganism, it will be simpler for anyone who wishes to turn vegan.
Summing Up
Taking cue from the post above, it can be concluded that Fruity Pebbles isn’t vegan. Along with the “controversial” ingredients list which features a couple of non-vegan stuff, add to it the animal-cruelty part extended to innocent creatures via color-testing and you’d get your result.
Of course, that said, most vegans are comfortable with eating cereals as long as they don’t contain animal by-products such as dairy. And because Fruity Pebbles nutrition facts label qualifies that criterion, it’s still a preferred choice among many. However, if you are strict vegan we have listed best vegan cereals brands as well as gluten-free cereals where you can choose from.
If you wish to have heavy and healthy breakfast snacks, you can prepare vegan burritos at home or even zucchini with vegan zucchini recipe at home.
Most of the Kelloggs cereals are not vegan, including frosted flakes and Special K.
They have D3 from lanolin.