In 1928, a former Hershey employee, Harry Reese, left the company to create his own chocolate company.
Here, he took the wholesale milk chocolate produced at Hershey’s and used it to create a unique peanut butter-stuffed treat that is perfect for peanut butter lovers.
Today, it is one of the most popular candies in the entire world. However, you may be wondering, is it vegan?
Unfortunately, Reese’s isn’t suitable for vegans. Despite being made from real peanuts, the semisweet chocolate and milk chocolate used to make the treats aren’t vegan as they contain dairy products.
Likewise, they are also made using white sugar, a product many vegans choose to boycott.
Below, we have outlined all the ingredients found in Reese’s to give you a better understanding as to why they aren’t suitable for vegans.
Let’s get started.
Are Reese’s Suitable for Vegans?
According to the United States, the ingredients found in Reese’s include:
- Peanuts
- Milk chocolate (cocoa butter, sugar, nonfat milk, sugar, chocolate, milk fat, milk, soy lecithin, lactose, emulsifier, PGPR)
- Dextrose
- Sugar
- TBHQ (preservative)
- Salt
Therefore, the ingredients list would suggest that Reese’s isn’t, in fact, vegan.
There are various milk derivatives found in Reese’s, including milk fat, non-fat milk, and lactose.
This comes as no surprise since upon first biting down on the smooth milk chocolate, it is then followed by a crunchy and gritty peanut butter texture.
Besides these milk derivatives, Reese’s also contains sugar – a controversial ingredient among many vegans.
Controversial Reese’s Elements
There are some controversial elements in determining whether Reese’s products are vegan or not. Firstly, the use of dairy products is understandable and straightforward.
However, additional ingredients such as processed sugar and palm oil create more of a problem since we don’t know for certain where these ingredients come from.
One prime example of why processed sugar can be seen as problematic for some vegans is because of the addition of bone char in some factories.
This comes from animals and is used to filter out the crane sugar and provide it with that bright, white appearance.
While it may not be a direct non-vegan ingredient, some vegans still take issue with it due to unethical practices.
The process of deriving bone char includes burning cattle bones at extreme temperatures. It is considered a porous substance that can easily absorb impurities and helps to remove brown cane sugar.
This is just one way of how sugar can be made. However, since many companies don’t outline the specific details of how their sugar cane is processed, they suspect it isn’t vegan.
This leaves many vegans in a dilemma.
Another controversial product found within Reese’s is palm oil. Like processed sugar, it is considered to not be vegan-friendly as a result of its indirect sources.
At its core, palm oil is a purely plant-based product. However, how it is derived are unethical. To harvest plant oil, plantations are cut down, and vast land areas are cleared.
During this process, various animals are affected and pushed to the brink of extinction as a result of these unethical and unsustainable practices.
One of the most significant issues when it comes to palm oil production – which makes it considered non-vegan friendly – is deforestation.
Additionally, the vastness of this production that takes up acres of land is unsustainable, too, where most of it is non-replenishable.
For instance, one good example of this is in Indonesia, where the cultivation of palm oil has become a mass business.
Can Vegetarians Eat Reese’s?
Vegans can’t eat Reese’s due to their dairy content – which is a by-product of animals. Dairy is obtained through cow exploitation, which doesn’t align with vegan views and morals of “Do no harm.”
On the other hand, vegetarians are different from vegans in the sense that they eat foods containing animal by-products – just not the animals themselves.
This means that vegetarians can eat honey, dairy, eggs, and any other food that vegans can’t consume.
Since Reese’s only contains dairy (and no other meat-derived product) it makes it suitable for vegetarians.
Are There Any Vegan Reese’s?
Unfortunately, Reese’s has yet to produce a product that is suitable for vegans.
All the different Reese’s products contain some form of milk and chocolate.
Reese’s Chocolate Alternatives
While you may not be able to find any vegan Reese’s there are some alternatives suitable for vegan.
In fact, today, you can find vegan chocolate alternatives that look and taste the same as Reese’s – albeit, they may not be as cheap!
Below, we have outlined some alternatives to Reese’s that are just as delicious and vegan-friendly.
- Legendary Foods – Peanut Butter
- Justin’s Nut Butter Mini Peanut Butter Cups
- Unreal – Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Final Thoughts
There is no better combination than chocolate and peanut butter. The smooth, sweet, chocolateyness of chocolate goes perfectly with the crunchy, savory peanut butter.
However, while peanut butter is generally suitable for vegans, chocolate is not. As well as some other controversial ingredients, including sugar and palm oil, Reese’s aren’t vegan-friendly.
That said, just because you can’t enjoy peanut butter doesn’t mean there aren’t alternatives you can devour!
Hopefully, this guide has informed you on everything you need to know about whether Reese’s is vegan-friendly or not.
