Vegan Candy for Halloween

Trick or Treat! Have you thought about what you’re going to hand out to those adorable little visitors on Halloween? Here’s your go-to list of vegan candy for Halloween that can easily be found at most of your favorite stores! Also, read on to see lots of other cruelty-free and eco-friendly ideas!

Vegan candies for Halloween sound like an amazing plan! There’s no need to order from special websites or travel far and wide to specialty boutiques for them. The candies on this list are well-known favorites from common stores such as Target, Walmart, Costco, Publix, Kroger, H-E-B, etc. You can even order them for quick delivery from Amazon!

List of Vegan Candy

This list is primarily focused on common candies that are easily accessible. However, there are many other candies not listed, that are vegan. Please make sure to always check the ingredients list in case a company has made a change to the recipe.

Airheads - The chewy, tangy bar variety is vegan.
Charms Blow Pops - Two treats in one, both the lollipop and the gum inside are vegan.
Chick-O-Sticks - Are vegan-friendly!
Dots - Dots gumdrops are so addictive and my absolute favorite!
Dum Dums - Perfectly sized, these mini vegan suckers are a classic.
Fun Dip - Another 2-in-1 treat, both the dipping stick and the powdered sugar are vegan.
Gobstoppers - Tiny “jawbreakers” are fun for everyone and no longer contain shellac.
Jolly Ranchers - These childhood favorites are vegan as well as their lollipop counterparts.
Laffy Taffy - The fun size is vegan and a great alternative to saltwater taffy.
Now and Laters - The original version is a tasty vegan alternative to Starbursts.
Peanut Chews - Get the dark chocolate version of this Philadelphia-born candy.
Ring Pops - This vegan, sugary pop also serves as sweet bling.
Skittles - Tasty little bites that used to be made with gelatin, but not anymore!
Smarties - Oldies but goodies, Smarties are definitely vegan.
Sour Patch Kids - Such a fun favorite as they go from super sour to sweet.
Super Bubble - This vegan gum is a must-use for any big-bubble-blowing competition!
Swedish Fish - Usually vegan but check the ingredients because certain ones have beeswax.
Twizzlers - This strawberry spin-off of the classic licorice is vegan.

*A note about this list. Some of these candies contain controversial ingredients which I’ve gone into further detail, below. I chose to include them on this list because they are generally considered to be vegan-friendly and vegan-approved.

A few other vegan candies that are a bit harder to find, but worth it!

Cocomels - plant-based chocolates sold at Kroger and Sprout’s
Ocho - organic chocolates with several vegan options, sold at Target
Red Vines - vegan sweet licorice sold in larger packs at most stores
Unreal - chocolates with many vegan options such as peanut butter cups, sold at Whole Foods, Publix, and Kroger
Yum Earth - vegan candy sold at Kroger, Target, and Sprouts

Non-Candy Halloween Goody Ideas

Annie’s Fruit Snacks
Applesauce Pouches
Fig Bars
Fruit by the Foot
Peach Fruit Cups
Fruit Gushers
Hippeas Vegan Puffs
Juice Boxes
Oreos
Peanut Butter Crackers
Popcorn - dairy free
Pretzels
Water bottles

Non-Edible, Cruelty-Free Halloween Ideas

Crafts Sets
Fidget Toys
Gel Pens
Money - Yes, I’m serious! When we lived in South Florida, many of our neighbors handed out coins! This was a big hit with the kids!
Party Favors - sunglasses, bounce balls, plastic jewelry, etc.
Play Dough
Rubix Cubes
Stickers
Toys (small)
Watercolor Kits

Common ingredients For Vegans To Avoid

Beeswax - wax made by honeybees
Carmine - red color that comes from a cochineal insect
Cochineal - same as carmine
Confectioner’s Glaze - resin that is secreted by a lac bug
Dairy - also called milk, milk chocolate, milk fat, lactose, whey
Egg - also called albumin, egg whites, livetin
Gelatin - tendons, bones, the skin of animals
Shellac - same as confectioner’s glaze

Controversial ingredients amongst vegans

The ingredients discussed below tend to cause great debate regarding whether or not they are vegan. These ingredients do not directly contain animal derivatives, but they may directly or indirectly affect them. At some level, almost every product you can think of somehow affects animals. This is why we each need to make the personal decision regarding how strictly we will live our vegan lives.

Is palm oil vegan?

Palm oil is often unethically sourced and causes deforestation. This affects not only the environment but the wildlife that resides in those forests. The good news is that more and more companies are moving toward alternatives, or ethically and sustainably sourced palm oil. Because palm oil does not directly contain animal derivatives, the items listed above with palm oil are generally considered vegan. However, this is something for you to think about to determine whether or not palm oil will be a part of your vegan life.

What is the vegan controversy with sugar?

Many types of sugar varieties are refined and processed with the use of animal bone char. However, sugar doesn’t actually have any animal derivatives within it. Candies usually do not specify the source of their sugar but are generally considered vegan. This is another ingredient for you to decide how you feel about it.

Is food coloring vegan?

Natural coloring is almost always plant-derived. However, there is some discord in the vegan community regarding food dyes such as red-40, blue-1, etc. This is because the research laboratories that create and check them for safety, tested them on animals at one or multiple points in time. The researchers do this to determine the health implications that these artificial colors may have on people. Thus, here’s another decision point for you to make along your vegan journey.

Why the extra packaging on Halloween?

I get it. It can be a bit difficult to see all the extra packaging being used and thrown away during Halloween. This is certainly not the best situation for our environment and landfills. However, this is an event that calls for the safety of our children. We want to hand out individually packaged candies to make sure they are safe and free of any external contaminants.

However, one way to slightly counter the extra packaging is to buy your individually wrapped candies in bulk. This minimizes the amount of exterior bags or boxes you dispose of. If you are able to find boxed candy at bulk supply stores like Costco, you can recycle the boxes.

Another idea is for parents to help remind our little princesses and superheroes to keep the candy wrappers off the streets and sidewalks.

Eco-Friendly Ideas For Candy Wrappers

Rather than throwing them away, there are so many creative ways to repurpose leftover candy wrappers. Check out Pinterest and Google for tons of creative, Earth-loving ideas! Here are just a few to consider.

Creative arts & crafts
Cut them up to make an art collage
Host a repurposed trash fashion show or competition
Plastic wrapper jewelry
Wrapper Wallets

You can also see if TerraCycle has a program near you that recycles the particular wrappers you get. Some of their recycling programs include juice box wrappers, snack bags, fruit snack wrappers, small toy packages, etc.