Can I Drink Diet Soda As a Vegan? – Everything You Need To Know

Diet soda is a pretty popular drink for many of us, without any calories or sugar the sodas are appealing to people who want to avoid normal high calories sugary drinks without the soda tasting any different.

Vegans however have to be careful with diet sodas as the caramel colouring can sometimes be derived from animals bone chars, most of the big brands such as Diet Coke are vegan even with their dye though

In our guide below we will discuss why some diet sodas are not vegan, whether Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi are vegan as well as some tips for which ingredients to avoid in sodas if you are a vegan.

Why Are Some Diet Sodas Not Vegan?

Most diet sodas are indeed vegan but there are a few out there which can contain some food colouring which is derived from animals, some carbonated fruit juices also contain a gum stabiliser or even gelatin from fish scales.

Luckily, you can always see these ingredients listed on the back of the bottle of the soda before buying.

Is Diet Coke Vegan?

One of the most popular types of soda Diet Coke is indeed vegan, coca-cola has stated none of the ingredients inside of the beverage is derived from animals, even the dye.

Diet Coke contains carbonated water, sweeteners such as Acesulfame K and Aspartame. It also has caramel colour E150d, caffeine and Citric/Phosphoric Acids. None of these ingredients upon checking is individually derived from animals making it vegan safe!

We have listed some other vegan safe drinks from coca-cola below.

• Coca-Cola/Zero Sugar. (Good to know: Is Coca-cola Vegan?)
• Diet Coke.
• Dr Pepper.
• Sprite.
• Fanta.
• Oasis.
• Schweppes.
• Fuzetea.
• Glaceau Smartwater.

We also made a list of the 12 Best Alkaline Vegan Recipes

Is Diet Pepsi Vegan?

Diet Pepsi and Pepsi Max are both considered vegan too but they have been under fire in previous times for not disclosing themselves as fully vegan, this is for Diet Pepsi in the UK although it is said to be suitable for vegetarians.

Potentially it could mean the drink has a non-vegan dye or gelatin inside, but then it would not be suitable for vegetarians, so to be on the safe side we would give Pepsi diet a miss if you are vegan even though all of their ingredients listed is not derived from animals.

We have listed a few other popular carbonated beverages from the above lines which are listed as non-vegan below.

• The lilt and Lilt Zero.
• Honest Lemon and Honey Drink.
• Kia Orange Squas no sugar.
• Scweppes Indian Tonic Water.
• Glaceua Vitaminwater Zero.
• Costa Ready Drink Lattes.

Learn more here about Is Pepsi Vegan?

Tips For Choosing Vegan-Friendly Diet Sodas

Figuring out which diet sodas are vegan and which are not is not always easy, not all companies are clear about what their sodas contain and understanding the non-vegan ingredients can be a little overwhelming, especially if you are new to being vegan.

To help you out we have listed some of the common non-vegan ingredients diet sodas can have so you can know what to stay away from.

• Vitamin D3 – Vitamin D3 comes from the oil in sheep’s wool, it is often found most commonly in sports and energy drinks, although the sheep are not harmed during the shearing process since it is derived from animals it is not considered vegan.
• Cochineal – Cochineal comes from bugs so is regarded not be vegan, it comes with a red food dye for colouring drinks.
• Honey – Some sodas do contain honey, although mostly not diet sodas. Some vegans regard honey as a vegan while others do not.
• Yellow 5 – Some drinks such as Mountain Dew have this ingredient which is not vegan as it is believed to be tested on animals.
• Artificial flavouring – Any artificial flavouring in diet sodas is regarded as not vegan as most can be derived from animals.
• Ester Gum – Ester gum comes from glycerol which comes from animals as a sweetener, you can indeed get glycerol sweetener made from a lab but many just use the one from animals instead.

Last Words

To conclude, there are plenty of diet sodas that are vegan, but we always suggest making sure by doing your research on their ingredients beforehand as many companies can hide or not fully disclose derived animal ingredients.

Always check for the non-vegan ingredients we have listed above to be on the safe side.