5 Terrifying Halloween Candy Ingredients to Avoid

Halloween is here—but many of those sweet treats handed out to costumed kids turn out to be terrifying tricks. Forget the ghosts and monsters; the real fright lies in the ingredients list of some of the most popular candies around. Once you learn the truth behind those deceptively sweet confections, you may never look at Halloween candy the same way again.

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Vegan alternatives to animal ingredients in candy

Not all Halloween candy is vegan, so it’s important to scan ingredient labels for animal ingredients. The five most common animal-based ingredients in candy include carmine, milkfat, confectioner’s glaze, gelatin, and honey. Keep reading to learn the terrifying truth behind the origins of these animal ingredients. 

RELATED: 21 Vegan Halloween Candies (and Other Treats) We Found at Target

5 animal ingredients in Halloween candy

These five animal-based ingredients are lurking in Halloween candy, and the truth behind how they’re made will horrify you. 

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1 Carmine

Crushed insects used in children’s candy sounds more like the terrifying plot of a horror film than a factual report on the state of Halloween treats, but it’s the reality. Hidden behind names such as “carminic acid” and “Natural Red 4,” carmine is the innocuous-sounding dye that is actually extracted from dead insects.

Found on cacti in South America, Mexico, and the Southwest United States, Cochineal insects may not be as familiar to us as ants or ladybugs, but they are everywhere in our grocery stores (as well as in makeup), crushed and used for a dye. The red coloring that is created is found in many Halloween sweets. So stay safe from these frightful foods, and stick with vegan candies for trick-or-treaters.

Veganize it: Looking for treats in a blood-red shade without the gore of carmine? Try fruity Cherry Twists from Twizzlers.

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2 Milkfat

Found in many traditional chocolate Halloween handouts such as M&Ms and Snickers, milkfat is the end result of a process that includes the slaughtering of young calves and the separation of mother cows from their babies.

This is the reality of the dairy industry, and the way that milk, and then milkfat, is made. The seemingly simple ingredient appears small on that long list of ingredients, but it represents very real cruelties that impact living, breathing, feeling beings. Even on small farms that hide behind a bucolic facade, terrible treatment is a daily reality in the production of milk.

Veganize it: For the sweetness of chocolate minus the milkfat, try vegan Endangered Species.

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3 Confectioner’s glaze

It sounds like the most innocent ingredient, but like the super-sweet scenes that open the most frightening horror films, confectioner’s glaze comes with a terrifying story.

That supposedly tempting topping on candies is actually made from the secretions of an insect known as Kerria lacca. Often, insect body parts are also found in the “lac” that they produce. Many popular candies including jelly beans, hard candies, and some chocolates are made with confectioner’s glaze. 

Veganize it: For a cruelty-free sweet and sour candy, try the perfectly vegan Halloween classic, Smarties.

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4 Gelatin

Gelatin is made from the bones, horns, boiled skin, and tendons of animals, including pigs and cows. Candy corn, Junior Mints, and most sweets containing marshmallows hide this frightening ingredient.

Veganize it: For a happy Halloween, stick with vegan versions for holiday treats, like Free2b’s Dark Chocolate Mint Cups.

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5 Honey

The classic Halloween go-to, candy corn, may appear to be a fun bite-sized treat, but those deceptively cute candies contain not only gelatin and confectioner’s glaze, but also honey.

Though the word “honey” is used by many as a term of endearment, the process of producing it is not sweet for bees. The honey that bees require for their survival is taken from them, and frequently replaced with a sugar substitute that does not offer the nutritional value of their natural sustenance. Even in small honey operations, handlers often cut off the queen bee’s wings. Many bees who are kept for honey are also killed, either in the interest of saving money, or from rough handling.

Veganize it: For bite-sized sweet treats, opt for vegan Swedish Fish.

Don’t let these frightful ingredients scare you out of having a fantastic Halloween. Check out the VegNews Guide to Vegan Halloween Candy and indulge in cruelty-free candy to your heart’s content.