Vegan Cereals

At 1st sight, nobody added meat, eggs or milk to our cereals, so we should be safe…

But are we?

In fact, as for biscuits, there are many hidden elements that can turn the selection of our yummy cereals into a vegan nightmare.

But that’s where Vegomm comes in. 

We’ll help you navigate through this labyrinth through simple explanations of what to avoid (so that you can select your preferred cereals) but also through a our list of cruelty-free cereals that you can buy online in the UK.

If you're not interested in what to avoid but just want to go straight to what to buy use this shortcut to jump straight to it.

The enemy

Vitamin D aka sheep’s wool grease 😲

One of the big enemies of vegan cereals is Vitamin D, as it is usually made from lanolin which itself comes from wool’s wax. Long story short… your vegan cereals should avoid Vitamin D.

Honey

We all understand the issue with honey. But what’s difficult is to quickly spot which cereals contain some.

Beside the obvious “honey” in the name, check out the description which often include small letters with “honeyed” or “with honey”. Be aware that most granola and oat-based cereals contain honey. Last but not least, double check all products labeled “natural”. These are the products avoiding sugar and sweeteners…

And what do they add instead of these?

You’ve guessed… Honey…

Gelatine

No need to explain why gelatin is bad... Often present in sweets, do we find it in cereals as well?

Unfortunately, yes... For example, Kellogs, which used to be a defender of the animal cause do have some in several of their cereals like "Frosted Wheats" (based on their website).

Carmine Colouring

Coming from the body and eggs of an insect, it is mostly used to give a red colour to... more or less anything. You can recognize it on the pack through the E120-E129 mention in the ingredients.

Sugar

Sugar is a difficult one. It can be vegan-friendly.... or not.

Most of the time, sugar coming from sugar cane has been processed with bone char to give it this typical white colour.

Beet sugar and Coconut sugar, which are the 2 best known alternatives, are never processed with bone char.

The main issue with sugar is that most of the time, cereals won't specify which type of sugar is being used which makes it difficult (understand: impossible) to distinguish the good from the bad.

The friends

Here are few more good bets for your morning cereals:

• Alphabites cereals from Bear: They have no nonsense added 🙂 And another very important point: No bears were harmed! Well, at least, that's what they say. More seriously, they use coconut blossom nectar instead of sugar, which is nice.
• Asda - Smart Price Crispy Rice
• Asda - Choco Curls and Choco Balls
• Kellog's Unicorn Froot Loops
• Aldi - Harvest Moon Multi-Grain Hoops
• Aldi / Harvest Moon Choco Pillows
• Tesco Free From Choco Snaps
• Tesco Cinnamon SquaresCo Op Strawberry Crisp

If you prefer Granola, have a look at

• Matcha Cavemen from Rolla Granola They position themselves as the granola that everybody can eat (gluten free, vegan, etc.). You'll get your dosis of Walnuts, Pumpkin seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Desiccated Coconut, Cashew Nuts and even... spinach... And they are excellent!
• Deliciously Ella also have a good simple Granola

Waitrose has an amazing list of vegan cereals on their website. You can buy them without leaving your sofa.

Check it out now

VeganRecipeClub has an extensive list (although it may need some update as it's a few years old) if you prefer going to a brick and mortar shop. You’ll find cereals for all biggest supermarkets in the UK: Sainsbury, Morrison and Tesco

Check it out

Although you need to be a bit careful when you chose your morning's treat, there is a lot of choice to make sure you are never bored.