Is Fritos Vegan? Shocking Truth About This Popular Snack!
Fritos are tasty corn chips available in a variety of flavors and shapes.
Is Fritos Vegan?
Some Fritos may not be vegan, but others are.
What Is Fritos?
Fritos is an American brand for corn chips.
It was founded by Charles Elmer Doolin, who had tried Mexican corn chips.
Only three ingredients are used in these salted chips: corn oil, salt, and corn.
For more than 80 years, Fritos has been in the market and is often the first brand to come to mind when you think of corn chips.
How Are Fritos Made?
Fritos are made from a corn-chip base recipe, including oil and salt.
The ingredients must be precise:
- Stone-ground cornmeal or another fine cornmeal
- Salt
- Extra virgin olive oil and vegetable oil
- Optional vegetable oil to be used for frying
It is simple and does not require a lot of effort.
Mix cornmeal with salt in a small bowl.
Use a fork to blend the batter.
Add 1 teaspoon of hot water to make the batter thicker and runnier.
The top sheet of paper can be removed, and the batter can be cut into small rectangles.
Finally, bake it until it turns golden brown.
Heat some vegetable oil for about 1 to 2 minutes in a small saucepan.
Finally, fry half the chips.
Drain them on a paper towel with a metal strainer.
Which Flavors Of Fritos Are Vegan?
Fritos Original Corn chips are vegetarian.
They only have three ingredients: corn, corn oil, and salt.
Original Fritos Scoops!
Corn chips can also be made vegan.
They contain the same ingredients but are made of different shapes.
The Lightly Salted Fritos can also be made vegan.
They contain the same three ingredients as the Original but have less salt.
Which Flavors Of Fritos Are Not Vegan?
Non-Vegan Fritos Flavors:
- Fritos Scoops! Spicy Jalapeno Corn Chips
- Fritos Flavor Twists Honey BBQ Flavored Corn Chips
- Fritos Chili Cheese Flavored Corn Chips
- Fritos Flamin’ Hot Flavored Corn Chips
Fritos Ingredients For Non-Vegan Pets
These are non-vegan ingredients found in Fritos’ various flavors:
Milk
Milk is derived from animals, so it’s easy to see why it’s not vegan.
Honey
Honey is made from honey bees, so it’s not vegan.
Natural Flavors
Natural flavors can be vegan- or non-vegan.
Many large companies that produce processed foods don’t reveal the exact source of their natural flavors, making it difficult to know if they are animal-based or plant-based.
Sugar
Sugar can be a problematic ingredient for veganism.
It is often processed with bone charcoal, and large corporations have many sugar suppliers.
This makes it difficult to determine if the sugar in every package is vegan.
Many vegans don’t worry about this, as many vegan treats contain sugar.
It doesn’t even contain animal products.
Instead, it uses animal bones in its processing.
Fritos sugar isn’t organic because it isn’t processed with bone charcoal.
Artificial Colors
Artificial color is used to dye food.
Although they may not contain animal ingredients but are often tested on animals, artificial colors can dye foods.
Below is a list of non-vegan ingredients found in these particular flavors.
Is Fritos Scoops! Spicy Jalapeno Corn Chips Vegan?
They are not vegan as they contain milk ingredients like whey, sour cream, and natural flavors (which may/may not be vegan).
Is Fritos Flavor Twists Honey BBQ Flavored Corn Chips Vegan?
They are not vegan as they contain honey, brown sugar, food dyes (tested on animals), and natural flavor.
Is Chili Cheese-Flavored Corn Chips Vegan?
They are not vegan as they contain whey, which comes from milk, cheese, sugar, buttermilk, butter, and natural flavors.
Is Fritos Flamin’ Hot Flavored Corn Chips Vegan?
They are not vegan as they contain dairy, buttermilk, and whey.
Is Fritos Healthy?
Fritos might seem healthy because they only contain three ingredients.
However, most of their nutritional value has been diminished because they are made from highly processed corn.
They’re one of the most unhealthy snack chips options and can contain 160 calories per portion.
Last Words
So, are Fritos vegan?
Both yes and no.
Although some Fritos are vegan-friendly, most Fritos are made with animal-based ingredients.
There are only two options for those who prefer Fritos Scoops: the Original or Fritos Scoops.
If these chips aren’t your favorite, you can find vegan brands.