Are Honey Nut Cheerios Vegan? In fact, Honey Nut Cheerios is not vegan because its ingredient is honey, which comes from animals. The essence of Cheerios also contains Lanolin from sheep (or wool fat).
However, Vegetarians can easily pick themselves a vegan Cheerios product, as long as the product’s packaging is labeled “vegan”
What Are Honey Nut Cheerios Made of?
Honey Nut Cheerios has long been well known as a heart-healthy cereal because of its lower cholesterol.
Specifically, this product is made from whole grains and contains very little fat. It also provides up to 12 essential vitamins and minerals.
Which Cheerios Flavors Are Vegan?
You possibly only know about the two most popular flavors of Cheerios: Honey Nut Cheerios and Multigrain Cheerios.
However, Cheerios has up to 21 different flavors, and you can find various Cheerios’ flavors in many grocery stores.
Vegetarians can easily pick themselves a vegan Cheerios product, as long as the product’s packaging is labeled “vegan” Multi-Grainfour.
But please pay high attention to these four flavors containing honey that are not vegetarian:
Honey Nut Cheerios, Cheerios Oat Crunch, Cinnamon, Cheerios Oat Crunch, Oats ‘N Honey, and Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Crunch.
Also, we will list down the ingredients of 21 Cheerios flavors as the list below so you can consider which flavors to purchase for your meals:
- Peach Cheerios: Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Original Cheerios: Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Toasted Coconut Cheerios: Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Blueberry Cheerios: Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Maple Cheerios Vitamin: D3, Sugar
- Frosted Cheerios: Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Banana Nut Cheerios: Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Multi Grain Cheerios: Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Apple Cinnamon Cheerios: Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Chocolate Cheerios: Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Fruity Cheerios: Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Multi-Grain Cheerios with Real Strawberries: Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Pumpkin Spice Cheerios : Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Very Berry Cheerios: Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheerios: Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Chocolate Strawberry Cheerios: Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Cinnamon Cheerios: Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Crunch: Honey, Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Cheerios Oat Crunch, Oats ‘N Honey: Honey, Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Cheerios Oat Crunch, Cinnamon : Honey, Vitamin D3, Sugar
- Honey Nut Cheerios: Honey, Vitamin D3, Sugar
“Non-Vegan” Ingredients In Cheerios
We put “non-vegan” in quotes since there are controversial opinions among vegetarians about the ingredients in Cheerios.
Some claim that all flavors of Cheerios are vegan and very suitable for their diets. However, strict vegetarians believe that no Cheerios is vegan.
The majority of consumers consider that except for 4 flavors of Cheerios, the remaining 16 flavors are vegan. We can discuss this more clearly by taking a closer look at each ingredient of Cheerios:
#1. Honey
The honey is an animal product, as it comes from bees. And vegans wouldn’t eat animal products, would they?
However, some conflicting opinions arise from this topic as taking honey does not cause any “suffering” physically for bees; there is no need to kill bees to get honey.
But we are not sure if people kill the bees during the honey harvesting process or not.
Others argue that this is an ethical intervention for bees because it looks like we are stealing their honey just like a thief. Therefore, what is your point of view?
#2. Vitamin D3
This vitamin can come from plant or animal origin. But once it is added and fortified in grain products, Vitamin D3 is likely extracted from Lanolin – which comes from sheep’s wool – and of course, it is an animal product.
For strict vegetarians, animal products are not the type of food they are aiming for.
However, some vegetarians do not care about this vitamin D3 component because there is only a small amount of this vitamin in Cheerios.
#3. Sugar
The third ingredient you need to pay attention to is sugar. Sugar is usually made from bone coal from cattle.
People use bone coal from animals during the process of filtering sugar to make sugar whiter. Hence, most vegans consider sugar as an animal product and refuse to use it.
People do not filter coconut sugar, beet, or even organic sugar through bone coal. The only type of sugar filtered via bone coal is cane sugar.
However, no one knows exactly what kind of sugar Cheerios use. Vegans should look for products that clearly state: ‘not filtered through bone coal.’
Conclusion
So are honey nut cheerios vegan? You have the answer already! Its ingredients include refined sugar, Vitamin D3, and honey – which originate from animals, so this type of cereal is not considered vegan.
The information we provide you is for reference only. Hence, you can consider the ingredients of each flavor of Cheerios for a suitable vegetarian serving for you.
