I was so excited to try these new Pokemon doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. However when I posted a picture on my Instagram, Krispy Kreme actually commented to inform me that these doughtnuts are not actually vegan friendly. I had checked the ingredients but as Kirspy Kreme also use vegan friendly sprinkles in some of their other vegan doughtnuts, I didn’t even think to look for beeswax.
Once again I was caught out by the beeswax. I was also taught about an ingredient called trehalose, which is apparently an ingredient found in fungi and plants, but also insects, so it is not always vegan friendly. Upon far more scrutiny of ingredients list, it would appear that the trehalose is in the little character sugar decals (which I did not eat anyway because I always think those may have gelatine or shellac in them to make them chewy and shiny) and the beeswax is in the pokeball red sprinkles. The yellow balls on Pikachu appear to be made of tapioca.
It will always baffle me why, if a company already has access to vegan ingredients, why not always use them in new products? Sure it may be a cost issue, but surely a company would want to appeal to as many customers as possible, so why not use ingredients that can be eatten by as many people as possible? This has also taught me to always check ingredients before buying anything new. Unfortuantely I had just gotten very comfortable knowing what was in my food, so didn’t check as thoroughly as I should have done, and thus ended up eating something that is not strictly vegan.
Now I have seen there is a debate around beeswax, with some people choosing to eat beeswax whilst others don’t. It also appears the trehalose is most commonly made using plant matter, so is most often vegan friendly, but as it doesn’t specify in the ingredients then I would rather be cautious and assume it is the non-vegan variety. Disappointing, but I am trying not to beat myself up too much about it. These things are bound to happen and as none of the doughnuts come with the ingredients actually printed on them (aside from the usual allergen alerts) I would have needed to have done my research ahead of actually going out to buy them and quite frankly, I was too excited by new doughnuts that were also Pokemon themed. Because I am a big pokemon fan and needed the whimsy bonus.
Taylor Talks Vegan 