What Drinks Are Not Vegan? Complete Guide Of Drinks To Avoid

What Drinks Are Not Vegan? Have you ever wanted a comprehensive list of what drinks are not vegan? An easy go-to source of information where you could easily find out “what sodas are not vegan?” or “what energy drinks are not vegan?” or “what juices are not vegan?”. Well, this is exactly what this piece is for. In it, I will summarize all my knowledge on vegan drinks letting you know: (i) why some drinks are not vegan; and (ii) then breaking down each category of drink (Sodas, Cream Sodas, Sports Drinks, Energy Drinks, Juices, Squashes, Teas, and Coffees) to explain what makes certain brands not vegan and what to look out for as a consumer. To begin with let’s start with the basics of why some drinks are not vegan.

Vegan Drinks – The Basics

As a general rule, drinks that are not vegan contain dairy, carmine, ester gum, honey, fish gelatin, or vitamin D from lanolin (sheep’s wool). It is possible for a soda, juice, squash, cream soda, sports drink, root beer, energy drink, tea, or coffee to contain one of these ingredients and therefore not be vegan.

Summary Table – Non-Vegan Drinks

What Sodas Are Not Vegan?	Diet Pepsi UK (unknown reason) Lilt & Lilt Zero (fish gelatin) Sunkist Orange Soda (ester gum)
What Cream Sodas Are Not Vegan?	Contains Honey: Sprecher’s Gourmet Cream Soda Henry Weinhard’s Vanilla Cream Soda
What Root Beers Are Not Vegan?	Contains Honey: Joe’s Root Beer Lost Rhino Root Beer
What Sports Drinks Are Not Vegan?	Contains Vitamin D from Lanolin: Glacéau Vitamin Water Zero Glacéau Vitamin Multi V Sparkling Ice
What Energy Drinks Are Not Vegan?	Monster Ultra Red UK (carmine) Monster Coffee Energy Drinks (dairy)
What Juices Are Not Vegan?	Contains Vitamin D Tropicana Pure Calcium and Vitamin D Naked Rainbow Machine Naked Vitamin D Machine Contains Carmine Jugos Del Valle Strawberry Banana Juice Nectar Jugos Del Valle Strawberry Juice Nectar Tropicana 100% Juice Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice Tropicana Tropics Orange Strawberry Banana Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Strawberry Banana Tropicana 100% Juice Medley Tropicana 100% Strawberry Orange Contains Fish Tropicana Healthy Heart Orange juice Contains Beef Derivatives Tropicana Farmstand Pomegranate Blueberry Contains Whey Naked Protein Juices
What Squashes Are Not Vegan?	Contains Fish Gelatin Kia-Ora Orange Squash No Added Sugar Schweppes Orange Squash
What Teas Are Not Vegan?	Contains Honey Honey Lemon Green Tea Decaffeinated Honey Lemon Green Tea Tea & Honey “To Go” Mango Pineapple Tea & Honey “To Go” Blackberry Pomegranate Twinings Teas Containing Honey or sodium caseinate Raspberry and Pomegranate Green Tea, Peach, and Cherry Blossom Bollywood Chai Latte Cranberry and Pomegranate Chocolate Coconut Flavour Green Tea Chamomile – Honey and Vanilla Green Tea with Honey and Lemon Green Tea and Pomegranate Mango & Coconut Green Tea Teas in coffee shops that sometimes aren’t vegan due to honey Chai tea latte Iced tea
What Coffee Ingredients Are Not Vegan?	Contains Dairy Milk Whip Most toppings Most sauces (except sometimes mocha sauce)

Why Are Some Drinks Not Vegan?

There are two main reasons why some drinks are not vegan:

A non-vegan ingredient is used in the drink; or
A non-vegan method is used in producing the drink.

Non-Vegan Production Methods – Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Drinks

Non-vegan production processes are much more common in alcoholic drinks rather than non-alcoholic drinks (I am planning on writing a separate post on what alcoholic drinks are not vegan). This post is just focusing on non-vegan non-alcoholic drinks – as you will see below virtually all non-vegan non-alcoholic drinks are not vegan due to non-vegan ingredients rather than non-vegan production processes. This is something that is usually the opposite for alcoholic drinks where a non-vegan clarifying agent is used in the production process.

Non-Vegan Drinks – Sugar Disclaimer

Sugar Disclaimer – if you are vegan, no doubt at some point you will have picked up what you think is a vegan drink only to look at the ingredient label only to see “sugar” listed on the label.

Hang on this is vegan, right?! – is the immediate doubt that crops into your head.

Well, is it?

The answer is…it depends.

Here in the US bone char is often used to process sugar. Bone char is basically as it sounds – charred animal bones and it is used to give sugar its white appearance. The use of bone char is heavily regulated outside of the US.

This means if you are based outside of the USA, you probably don’t need to worry about bone char.

Sugar – The Good And The Bad

The good news. If you are based in the USA AND if your drink is labeled as containing sugar that is beet, raw, or organic it will not have been processed with bone char (it is just non-organic/raw cane sugar that is sometimes processed with bone char).

A lot of drinks in the USA, especially sodas, are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup rather than sugar. Now High Fructose Corn Syrup may not be good for you but is it vegan?

The bad news. A drink labeled as containing non-organic, non-raw cane sugar in the USA could have been processed with bone char (but it also may not have been). I will leave that to your discretion as to whether that is a deal-breaker for you or not.

A. What Sodas Are Not Vegan?

As a general rule, most sodas are vegan. There are a few sodas that are not, however, vegan.

Diet Pepsi UK

Diet Pepsi UK (yes, this only applies to UK-produced Pepsi) contains traces of ingredients that are not suitable for vegans. PepsiCo has not announced what those ingredients are due to commercial reasons. You can read more about it in – Is Pepsi Vegan? Secrets To Know About Pepsi Drinks.

Sunkist Orange Soda

Sunkist Orange Soda contains ester gum, which is derived from animals and is not vegan.

Lilt and Lilt Zero

Lilt and Lilt Zero are not vegan as they contain fish gelatin (a stabilizer for the beta-carotene color). Both drinks are commonly found outside of the USA and are sold in the UK, Ireland, Gibraltar, and Seychelles. For more information see my post Is Coca-Cola Vegan? Secrets To Know About Coca-Cola Drinks. You can also find a complete breakdown on the Coca-Cola UK FAQ page.

If you want to read more about whether soda is vegan you can here – Is Soda Vegan? Revealing What You Need To Know.

B. What Cream Sodas Are Not Vegan?

First, is the elephant in the room. Do cream sodas contain…well cream? Store-bought cream sodas do not, despite the name, contain cream or any dairy for that matter. Cream Sodas ordered in a restaurant are a different matter, however, and will normally contain dairy as the ice cream is often added.

Basically, steer clear of cream sodas in restaurants, but most store-bought cream sodas will be vegan apart from the following few exceptions:

Cream Sodas Sweetened with Honey

The following cream sodas are sweetened with honey and so are not vegan:

– Sprecher’s Gourmet Cream Soda

– Henry Weinhard’s Vanilla Cream Soda

It is also worth noting that some cream sodas contain red 40 for color which may be an issue for strict vegans (as red 40 is tested on animals). You can read more about it in the post I wrote – Is Cream Soda Vegan? Unlock All You Need To Know.

C. What Root Beers Are Not Vegan?

As a general rule, most store-bought root beer is vegan. It is actually a very similar situation to cream soda:

Roots beer floats in restaurants tend not to be vegan due to dairy ice cream being used; and

Most store-bought root beers are vegan except a few which contain honey:

– Joe’s Root Beer contains honey

– Lost Rhino Root Beer contains honey.

If you would like to read more about whether root beer is vegan, you can here – Is Root Beer Vegan? Unlock The Hidden Root Cause.

D. What Sports Drinks Are Vegan?

As a general rule, most sports drinks/vitamin waters are vegan except a few with contain vitamin D from lanolin (oil in sheep’s wool) and so are not vegan. These are:

– Glacéau Vitamin Water Zero

– Glacéau Vitamin Multi V; and

– Sparkling Ice.

If you would like to read more about whether sports drinks are vegan you can here – Is Vitamin Water Vegan? How To Know The Difference.

E. What Energy Drinks Are Not Vegan

As a general rule, most energy drinks are vegan. There are a couple of non-vegan energy drinks though:

– Monster Ultra Red UK contains carmine (crushed beetles) to give it the red color and so is not vegan; and

– Monster Coffee Energy drinks contain dairy and so are not vegan.

If you would like to read more about whether energy drinks are vegan, you can here – Are Energy Drinks Vegan? Complete Guide To Finding Out.

F. What Juice Is Not Vegan?

Believe it or not but juice is the drink category on this list with the most non-vegan varieties. Juice – yes, juice. I know. Shocking.

Juice Fortified with Vitamin D3

One reason some juices are not vegan is that they are fortified with vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 often isn’t vegan as it is often made from lanolin – a grease that sheep secrete to make their wool waterproof.

Examples of Juices Containing Vitamin D3

– Tropicana Pure Calcium and Vitamin D

– Naked Rainbow Machine

– Naked Vitamin D Machine

Carmine

I touched on carmine above, but carmine is basically crushed bugs (!!) which are sometimes added to drinks to give them a red hue. Here in the USA carmine must be labeled on the drink as either cochineal or carmine.

Elsewhere in the World carmine can also be called E120, crimson lake, natural red 4, or carminic acid.

Examples of Drinks Containing Carmine:

– Jugos Del Valle Strawberry Banana Juice Nectar

– Jugos Del Valle Strawberry Juice Nectar

– Tropicana 100% Juice Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice

– Tropicana Tropics Orange Strawberry Banana

– Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Strawberry Banana

– Tropicana 100% Juice Medley

– Tropicana 100% Strawberry Orange

Fish

Any juices listed as “heart-healthy” potentially contain fish. Yes, that’s right fish. For example, Tropicana Heart Health Orange Juice contains fish oils and fish gelatin from Tilapia, Sardines, and Anchovies.

Beef Derivatives

If you think fish in juice is weird. Wait for the next one – BEEF. Yes, you read that correctly there are beef derivatives in Tropicana Farmstand Pomegranate Blueberry.

Whey

Sometimes if the juice is part of a protein range it can have whey (dairy) added to it. For example, Naked Juices Protein range contains whey.

If you would like to read more about whether juice is always vegan you can here – Is Orange Juice Vegan? Revealing Why You Need To Know.

G. What Squash Is Not Vegan?

If you are reading this from the UK, you will know what I am referring to here. If you live elsewhere in the world, you may be wondering what on earth is “squash”.

Squash is essentially a concentrated fruit mixture that you mix with water to make a refreshing drink.

Now we have established what squash is … is squash vegan? As a general rule yes, squash is vegan. But there are, as ever, some exceptions.

Kia-Ora Orange Squash No Added Sugar and Schweppes Orange Squash are not vegan as they contain fish gelatin as a stabilizer for the beta carotene color. These are both just sold in UK and Ireland.

H. Which Tea Is Not Vegan?

Ah, tea! That lovely comforting drink you have when you fancy a pick me up but don’t want the caffeine hit of coffee. Is tea vegan? On the whole yes tea is vegan. As ever there are some exceptions.

Obviously, any teas with honey in the name are not vegan, such as the following Lipton’s teas –

– Honey Lemon Green Tea

– Decaffeinated Honey Lemon Green Tea

– Tea & Honey “To Go” Mango Pineapple

– Tea & Honey “To Go” Blackberry Pomegranate

As you can see they are super easy to spot as they all have honey in the name.

How about Twinings? Are Twinings teas vegan? A few years ago, Twinings announced that some of their teas are not vegan due to the presence of honey or sodium caseinate (a byproduct of skim milk). These teas are as follows:

– Raspberry and Pomegranate

– Green Tea, Peach and Cherry Blossom

– Bollywood Chai Latte

– Cranberry and Pomegranate

– Chocolate Coconut Flavour Green Tea

– Camomile, Honey and Vanilla

– Green Tea with Honey and Lemon

– Green Tea and Pomegranate

– Mango & Coconut Green Tea

Are Any Teas In Restaurants Not Vegan?

When ordering tea in a restaurant if it is a tea served with milk just make sure to ask for vegan milk such as oat or almond instead (obvious I know).

There are two other tea-based drinks that can sometimes not be vegan when ordered in a cafe or restaurant.

Chai Tea Lattes

Some chai tea lattes in cafes have honey in the chai base and so cannot be made vegan. For example, the chai tea latte at Starbucks contains honey and so cannot be made vegan even if ordered with vegan milk – see my post How To Actually Order Vegan Starbucks Drinks Every Time.

Iced Teas

Note that some iced teas in restaurants can contain honey for sweetness so always double-check with your server.

I. Which Coffee Is Not Vegan?

Black coffee is almost always vegan (if kept black) – with one exception – civet coffee. This is made from weasel poo (if you want to read more about this you can here – Is Coffee Vegan? How To Find Out The Truth).

When ordering coffee in a coffee shop there are a few general “rules” that can be applied at most coffee shops to ensure your cup of java is vegan. Here are some of the non-vegan options to make sure not to order when ordering your Java.

1. Dairy Milk (obvious I know);

2. Whipped Cream;

3. Most toppings – unfortunately most toppings offered on top of coffees are not vegan due to dairy so it’s best just to avoid toppings (unless you have a particularly helpful barista);

4. Most sauces such as caramel, white chocolate, and pumpkin spice. I have found the only sauce that can potentially be vegan is the mocha sauce.

5. Any specialty drinks or drinks with “fun” or different sounding names such as an “Irish Nut Caramel Whip” should always be doubled checked with the barista.

What Drinks Are Not Vegan – The Final Sip

Non-Vegan Drinks – when it comes to non-alcoholic beverages who would have thought it would be such a minefield to ensure that your drink is vegan? Surely, it isn’t as complicated as food. Sadly, it can be. Just take juice as an example – who in their right mind would ever have thought that juice from fruit could be made non-vegan? The good news is that for most non-alcoholic drinks a quick review of the ingredient list will tell you everything you need to know. If it has long, complicated, and alluring-sounding ingredients it is probably not vegan.

…now you know.

Beverage makers may change ingredients and/or manufacturing processes. Always double-check ingredients before purchasing any beverages.

Please Drink Responsibly.

Like What You Are Reading

Want to know what is and is not vegan at other coffee chains and restaurants, such as Dunkin’ Donuts (including all of their Holiday Drinks), Coffee Bean, Dunkin’ Donuts, Peet’s, Philz, or Dutch Bros. If you do, then check out my other posts below: