Are Mentos Vegan? Which Flavours Are and Are Not

It depends where you bought them, which is the part most answers to this question leave out. Mentos are made under licence in different countries to different recipes, so the same flavour can be vegan in one place and not in another. Rather than memorise a list that goes out of date, learn the three ingredients to look for: beeswax, carmine and shellac. All three are on the pack, and any one of them is a no.

The three ingredients to look for

Beeswax. Made by bees, so not vegan. It is the most common reason a Mentos chew fails, and it is used as a glazing agent on the outer shell. It is the single ingredient that separates the American chews from a lot of the British ones.

Carmine. A red colouring made from crushed cochineal insects. It can be listed as carmine, cochineal, cochineal extract, carminic acid, natural red 4 or E120, and any of those means the same thing. It is what colours the red and pink varieties, so the fruit, cherry, strawberry and rainbow flavours are the ones to watch.

Shellac. A resin secreted by the lac insect, used as a glaze. It turns up alongside beeswax on some of the sugar-free chews and is sometimes listed as confectioner’s glaze or E904.

There is a fourth thing worth knowing about, though it is not printed anywhere. Some cane sugar is filtered through bone char, which is charred animal bone. It leaves no trace in the finished sugar and it is never declared on a label, so no ingredient list will tell you either way. Some vegans avoid it and some do not, and that is a line you draw for yourself rather than something you can check on a pack.

Why the same flavour changes between countries

Mentos is a Perfetti Van Melle brand made in factories across several countries, and each one works to its own recipe within the same brand. A Mint Roll made for the American market and a Mint Roll made for the British market are not the same sweet.

In practice that means a flavour listed as vegan on an American website may not be on a British shelf, and the reverse happens just as often. Australian and New Zealand stock is a mix of both, depending on the importer.

So the country a list was written in matters more than the flavour name on it. That includes this page.

How to check a pack yourself in ten seconds

1. Turn the pack over and find the ingredients, not the flavour name on the front.
2. Scan for beeswax, shellac or confectioner’s glaze.
3. Scan for carmine, cochineal, carminic acid, natural red 4 or E120.
4. If none of the three appear, the pack is vegan on its declared ingredients.

That works on any confectionery in any country, and it will still work in five years when every flavour list on the internet has gone stale.

What is usually safe, and what usually is not

Treat this as where to start looking rather than a guarantee, and check the pack in your hand.

Usually clear. Mentos gum in the plain mint family: peppermint, spearmint, wintergreen, freshmint and the white varieties. The gum range leans vegan far more often than the chews do.

Usually not. The classic chewy rolls sold in the United States, because of beeswax. Anything red, pink or rainbow in any country, because of carmine. Sugar-free chews, because of the beeswax and shellac glaze together.

Never. Anything with milk in it. The chocolate and mint roll sold in some markets contains condensed milk and whey.

Vegan mints to reach for instead

Peppersmith. Xylitol-based, with gum arabic, peppermint and eucalyptus oil, and no animal-derived ingredients. Xylitol is the sweetener dentists tend to point to as being kinder to teeth than sugar. The hardest of the three to find outside the UK.

Polo. Sugar, glucose syrup, modified starch, peppermint oil and stearic acid. Stearic acid can come from either animal or plant sources, so it is worth a look at the pack if that matters to you. Widely stocked in the UK and Australia.

Tic Tac. Sugar, maltodextrin, rice starch, gum arabic, carnauba wax and peppermint oil. No animal-derived ingredients declared, though they carry no vegan certification, so the bone char question applies the same as it does to any sugar sweet.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Mentos gluten free?

Yes. Mentos contain no gluten-containing grains, and the company lists the range as gluten free. As with anything, a manufacturing line can change, so the pack is still the last word.

Are Mentos halal?

Most are, but not all, and it depends on the same country question. Where gelatine appears in a confectionery product it may be porcine, and shellac and carmine raise their own questions depending on which ruling you follow. If it matters to you, look for a halal mark on the pack rather than assuming from the flavour.

Do Mentos contain gelatine?

Generally no, which is a common misunderstanding about this brand. Mentos chews get their texture from gum arabic and gellan gum rather than gelatine. Beeswax is the animal-derived ingredient that most often disqualifies them, not gelatine.

Do Mentos contain dairy?

The main range does not. The exception is the chocolate and mint roll sold in some markets, which contains sweetened condensed milk and whey powder.

What does E120 mean on an ingredients list?

E120 is carmine, a red colouring made from cochineal insects. It is not vegan. The same ingredient can be written as cochineal, cochineal extract, carminic acid or natural red 4 depending on the country, and they all mean the same thing.

Is beeswax vegan?

No. Beeswax is made by bees and taking it is a use of an animal product, so it falls outside a vegan diet in the same way honey does. It appears in Mentos as a glazing agent on the outside of the chew.

Are Mentos vegan in Australia?

Australian shelves carry a mix of British and American stock depending on the importer, so the same flavour can differ between two shops. This is the market where checking the pack matters most, because you genuinely cannot tell from the flavour name.

Why is my flavour listed as vegan on one site and not on another?

Almost always because the two sites are describing packs from different countries, and neither one says so. It can also be that a recipe changed since the page was written. The ingredients panel on the pack in your hand beats any list on the internet, including this one.

The short version

Look for beeswax, carmine and shellac. If none of them are on the pack, it is vegan on its declared ingredients. Mentos gum in the plain mint flavours is the safest bet, anything red or pink is the least safe, and where you bought it matters more than what it is called.

More label reading: are Twizzlers vegan, are Mike and Ikes vegan and are Doritos vegan.

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