Doritos, an American brand of flavored tortilla chips, is produced by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. Originating from a Disneyland restaurant managed by Frito-Lay, Doritos has grown into a snack icon since its introduction in 1966. While originally available as Toasted Corn, its range of flavors has expanded, adapting to regional tastes. Over the years, Doritos has become renowned for its Super Bowl advertisements and has introduced other seasoned products like Doritos 3D and Taco Bell taco shells.
What Doritos are Vegan?
Perusing the Doritos website, out of twenty-one flavors, only three stand out as vegan: Spicy Sweet Chili, Blaze, and Toasted Corn Tortilla Chips. Most of the other flavors contain milk or chicken-based components. Particularly, the “Jacked Ranch Dipped Hot Wings” and “Salsa Verde” flavors are packed with chicken ingredients, making them far from vegetarian. Plus, many Doritos flavors use rennet, an animal-derived substance in their cheese, often avoided by vegetarians. For our analysis, the only vegetarian Doritos are those specifically marked as vegan.
Here’s a conflict
Why Aren’t Doritos Spicy Sweet Chili Vegan?
Although Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos contain no animal-based ingredients, making them technically vegan, they include refined sugar. Sugar itself is vegan; however, its processing often involves bone char, a non-vegan substance. Thus, while most ingredients of the Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos are vegan, this bone-char processed sugar renders them unsuitable for strict vegans.
What Is Doritos Spicy Sweet Chili Made Of?
Delving deeper into the Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos:
- Corn
- Vegetable oil (corn, canola, and/or sunflower oil)
- Salt
- Sugar
- Monosodium glutamate
- Fructose
- Sodium diacetate
- Soy sauce (soybean, wheat, salt)
- Onion powder
- Maltodextrin (made from corn)
- Hydrolyzed soy protein
- Hydrolyzed corn protein
- Garlic powder
- Torula yeast
- Malic acid
- Extractives of paprika
- Spices
- Caramel color
- Disodium inosinate
- Disodium guanylate
- Dextrose
Some Non-Vegan Doritos Flavors
Many Doritos flavors harbor animal-derived ingredients and hence, aren’t vegan-friendly:
| Flavor | Reason |
| Blazin’ Buffalo & Ranch Doritos | Contain multiple milk-based components such as Buttermilk, Whey, Sour Cream, and various cheeses. |
| Cool Ranch Doritos | Packed with ingredients like Lactose, Whey, Skim Milk, and cheeses. |
| Dinamita Chile Limon Rolled Doritos | Loaded with Cheddar Cheese, Whey, Romano Cheese, Buttermilk, and Whey Protein Concentrate. |
| Doritos Collisions – Blaze and Ultimate Cheddar | While “Blaze” is vegan, “Ultimate Cheddar” contains dairy ingredients like Whey, various cheeses, and Cream. |
Conclusion
To sum up, although Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos don’t have any overt animal ingredients, they aren’t strictly vegan due to their refined sugar content. If you’re in search of genuine vegan-friendly chips, consider other brands for a delightful and ethical munching experience.
FAQs
1. Are Cheetos vegan?
No, unfortunately, Cheetos aren’t vegan or even vegetarian-friendly. They contain dairy and are produced using animal enzymes.
2. Are Pringles vegan?
Pringles Original is vegan-friendly as it doesn’t have any milk-based ingredients. However, all Pringles now contain wheat flour.
3. Are Oreos vegetarian?
Yes, OREO cookies are suitable for vegetarians. Many OREO products are also vegan-friendly, though there’s a risk of milk cross-contamination, so it’s best to check the allergen advice.
