The Oops List of Unintentional Vegan Foods
Here at the Plant Powered Playhouse we aim to bring you independent educational articles that we have sourced, a dedicated resource to help you and your children understand that plant-based foods are delicious, nutritious, and accessible. Presumably most of us are aware of basic plant-based foods readily available; such as, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, grains & pseudo-grains; however there is a list of foods or should we say edible food-like products, that were not intentionally created plant-based or free from animal products but surprisingly are.
Before looking down the list, we would like to bring to your attention that these foods are by no means a replacement for the traditional plant foods; in fact, we would advise that these foods are eaten sparingly, and some cases avoided completely; to be consumed only as a treat or perhaps a last resort if nutritional plant-based foods are limited or not available.
To reiterate, the foods listed below are processed or highly processed, with highly processed sugars, modified ingredients, artificial ingredients, giving rise to questionable nutritional values.
From our own experiences and an insightful website called Environmental Working Group, a nutritional rating was created; considering 3 factors, Nutrition, Ingredient Concerns, and Processing Concerns. A detailed explanation of the 3 factors are found below;
Nutrition: a nutritional value is created from the following; number of kilocalories, saturated fats, trans-fatty acids, sugar, sodium, protein, fiber, and fruit, vegetable and nut content.
Ingredient Concerns: identify potential concerns for our personal, public and environmental health; along with, the presence of contaminants, pesticides, hormone levels, antibiotic levels and what if any food additives are present.
Processing: scores based upon, to what level ingredients have been modified and the number of artificial ingredients.
The rating runs from one to ten, one being the most nutritional to ten being the worst from a nutritional standpoint.
| Brand Name | Food Type | Nutritional Rating |
| Oreo | Cookie | 6/10 |
| Biscoff Biscuits | Cookie | 7/10 |
| Nutter Butter | Cookie | 7/10 |
| Teddy Grahams | Cookie | 5/10 |
| Girl Scout – Thin Mints | Cookie | 7/10 |
| Pringles (Original) | Chips | 5/10 |
| Doritos (Spicy Sweet Chilli) | Chips | 5/10 |
| Kettle Chips (Sea Salt & Sriracha) | Chips | 3.5/10 |
| Takis | Chips | 7/10 |
| Fritos (Original & Bar-B-Q) | Chips | 6/10 |
| Ruffles (Original) | Chips | 4.5/10 |
| Lays (Classic) | Chips | 5/10 |
| Sun Chips (Original) | Chips | 5/10 |
| Tostitos (Blue Corn, Organic) | Chips | 3/10 |
| Pita Chips (Sea Salt) | Chips | 4/10 |
| Chex Mix (Traditional) | Chips/Snacks | 8/10 |
| Twizzlers | Candy | 8/10 |
| Airheads | Candy | 7/10 |
| Sour Patch Kids | Candy | 5/10 |
| Swedish Fish | Candy | 10/10 |
| Haribo (Sour & Sghetti) | Candy | 6/10 |
| Tootsie Dots | Candy | 8/10 |
| Skittles | Candy | 9/10 |
| Starburst | Candy | 7/10 |
| Lindt Excellence (70, 85, 90% dark chocolate.) | Candy/Chocolate | 5/10 |
| Turkish Delight | Candy/Chocolate | 8/10 |
| Fruit by the Foot | Dried Fruit/Candy | 8/10 |
| Ritz Crackers | Crackers | 6/10 |
| Triscuit | Crackers | 2/10 |
| Wheat Thins | Crackers | 4/10 |
| Premium Saltine Crackers (original) | Crackers | 5/10 |
| Cracker Jack-Popcorn (caramel coated) | Popcorn | 6/10 |
| Skinny Pop (Non-dairy cheddar) | Popcorn | 4/10 |
| Snyder’s Pretzels | Pretzels | 3/10 |
| Kellog’s Mini Wheats (unfrosted) | Breakfast Cereal | 4/10 |
| Quaker Life-MultiGrain Cereal | Breakfast Cereal | 4.5/10 |
| Clif Bar | Snack Bar | 4.5/10 |
| Luna Bars (All Flavors) | Snack Bar | 5/10 |
| Nature Valley Granola Bar | Snack Bar | 5/10 |
| Smuckers Peanut Butter & Grape Jelly Uncrustable | Snack | 6/10 |
| Kashi Granola Bar | Snack Bar | 4/10 |
| Belvita Breakfast Biscuit | Snack | 5/10 |
| Pop Tarts (unfrosted) | Snack | 8/10 |
| New York Flatbreads (Everything) | Crisp Bread | 4/10 |
| Pepperidge Puff Pastry Sheets | Baking/Baked Goods | 6/10 |
| Marie Callenders (Razzleberry Fruit Pie) | Baked Goods | 5/10 |
| Thomas Bagels | Baked Goods | 4.5/10 |
| Top Ramen | Instant Meal | 7/10 |
Thank you for taking the time to read this information, and we hope it helps when you’re in a tough spot looking for food for you and your children; if you have any questions or know of an item we have missed off our list, please send us a message.
Stay Rooted!!
Plant Powered Playhouse
References
- Know Your Environment, Protect Your Health. Environmental Working Group. (2021, November 3). Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://www.ewg.org/