As a dietitian, before we get into whether or not veggie straws are vegan, I first want to clear the air. See, here’s the thing, there’s a lot of misconception that veggie straws are a healthier alternative than chips or other crackers. The reality is that veggie straws are mostly potato starch/potato flour based with a hint of vegetables that do little other than create different colors of veggie straws. The nutrition is virtually nothing – almost like munching down on air puffs with calories but no nutritional density to help meet your nutrition needs. If you like veggie straws, great – keep noshing away ….but just know that they are no where near better than chips. In fact, they contain about the same amount of calories and because they aren’t as crunchy, there may not be as much of a satisfaction factor and you may end up eating more than you realize. These are just things to keep in mind.
Now….Are Veggie Straws Vegan?
YES! The original Sea Salt Veggie Straws are completely vegan with the only ingredients being: potato starch, potato flour, cornstarch, tomato paste, spinach powder, salt, potassium chloride, sugar, beetroot powder, turmeric, canola oil and/or safflower oil, and sea salt. This ingredient list is vegan although it’s a bit lengthy and would be considered more of a processed food.
If you want to try out or stock up on Veggie Straws, you can find them on Amazon HERE but if you prefer an ingredient list that’s shorter, I recommend standard tradtional tortilla chips that will have comparable calories plus some fat calories and more crunch to help with the satisfaction factor. There are many types of tortilla chips in place of the vegan veggie straws, but I would recommend Organic White Corn Chips with only 3 basic ingredients….organic white corn, oil, and salt – that’s the kind of vegan ingredient list that looks real good!
Keep in mind that all of the flavored Veggie Straws including Cheddar Cheese, Zesty Ranch, and Screamin’ Hot are not vegan and contain milk/dairy products!
So feel free to enjoy the original Sea Salt Vegan Veggie Straws or perhaps you feel inclined to reach out and try a new kind of vegan snack chip!
If you found this helpful, you’d likely also enjoy the other posts in the “Is it Vegan?” series.
The flavored ones are not vegan. They have milk
Hi Vegandude, YES, you are correct! All of the flavors of the Veggie Straws (Cheddar Cheese, Screamin’ Hot, and Zesty Ranch) are not vegan. The original Sea Salt ones are vegan.