I just told a vegan friend that his beloved Starbursts contained gelatin.

He asked if that was an animal product, and I pointed him to a straight dope article that told the grisly tale. Now he won't eat them and I've taken something that he truly loved and ripped it from him. Anyone have a hint for where to find vegan-friendly starbursts (I heard that gelatin can also be made from seaweed or something, maybe that would work) so that my buddy can have them again. Also, should I have remained silent on the topic so that he could continue enjoying his favorite candy?

Although I understand why you'd feel like a guy that ruined Christmas for a little kid by telling them there's no santa...lol.

I'm actually amazed that your VEGAN friend didn't know that. Shit - I'm just a lowly *vegetarian*, and I knew.

Seriously, if he's made the commitment to be vegan he obviously doesn't want to consume animal by-products. You did a good thing.

Any word on an alternative?

but:

Agar-agar, carageenan, guar gum, and xantham gum are all plant-based and are used as thickeners, emulsifiers, and for gelling.


http://www.vegparadise.com/news39.html

Gelatin's a bitch. No more Skittles, gummy bears (a personal fave), MARSHMALLOWS... there are tons of things containing gelatin.

> there are tons of things containing gelatin.

A tremendous # of products use pig fat that you would never think about. I used to work at a pig farm, and it was amazing the number of companies that bought pig fat by the pound to put in products to feed to the public. And we wonder why our kids are getting so fat...

Believe it or not, I learned that from a NOFX song :headbang:

I never thought about the universe, it made me feel small
Never thought about the problems of this planet at all
Global warming, radio-active sites
Imperialistic wrongs and animal rights! No!

Why think of all the bad things when life is so good?
Why help with an 'am' when there's always a 'could'?
Let the whales worry about the poisons in the sea
Outside of California, it's foreign policy

I don't want changes, I have no reactions
Your dilemmas are my distractions

That's no way to go, Franco Un-American
No way to go, Franco Un-American
No way to go, Franco Un-American
No way to go, Franco, Franco Un-American

I never looked around, never second-guessed
Then I read some Howard Zinn now I'm always depressed
And now I can't sleep from years of apathy
All because I read a little Noam Chomsky

I'm eating vegetation, 'cause of Fast Food Nation
I'm wearing uncomfortable shoes 'cause of globalization
I'm watching Michael Moore expose the awful truth
I'm listening to Public Enemy and Reagan Youth

I see no world peace 'cause of zealous armed forces
I eat no breath-mints 'cause their from de-hoofed horses
Now I can't believe; what an absolute failure
The president's laughing 'cause we voted for Nader

That's no way to go, Franco Un-American
No way to go, Franco Un-American
No way to go, Franco Un-American
Where can we go, Franco Un-American

I want to move north and be a Canadian
Or hang down low with the nice Australians
I don't want to be another 'I-don't-care-ican'
What are we gonna do Franco, Franco Un-American

they aren't the smae (they're naturally colored so they aren't as bright) but leftydad likes them. :)

:(

I've just started on my road to veganism and can't believe how badly I want Starburst at times...

Even before I was never too big on candy, but every so often I'd get some cravings. I found that I can curb the cravings sometimes by eating Sour Patch kids, but it isn't quite the same :(

http://www.peta.org/feat/halloween01/
"Witch" Treats Are Fit for a-Gobblin’?
Fear not, Elvira has managed to scare up a virtual cornucopia of candy to offer the hungry hordes of ghouls and ghosts. Thanks to the following variety of gelatin-free, vegan, frightfully good goodies, you can avoid playing a nasty trick on kids and cows this Halloween.

Airheads taffy
Atkins peanut butter bars
Blow Pops
Charms lollipops
Chick-o-Sticks
Cracker Jack
Cry Babies
Dem Bones
Dots
Dum-Dums
Fireballs
Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews
Hot Tamales
Hubba Bubba bubblegum
Jolly Ranchers (lollipops and hard candy)
Jujubees
Jujyfruits
Lemonheads
Mambas
Mary Janes (regular and peanut butter kisses)
Mike and Ike
Now and Later
Pez
Ring Pop lollipops
Smarties
Sour Patch Kids
Starburst (jelly beans and hard candy)
Super Bubble
Swedish Fish
Sweet Tarts
Tropical Source mini chocolate bags
Twizzlers
Zotz

Glad I was able to make you happy by posting the list.

As you probably know yourself.

my mood is pretty good. We've got Anthrax coming to town for a "lecture series" at the end of March. I've been plotting with friends this evening for ways to greet her.

The current suggestions are seeing if Vaginal Davis (Condi's drag queen cousin) is available. Although I admit, first we have to get a hold of Vag. We're also looking into making prosthetic Adam's Apples (great to have a friend who does make-up for plays) for the women to wear. Our current plan is to dress in our best GOP finest (preferably something gaudy and polyester, like Pickles would wear) and hand out our printed pamphlets: "How to talk to a Conservative: If you must," (comes with free cotton for stuffing in the ears), "?reason" and "Flounder" which will contain factual corrections to her hyperboles and outright lies.

I've been laughing so hard most of this evening that I my sides still hurt.

Have fun with Anthrax Annie!

They are non-canonical starbursts

As far as remaining silent and letting him live in ignorance, well, hope he knows know you said so because you cared.

Skittles too..over at either veganstore.com or veganessentials.com..looks like they don't have them in stock right now, but I remember their site saying something about the European Starbursts/Skittles not containing gelatin whereas the American version did. One of those websites used to sell the Euro-version.

...if you'd told him while he had one in his mouth.