Is it after 8 vegans?

In this brief guide, we will answer the query, “Is after 8 vegans?” and will discuss the ingredients of after 8 chocolates.

Is after 8 vegan?

No, after 8 are not vegans. Nestlé began adding butterfat to the formula for After Eights in 2002, changing the original recipe to use dairy-free dark chocolate. After Eights, on the other hand, are not vegan anymore.

The main ingredient of chocolate is cocoa. Over the last 40 years, there has been a discontinuous but steady growth in cocoa production. Approximately 1.6 million tonnes of cocoa was produced worldwide during the crop year 1980/81. Almost 5 million tonnes of cocoa were produced in the last crop year 2018/19 with 2.5 million tonnes produced on the Ivory Coast, which, together with Ghana, covers the demand of 60% of all cocoa used for chocolate production in the world (5).

Why after 8 is not vegan?

Non-vegans, as well as vegans, may wish to avoid After Eights for a variety of reasons. In the meanwhile, we’ll take a closer look at these minty chocolate delights, although vegans should be aware that they contain dairy. According to the manufacturer’s website, the ingredients are: Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Glucose Syrup, Cocoa Butter, Butterfat (from Milk), Emulsifier (Sunflower lecithin), Natural Peppermint Oil, Citric Acid, Stabilizer (Invertase).

Milk

After Eights are non-vegan since the dairy business is very detrimental to animals, as we describe in our milk article. What you need are:

·         Vegetable Fat (Palm Oil, Shea, Sal Oil, Illipe, Kokum Gurgi, Mango Kernel)

·         Sugar

·         Cocoa Mass

·         Glucose Syrup

·         Butterfat (From Milk)

·         Cocoa Butter

·         Emulsifier (Sunflower Lecithin)

·         Stabilizer (Invertase)

·         Citric Acid

Certain goods on the list may be problematic, but vegans need not worry about it in this case. The butterfat in After Eights is derived from dairy milk, making them non-vegan.

Sugar

Bone char (also known as bone ash) may have been used in the processing of sugar, making it non-vegan. However, in a majority of sugar processing plants, the clarification using bone char has been substituted by other types of techniques. Recently, the use of membrane filtration in the food industry is widely accepted due to its energy-efficient, simplicity of operation, and scalability. In fact, membrane filtration has been extensively applied to sugar refining, for example, cane juice purification and concentration (1). 

Although some vegans prefer to fight greater fights, it is frequently essential to contact the producer to verify that a product does not include animal products. In any event, here it doesn’t matter whether the sugar is entirely vegan because of the presence of milk.

Some vegans may be alarmed by the presence of cocoa butter, but as we explain in our question, “Is Chocolate Vegan?” This is a completely vegan dish. Cocoa beans are the source of this fat, which is not dairy. However, Nestlé does confirm and explain this by labeling it as “Sunflower Lecithin,” which may be a red signal for vegans. However, this popular food additive is typically produced from plant sources these days, after soy lecithin. Lecithin is an emulsifier that is a mixture of phosphatides which are typically surface-active. It is now commercially obtained from soybeans; previously it was obtained from egg yolk (2).

Invertase

The stabilizer invertase, might theoretically be non-vegan but is almost usually appropriate for vegans. Invertase is the enzyme that is capable of both breaking down α-1,4-glycosidic linkage between D-glucose and D-fructose of sucrose and transferring αβ-D-O-fructofuranoside residue to an acceptor substrate. It is produced by fungal fermentation. Among the fungi that can produce invertase, the Emericela nidulans was introduced as fungal strains with maximum invertase activity (361.9 IU/ml) when grown on rye flour. It is also found in honey (3). In chocolate, it is added to stabilize liquid fillings.

Palm oil

Palm oil is obtained from the fruit of the palm tree. It has a narrower plastic range than lard and most shortenings which is a disadvantage in shortening applications. It can be used in mixtures with only a moderately adverse effect on the plastic range. It consists mainly of palmitic, oleic, and linoleic fatty acids. It is used in margarine and shortenings (2).

It’s time to go a little more in-depth with palm oil. Many vegans, particularly those with ethical and environmental reasons for being vegan, choose not to adhere to a plant-based diet because of this.

However, others argue that producing palm oil is so harmful to animals (indirectly via habitat destruction, and occasionally directly through equipment utilized or trees felled) that it should be classified as non-vegan, and hence should be banned from the vegan diet. When it comes to After Eights, vegans don’t have to worry about this topic since they don’t utilize dairy.

The production of palm oil contributes to environmental problems, such as biodiversity loss and pollution caused by emissions of nutrients, air pollutants and greenhouse gasses from plantations and palm oil mills. This has led to a debate about whether and how palm oil can be sustainably produced. In recent years, several options to reduce pollution have been introduced in the palm oil industry. Mostly, these are options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. An example of this is biogas production from palm oil mill effluent. Other examples include conversion of empty fruit bunches to biocomposites and energy (4).

Do you think Nestle should be considered an ethical issue?

The original After Eights were created in 1962, so they’ve been around for quite some time. Rowntree’s, a York-based firm established precisely 100 years before the mint, was responsible for making them until the late 1980s. Nestlé purchased Rowntree’s in 1988 and has been making After Eights ever since.

Animal Research

Because of a variety of factors, both vegan and non-vegans have misgivings about Nestlé. The fact that Nestlé owns several non-vegan brands may annoy vegans, but the fact that they have a lengthy history of animal experimentation may be of more concern to them.

Other issues

As if that wasn’t bad enough, they’ve made several ethically questionable decisions. Nestlé has a slew of ethical issues, as outlined by Ethical Consumer. These are only a few examples:

There is a wide range of issues relating to climate change and environmental reporting as well as habitat and resources, palm oil and pollution and toxins, human rights, workers’ rights, supply chain management as well as irresponsible marketing and animal rights.

As far as After Eights are concerned, this is irrelevant because of the milky reason previously described. Even though these broader concerns don’t interest some vegans, others will point out that no large multinational firm is free of these ethical lapses in some capacity. In any case, vegans and non-vegans alike who are concerned about their food’s impact on the environment should be aware of these issues.

Vegan alternatives for after 8 chocolates

Do you want the sweet, sweet flavor of reminiscence? Fortunately, you don’t have to wait for Nestlé and you don’t even have to have an internal ethical issue to make this happen. Several fantastic vegan chocolates satisfy the same cravings as their conventional counterparts. In addition, as is typically the case with vegan goods, they are often made in a more environmentally and ethically sound manner!

Divine Chocolate Mint Thins

Another alternative is Divine Chocolate Mint Thins and they are delicious and, in our view, considerably better than After Eights. Divine is also a Fairtrade company.

Dark Chocolate Peppermint Thins by Summerdown Mint

Summerdown Mint’s Dark Chocolate Peppermint Thins are even more decadent. These aren’t inexpensive, but they’ve received three Great Taste Awards over the years and are completely vegan.

Enjoy Chocolate’s Mint Chocolate Bar

Even though Enjoy Chocolate’s Mint Chocolate Bar doesn’t have the same silky fondant filling but still hits the mint-choc spot, it’s a good choice. Like Divine, these products may be found at most vegan supermarkets, as well. Best of all, you don’t have to worry about believing there’s chocolate left just to discover an irritating empty wrapper someone has returned to the box with!

To learn about the detailed ingredients of vegan alternatives of after 8, click here 

Conclusion

In this brief guide, we answered the query, “Is after 8 vegan?” and discussed the ingredients of after 8 chocolates.

References