# Is "real Coke" vegan? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 5, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-real-coke-vegan/382991 "2006-12-05T22:01:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tashabot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tashabot/32/6250_2.png) [@tashabot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tashabot)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-real-coke-vegan/382991/1 "2006-12-05T22:01:03Z")
A friend of mine recently decided to become vegan. I don’t really care, although I do find learning about vegan foods fascinating - I could never do it myself. So I’m experimenting on making a version of a vegan burrito for my cookbook that he’s going to test for me, and he was like “Good God, I wish I could have a coke with it.” I know that the addatives in modern Coca-Cola products more than likely render a coke non-vegan (the lable of the can I’m drinking now says “Natural flavors from plant **or** animal sources”). However, there are a lot of little Hispanic shops around here that sell “real” Coke and Sprite, with sugar, as opposed to high fructose corn syrup. I was wondering if anyone 'round these parts knows if the “real” Coke is vegan or not? I can’t tell from my English translation lable if there would be something in there that would make it un-palatable, and if I’m gonna make said friend a good Vegan meal, I want good Vegan drinks to go with it. 😃 ~Tasha ---
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-real-coke-vegan/382991/2 "2006-12-05T22:06:29Z")
Although not a vegan, I hope this helps: From [Vegan for Life](http://www.veganforlife.org/rantsraves/rantrave61.htm) > [@](#): > > I have since learned that veganism is not a destination. It’s a journey. You start by avoiding anything of animal origin, but soon you are relieved to find that your favourite brand of potato chips is actually vegan. Hot chips from the local fish and chip shop are vegan, as they their chips separately in vegetable oil. There are many brands of chocolate that are vegan. Vegetable oil is vegan. Cinema popcorn (depending on the cinema) can be vegan - even the stuff that claims to be buttered! And there are whole ranges of vegan hotdogs, vegan burgers, vegan mock meats, and vegan desserts and sweets. \*\*Coke is vegan. \*\* White bread is often vegan. ---
**Author:** ![tashabot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tashabot/32/6250_2.png) [@tashabot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tashabot)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-real-coke-vegan/382991/3 "2006-12-05T22:18:14Z")
Thanks! Totally hookin’ him up with a Coke then. 😃 ~Tasha ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-real-coke-vegan/382991/4 "2006-12-05T22:28:15Z")
Isn’t real Coke made with cane sugar? Cane sugar is sometimes processed using bone char and most vegans avoid it. [cite](http://www.vegsource.com/jo/qa/qasugar.htm) ---
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-real-coke-vegan/382991/5 "2006-12-05T22:43:16Z")
[QUOTE=tremorviolet] Isn’t real Coke made with cane sugar? Cane sugar is sometimes processed using bone char and most vegans avoid it. [cite](http://www.vegsource.com/jo/qa/qasugar.htm) [/QUOTE] You are right, but it does not seem to be used in the [Coke made in the US.](http://www.knowledgeproblem.com/archives/001483.html), which does not use cane sugar: > [@](#): > > I recommend this recent Grant McCracken post about Coca-Cola in the U.S. and Mexico. Grant asks if the reason more Americans are buying Mexican Coke (and Coca-Cola is trying to stop it) is about taste. Perhaps. But several of his commenters hit on the crucial distinction between the two formulations: Mexican Coke still uses cane sugar (sucrose), **while U.S. Coke has switched to high-fructose corn syrup (fructose, from corn or beets, plus glucose).** They do have different flavors. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2006, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-real-coke-vegan/382991/6 "2006-12-06T04:35:27Z")
[QUOTE=tremorviolet] Isn’t real Coke made with cane sugar? Cane sugar is sometimes processed using bone char and most vegans avoid it. [cite](http://www.vegsource.com/jo/qa/qasugar.htm) [/QUOTE] Yeah, that was going to be my comment, although the vegans i speak to and read on the internet seem somewhat divided over the issue. Some argue that, because the char doesn’t actually go into the sugar, it’s OK, while others are adamant that sugar processed this way isn’t vegan. Of course, this can just as easily be an issue for vegetarians, some of whom may not like the idea that their sugar has been filtered through bone char. I’m a vegetarian, and while we use organic raw sugar in the house, i’'ve never been very worried if i have to eat regular white sugar. Interestingly, sugar filtered through bone char is still considered kosher/parve, because, as i said, the char doesn’t actually end up _in_ the sugar itself.