Compassionate Chocolates in the Muggle World

"There were shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable. Creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice, fat, honey-coloured toffees [and] hundreds of different kinds of chocolate in neat rows.”

There’s a reason visiting Honeydukes is a rite of passage for every Third Year at Hogwarts. The famous sweets shop is renowned throughout the Wizarding World as a sort of confectionary wonderland. 

And while it’s never described exactly what ingredients go into making Ambrosius Flume’s legendary Honeydukes fudge and chocolates, we can imagine the purveyor of candies galore has a fair few non-dairy and vegan options scattered throughout the crammed shelves of its mouthwatering confections.

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The Muggle world is also becoming more aware of the demands for cruelty-free chocolate among animal lovers. In most American chocolates, milk is the first or second ingredient. Yes. In some of the most recognizable and mass marketed American chocolates, cow’s milk gets top billing over cocoa butter! 

It’s baffling enough to make anyone feel like they’ve been hit by a nasty confundus charm. 

But, with the rise of non-dairy plant-based beverages, chocolate companies are realizing that they too can ditch cruel and outdated dairy and still create chocolate that’s worth obsessing over.

For instance, Lindt just announced they’re releasing an oat-milk based line of vegan chocolate, Hello, in November 2020. The Honeydukes-worthy flavors include Cookie, Salted Caramel, and Hazelnut. 

And prior to Lindt’s announcement, Trader Joe’s proudly shared that they have an almond milk chocolate bar in the works. 

Easter chocolate fan favorite Cadbury is also creating their own nut-free, vegan milk chocolate bar!

But that doesn’t mean you have to wait to satisfy your sweet tooth. Just like the hundreds of chocolates on Honeydukes’ shelves, there’s an entire world of readily available vegan chocolates in most stores and online! 

Here are some of our favorite vegan-friendly brands and their yummy flavors! 

Endangered Species Chocolate 
Certified Vegan varieties: 

• Tiger: Espresso Beans and Dark Chocolate
• Gray Wolf: Cranberry and Almond Dark Chocolate
• Tamarin: Cinnamon, Cayenne, and Cherries Dark Chocolate 

Endangered Species Chocolate, already a vegan-friendly line, just introduced a fully vegan certified oat milk chocolate line! These irresistible dark (and now oat milk) chocolates are made from real cocoa and cacao that comes from Fair Trade certified farms. On top of that, some of the proceeds of each bar go to organizations that specifically help with conversation, education, and environmental efforts to help critically endangered and at risk animals. The company has donated over $1.4 million to help support endangered species and their habitats! 

No Whey! Chocolate 
Candies include:

• Milkless Polar Dream White Chocolate bar
• 6 Piece Box of Semi-sweet Fudge
• Chocolate No Nos

This vegan, allergen-free, non-GMO chocolate and candy company recreates some of the most beloved animal-derived American sweet treats like M & M’s, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and Milky Way bars! We love the Chocolate No Nos: crispy, crunchy chocolate bites without any insect-derived confectioners glaze, artificial colors, or dairy! The Mint Creams are just as dreamy as Honeyduke’s Peppermint Toads, and their Chocolate Caramel Nougat Bars are a creamy delight.

Rescue Chocolate 
Flavors include:

• Heart Fluffer Almond Butter
• Peanut Butter Pitbull
• Mission Feral Fig

The entire Rescue Chocolate line is vegan, organic, and fair trade! The proceeds from Rescue Chocolate go towards cat and dog nonprofits and rescues and TNR/feral cat management programs. Alley Cat Allies, Spay USA, and Pit Bull Rescue Central all benefit from Rescue Chocolate sales. Companion animal lovers and guardians will fall in love with these flavors and with Rescue Chocolate’s mission! ​

Hu Chocolate 
Hu chocolate bar flavors include: 

• Almond Butter and Puffed Quinoa
• Vanilla Crunch 
• Hazelnut Butter 

The entire Hu Chocolate line is vegan, gluten-free and paleo. Made from rich cacao with real vanilla and coconut sugar, these chocolate bars are junk-free, guilt-free, and all decadent deliciousness. They also use ethically-sourced and Fair Trade ingredients, so all you S.P.E.W. advocates can take comfort in also standing up for muggle welfare. 

Theo Chocolate 
Vegan flavors include:

• Coconut Almond Dark Chocolate
• Black Rice Quinoa Crunch Dark Chocolate
• Root Beer Barrel Dark Chocolate 

While Theo Chocolate’s company isn’t 100% vegan, there are many certified vegan varieties. Every bar is fair-trade, gluten-free, non-GMO, and organic! These dark chocolates are rich and velvety smooth and have so many delicious accenting flavors. 

Enjoy Life Rice Milk Chocolate 
Enjoy Life has three vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, non-GMO chocolate bars: 

• Rice Milk
• Rice Milk Crunch
• Dark Chocolate 

Enjoy Life is widely known for its strict, allergen-free standards. Much to the pleasure of compassionate chocolate lovers, the Enjoy Life line of chocolates are entirely animal-product free and certified vegan. They come in cute bars that are just a little bit bigger than the fun-sized candy bars that Muggles are so fond of for Halloween. The rice milk crunch is super yummy and really hits the spot for those who are nostalgic for a certain non-vegan, milky, crunchy chocolate bar. 

Taza Chocolate 
Vegan varieties include:

• Almond Milk Crunchy Cashew
• Coconut Dark Chocolate
• Raspberry Crunch Dark Chocolate

This organic, stone-ground, non-GMO, direct trade chocolate comes in dark and almond milk varieties. You can really taste the difference in the way this cocoa and cacao is transformed into chocolate bars in these distinctly gritty and somewhat earthy, but all-delicious, bars.  Some of the chocolate bars do contain dairy though, so be sure to keep an eye out for the vegan certified logo. 

Chocolove 
Vegan varieties include:

• Almonds and Sea Salt in Dark Chocolate 
• Coffee Crunch Dark Chocolate
• Peppermint Dark Chocolate 

These non-GMO, fair-trade, Rainforest Alliance-certified, premium Belgian chocolate bars are pure decadence. The silky smooth, full-bodied chocolate comes in several non-dairy varieties. The company does produce some milk chocolate bars, so be sure to check the labels carefully before purchasing. 

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So what should you look out for when avoiding non-vegan chocolate?

Cow’s milk and cow’s milk derived ingredients, including:

• Whey 
  
• Casein 
  
• Milk solids
  
• Butter
  
• Milk fat 
  
• Cream and heavy cream
  
• Lactose 
  
• Butter flavor 
  

Confectioners glaze: Also known as Shellac, confectioners glaze is just a fancy way of saying beetle juice! Yes, really! Often used to give chocolate covered nuts their crunch and shine, confectioners glaze comes from the secretions of lac beetles. 

Sugar: In some instances, especially in the United States, white refined sugar is filtered through bone char to give it its pristine white color. Many chocolate companies use this bone char-filtered sugar in their products (as do cookie companies, so, “accidentally” vegan oreos, may not be vegan at all for instance, as Nabisco refuses to say whether or not they use bone char). The best way to find out if a chocolate company is using bone char-filtered sugar (other than checking for certified vegan labeling) is by asking them directly. 

This is just the beginning though! Be sure to check back when we release the second part of our compassionate chocolate series, where we will look into the unnecessary cruelty of the dairy industry and why cow’s milk has absolutely NO place in chocolate bars. 

Written by Victoria Tomis

Sources:
https://vegnews.com/2020/8/lindt-to-launch-vegan-milk-chocolate-line-in-germany
https://vegnews.com/2020/2/cadbury-is-developing-a-vegan-milk-chocolate-bar
https://vegnews.com/2020/1/trader-joe-s-is-developing-vegan-milk-chocolate-bars
https://tasteforlife.com/living/baby-kids/what-to-know-about-confectioners-glaze
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sugar-vegan-bone-char-yikes_n_6391496?
https://ordinaryvegan.net/vegansugar/
https://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/are-animal-ingredients-included-in-white-sugar/