A vegan is a person who does not eat or use animal products. A vegetarian is a person who does not eat meat or fish, and sometimes other animal products. Choosing to be a vegan or vegetarian is often based on moral, religious, or health reasons. A gluten free diet is a diet that excludes the protein gluten.
Are you vegan or vegetarian or gluten free? Can a vegan eat chocolate? Yes. Can a vegetarian eat chocolate? Yes.
It can be challenging to determine which foods can be safely eaten and which should be avoided based on information and personal preference.
Chocolate’s a potentially confusing example. You may be surprised that some chocolate contains flour, barley malt, milk, honey or other gluten or animal derived ingredients. Which leads to the question is Charley’s chocolate gluten free and vegan? The short answer is yes. You should always read the contents on the label though.
Gluten
Gluten is a protein found in many types of grains including rye, barley, and wheat. Most people have no difficulty digesting gluten in its various forms. Eating foods containing gluten, however, can cause issues for people with celiac disease or those with a sensitivity to gluten.
For someone with celiac disease, consuming gluten triggers an immune response in the body. This then results in symptoms such as diarrhoea, nutritional deficiencies and fatigue. Those with simply a sensitivity to gluten can experience bloating, gas and nausea after eating foods with gluten.
The good news is that pure chocolate Is gluten free. High quality plain dark chocolate, for example Charley’s Mount Edna chocolate, comes from cocoa beans (theobroma cacao). Charley’s Mount Edna chocolate is made from cocoa nibs and cocoa butter, both part of the cocoa bean, and sugar. All are gluten free.
Many common brands of chocolate may contain 10–15 other ingredients including powdered milk, vanilla, soy lecithin, emulsifiers, stabilisers and flavourings. These ingredients may be added to improve shelf life, taste, texture, snap and mouth feel. Since cocoa beans are expensive compared to some other ingredients, cheaper chocolate’s most likely to contain more of these other ingredients. Many chocolate bars also have additions of nuts, raisins, chilli and other ingredients such as biscuit pieces.
So it’s really important to check the contents on the label.
Vegetarian and vegan
Again, the good news is that pure chocolate is suitable for those on a vegetarian or vegan diet. Pure dark chocolate, for example Charley’s Mount Edna that comes from theobroma cacao beans, doesn’t contain any animal or animal derived products. It’s made from cocoa nibs derived from roasted cocoa beans and cocoa butter and sugar, all of which are entirely vegetable products.
As with the gluten example above, the issue of concern can be with the additives including milk. While some vegetarians allow themselves milk and milk products, other vegetarians and many vegans generally do not. So milk chocolate may not be suitable.
Cross-contamination
Even if a chocolate product doesn’t contain any ingredients with gluten or animal products, it may have become cross-contaminated. Some labels warn you and say ’may contain traces of nuts’. An example could be a biscuit manufacturer who also makes chocolate. The contaminant quantities will likely be minute and so would be of little concern to most people; but could be detrimental to others. Reputable manufacturers would of course have procedures in place to minimise such cross contamination.
In summary, read the label and if still unsure contact the manufacturer to seek clarification. Premium dark is suitable for gluten free, vegetarian or vegan diets.