Veganuary 2026: 10 common items you didn't know were vegan

From dorsetecho.co.uk

Whether you're taking part in the annual Veganuary pledge or you're just looking to cut down on your meat consumption, finding some vegan alternatives can have huge health benefits. 

Vegan foods aren't all cocoa balls and tofu - you'll be surprised to know that some of these everyday items actually contain no animal products. 

Here are 10 items you'll be surprised to know are vegan: 

Marmite

The entire Marmite range is vegan, and certified by the European Vegetarian Union (EVU), except for the 70g jar.

The 70g jar is currently only vegetarian – though Marmite are in the process of moving towards vegan approval from the EVU.

It is made primarily from yeast, and though this isn’t a plant, it isn’t an animal either. As such, with no other animal-derived ingredients added.

McVitie's Hobnobs

All Hobnobs are vegan, including most own-brand oat biscuits. 

However, the chocolate biscuits are usually not vegan - although the McVitie's Choc Chip are surprisingly vegan.

They use soya lecithin, cocoa mass and fat-reduced cocoa powder, but no milk or milk proteins.

Oreos

The makers of Oreos state on their website that they cannot categorise these popular cookies as vegan because of the possibility of cross contact with milk products.

However, Oreos do not contain any animal-derived ingredients and are safe to eat for vegans.

Guinness

Since 2015, Guinness has been 100 per-cent vegan.

The beer manufacturers, Diageo changes the filtration process so that it no longer includes isinglass (a kind of gelatine obtained from fish). 

Starburst

Many Stabursts across the globe contain gelatine, made from animal collagen, however UK manufactured Starbursts do not. 

Vegans should be careful to ensure they are eating Starbursts from the UK as many shops surprisingly sell important sweets from the UK that contain animal products. 

Crumpets

Although for some people this could seem obvious, many of us will be surprised to learn that most shop-bought crumpets are vegan.

The quintessentially British snack contains no dairy products, contrary to popular belief. 

Cream crackers

One of the most surprising revelations is that this buttery and creamy cracker actually contains no dairy. 

The word 'cream' is derived from the manufacturing process so the crackers are completely vegan friendly. 

Ice Cream

In recent years there have been lots of vegan ice cream brands appearing in the supermarket freezers, they are so good in fact that it's hard to tell the difference.

Including Chunky Monkey, Chocolate Fudge Brownie and Cookie Dough by Ben and Jerry's as well as Swedish Glace by Walls.

Lotus biscuit spread

Not only are Lotus Biscoff biscuits vegan, their Biscoff spread is also vegan and makes a delicious vegan cheesecake. 

Pasta

Most dry pasta is not made using eggs, instead it's made with durum wheat and semolina - making it fine for vegans.

Fresh pasta however usually contains eggs, so if you're not eating foods containing animal products you should be sure to check the packaging on fresh pasta. 

https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/national/uk-today/25718931.veganuary-2026-10-common-items-didnt-know-vegan/

UK: Royal shortbread maker planning vegan biscuits

From telegraph.co.uk

Move comes as the 125-year old company looks to ‘move with the times’ 

The King’s shortbread maker is preparing to go vegan.

Walker’s Shortbread, the 125 year-old Scottish biscuit maker and royal warrant holder, is exploring how to create a vegan version of its best-selling product in an effort to broaden its appeal.

Managing director Nicky Walker, who is a fourth-generation member of the business’ founding family, said: “Vegan is very much something we’re looking at right now.

“We like our product to be globally accepted, whether that means kosher, organic, gluten-free… we want to have our product enjoyed by as many different factions as possible.”

Changing appetites mean the vegan market has become a worthwhile target for the brand CREDIT: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Founded in 1898 by Joseph Walker, Walker’s shortbread is one of Scotland’s best-known brands and is known for the red and black tartan on its packaging.

Walker’s was granted a royal warrant to supply the late Queen Elizabeth II with shortbread in 2017. Prior to that it held a warrant for the supply of oat cakes to the late Queen Mother and the royal household.

The business makes a range of biscuits, cakes and oatcakes but is most associated with its all-butter shortbread.

Mr Walker said vegan shortbread would help the Speyside-headquartered company “move with the times”.

“If there’s an opportunity to develop the brand for certain consumers, it would be foolish not to regard and consider that,” he said.

Developing a vegan alternative would involve finding a non-dairy alternative to butter for its shortbread.

Mr Walker said: “Our company's reputation has been built on using the finest ingredients possible. We would never compromise on that, we’ve got to get the very best we can.”

The company sells its products across the world in markets such as the USA, Canada, Australia and China.

Walker’s recently cut back on the number of products it makes in a bid to make the business more efficient in the wake of Covid and staff shortages the company blamed on Brexit.

Mr Walker said: “We had to build the business back up sustainably in a fashion that will hold us for the next 125 years.”

He said the company was now trading above pre-Covid levels.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/03/03/kings-shortbread-maker-poised-go-vegan/

Vegan Cheese Biscuits are a Delicious Way to Use Up Dairy-Free Shreds

From godairyfree.org

Years ago, Sara Culbertson submitted a dairy-free cheese biscuits recipe for our March Recipe Madness Contest. She used pepperjack cheese alternative, but I could tell her recipe would be tasty with most dairy-free cheese shreds. So I decided to try it with some leftover Cheddar shreds I had on hand. It resulted in some rather delicious vegan cheese biscuits.

Vegan Cheese Biscuits are a Delicious Way to Use Up Dairy-Free Shreds

While you can open a fresh package just for this recipe, these dairy-free cheese biscuits are an easy way to use up leftover vegan cheese shreds, or cheese shreds that you and your family didn’t love. We were trying out some Moocho cheese shreds. We truly liked them – the fiesta blend is gooey and delicious in quesadillas! But we’re not big cheddar fans, and I never really have great ideas for using cheddar. So I decided to try it in these dairy-free cheese biscuits, and we loved them!

I prefer recipes like this that use the cheese alternative in the recipe rather than baked on top. Most dairy-free cheese alternatives dry out more than melt when used as a topping or garnish. But when baked in a recipe, there is usually enough moisture to keep them tender.

You might have noticed that some of my dairy-free cheese biscuits look a little like mini hamburger buns – more risen in the middle. I didn’t have any biscuit cutters, so I used a small glass. The rim of it was a little too thick and rounded, so it pressed down the sides. I even heard a little deflate with each one! If you use biscuit cutters, straight down, without turning, yours will look more traditional.

That said, these make AWESOME little slider buns. We split them open and sandwiched some holiday leftovers. They were scrumptious!

Special Diet Notes: Dairy-Free Cheese Biscuits

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, nut-free, peanut-free, optionally soy-free, vegan, and vegetarian.

This recipe is slightly adapted from one submitted by Sara Culbertson. We found her recipe to be flexible with cheese alternatives, and also liked it with a lesser amount of nutritional yeast.

Author: Alisa Fleming

Recipe type: Bread

Cuisine: American

Serves: 12 biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 to 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast, to taste
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup dairy-free buttery sticks or spread
• Up to ¾ cup unsweetened dairy-free milk beverage
• 1 cup dairy-free cheese alternative shreds

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 450ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, nutritional yeast, baking powder, and salt.
Add the dairy-free buttery spread or sticks and whisk until relatively even, coarse crumbs form.
Stir in the cheese alternative and enough dairy-free milk beverage to get a slightly sticky, but still manageable dough. I use about ⅔ to ¾ cup.
Pat the dough out on a floured board to about 1-inch thickness. Cut with biscuit cutters, and transfer to your prepared baking sheet. Gather the scraps and repeat.
Bake the biscuits for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden.

Notes

Drop Biscuits Option: Use the full ¼ cup nutritional yeast and increase the milk beverage to 1 cup and drop the dough onto your prepared baking sheet to make 12 biscuits. It will be much stickier dough. Bake as directed. They'll look more like the photo below.

https://www.godairyfree.org/recipes/dairy-free-cheese-biscuits

Top 10 biggest vegan news stories from 2020

From veganfoodandliving.com

From vegan Jammie Dodgers to David Attenborough, here are the top vegan news stories from 2020 that got everyone talking this year

What a year 2020 has been, a year like none of us have ever experienced before!

Amid the pandemic, consumers have become increasingly aware of the impact their dietary choices has on both the environment and their health. This has lead to a huge increase in people searching for vegan food near them, as much of the world spent the year in their homes.

Despite the strangeness, vegan companies and brands have risen to the challenges of 2020 finding new ways to spread the vegan message, as well as launching some tasty new foods.

These are the top vegan product launches for 2020 that got the nation excited as well as the top vegan news stories everyone was reading.

1. Oatly denied trademark for ‘It’s like milk but made for humans’ slogan as ‘Consumers know cow’s milk is for calves’

The top vegan news story for 2020 that had many people scratching their heads over the ruling was the news that Oatly had been denied a trademark for its slogan.

The popular oat milk company is well-known for its sassy ‘It’s like milk but made for humans’ logline, but were denied the trademark on the grounds that consumers know that cows milk is for calves, not humans.

Oatly questioned the ruling, saying: “Does the ‘average consumer’ (whoever that is) really believe that milk is not good for their body and is meant for baby cows?”

2. Asda to become first UK supermarket to launch ambient vegan aisle

Shopping for vegan products at major supermarkets can be a time-consuming activity!

To make it quicker and easier for customers to find their favourite vegan products in one place, Asda debuted the first of its dedicated vegan aisles in September.

359 Asda stores in the UK are now home to the new vegan aisle.

3. Vegan creme eggs are launching in Holland & Barrett stores nationwide

Vegans in the UK rejoiced upon hearing the news that high-street health food store Holland & Barrett would be selling vegan cream eggs at Easter.

Made by chocolate brand Mummy Meagz, the vegan creme eggs flew off the shelves with one purchased every 30 seconds.

The ‘Chuckie Egg’ proved so popular that the vegan chocolate brand launched a special green Halloween version in the autumn.

4. Linda McCartney’s launches new vegan products including a vegan ‘chicken’ bucket

Linda McCartney’s has been at the forefront of meat-free innovation for nearly 20 years, and this year the brand launched one of its most exciting products to date – a bucket of vegan fried ‘chicken’.

Giving KFC a run for their money, vegans were overjoyed to hear they could enjoy a bucket of fried chicken, minus the cruelty!

5. KFC is bringing its vegan burger back to the UK next week

At the start of the year, KFC announced that its vegan chicken burger was staying for good in the UK. The plant-based burger sold an impressive 1 million in the month following its launch and was a hit with customers.

Despite its popularity, KFC removed the burger when it reopened with a reduced menu after lockdown. Fans of the burger were happy to welcome it back in August when KFC announced its return to the menu.

6. Vegan Maltesers, M&Ms and chocolate buttons launch in 790 Holland & Barrett stores

The vegan creme egg wasn’t the only nostalgic sweet that launched at Holland & Barrett this year.

Chocolate lovers dreams came true when the store unveiled vegan Maltesers, M&M’s and chocolate buttons from British chocolatier Doisy & Dam. Not only are the chocolates completely vegan, but they’re also 30% lower in sugar than their non-vegan counterparts.

7. It’s official – Jammie Dodgers are now vegan following recipe change!

Once an accidentally vegan favourite, fans were vocal in their disappointment that dairy had been added to this previously plant-based treat.

So it’s no surprise that the news that they were vegan once again was met with joy from vegan biscuit fans in July!

The biscuits hit the headlines once again in November when they became a source of controversy on I’m a Celebrity. Beverley Callard was accused of lying about being vegan after tucking into one, sparking a huge debate. Viewers were later surprised to learn they are vegan.

8. Domino’s is launching two new vegan pizzas in the UK and ROI today

Takeaway pizza fans have been begging Domino’s to offer vegan options for years. Finally, in June, the takeaway giant announced it would be trialling two new vegan-friendly recipes in 39 UK stores.

Following the successful trial, Domino’s rolled out the vegan pizzas nationwide along with a vegan garlic dip. Pleased to finally have vegan pizzas on the menu, hungry vegans have bought so many that Domino’s has seen sales surge by almost 19%!

9. A vegan milk factory will soon deliver its zero-waste plant milks across the UK in an electric van

A throwback to days gone by, readers loved the whimsical story of vegan milkmen ReRooted Organic.

Keen to bring back this handy service to the modern age, the Devon-based company began offering a fully-vegan milk delivery service. The team now produces and delivers freshly made dairy-free milk straight to their customer’s doors in their electric van around Devon.

10. Is David Attenborough vegan? New film urges public to go plant-based

Beloved filmmaker and natural historian David Attenborough released his new documentary, A Life On Our Planet, this year.

Laying bare the state of the planet in the film, the documentary explored the decline of the planet’s environment and biodiversity due to human activity.

In the film, Sir David encouraged viewers to adopt a plant-based diet to protect the future of the planet. He said: “The planet can’t support billions of meat-eaters. If we all ate only plants, we’d need only half the land we use at the moment.”

Love these top vegan news stories for 2020 and want to know what are going to be the hottest vegan food trends for 2021? Find out here! 

https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/news/vegan-news-stories/

Supermarket Giant Aldi Launches Own-Brand Vegan Biscuit Spread

From plantbasednews.org

'First reviews back of this are that you couldn't tell the difference between this and Lotus Biscoff spread'

Affordable supermarket chain Aldi has launched its own-brand vegan biscuit spread, according to Vegan Food UK.

Vegan Food UK is an online organization sharing vegan food news, reviews, vlogs, and more. It operates across multiple social media platforms, with a Facebook group, Facebook page, YouTube channel, and Instagram account.

'Couldn't tell the difference'

Speaking about the product on Instagram, the organization said: "First reviews back of this are that you couldn't tell the difference between this and Biscoff spread.
"We hear it's £1.79 but just looking for confirmation. The ingredients on the back [read] 'soya free' but the allergen warning states 'may contain egg and soya'."

  The product is said to taste just like Biscoff spread (Photo: Twitter. Edited by Plant Based News)

Biscoff Biscuits

Last month, Lotus Biscoff added cream sandwich biscuits to its range of accidentally vegan treats.
The biscuits are currently available in Tesco stores across the UK, retailing at £1.39 for a pack of 15. They are also available online.

Just like Aldi's biscuit spread, the product carries an allergen warning due to the manufacturing method, which means there is a risk of cross-contamination, and they may contain eggs or milk.
According to The Sun, Lotus Bakeries, the manufacturer of the biscuits, said they will launch in other supermarkets, but no dates are known yet.

https://www.plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/aldi-launches-own-brand-vegan-biscuit-spread