Is Liquorice Vegan, Halal or Gluten Free?

This is the sweet where a single answer does the most damage. Liquorice root is a plant, so people reasonably assume liquorice sweets are vegan and gluten free. Most are neither. The answer genuinely changes from line to line, so here is what our own declarations say.

Is liquorice halal?

Yes, on every liquorice line we sell. Liquorice sweets are set with flour and starch rather than gelatine, so the ingredient that decides the halal question for most confectionery simply is not there. This is the easy one.

Is liquorice gluten free?

Usually not, and this is the one that catches people. Traditional liquorice is made with wheat flour — it is what gives the bendy, chewy texture. Our liquorice wheels list wheat flour in the declaration and carry cereals containing gluten as a declared allergen.

If you are avoiding gluten, liquorice is a sweet to check every time rather than assume. Start from which sweets are gluten free instead.

Is liquorice vegan?

It depends what else is in it, and there are two separate things that rule it out on our shelves.

• Beeswax. Our liquorice wheels are glazed with it. Beeswax is an animal product, so the wheels are vegetarian but not vegan — and that is exactly how they are flagged on the site.
• Milk. Our sugar free liquorice toffees contain milk powder and soya lecithin. They are vegetarian and sugar free, but not vegan or dairy free.

Neither of those is obvious from the word “liquorice”, which is the whole problem. The reliable move is the declaration on the product page, not the category name.

What the (v) actually means

A lot of liquorice carries a (v) in its product name. In UK confectionery that conventionally means vegetarian, not vegan, and the two get read as interchangeable constantly. Where we can evidence a vegan position we say vegan in full. Where a line is marked (v) and glazed with beeswax, it is vegetarian, and we flag it that way.

If a product name and a declaration ever appear to disagree, trust the declaration and ring us on 01706 837539 before ordering. We would rather answer the phone than have you guess.

Salt, which nobody expects

Worth a mention because it surprises people. Our liquorice wheels declare 0.65g of salt per 100g. For comparison, our mint imperials declare 0.01g. Liquorice is a salty sweet by construction, and if you are watching sodium it is not a like-for-like swap for a boiled sweet.

Elsewhere on the site

For what liquorice actually is, where the flavour comes from and why it divides people so sharply, see what is liquorice. For the gelatine question in general, see is gelatine vegan.