Looking for a vegan snack and want to know if Hot Cheetos are vegan?
According to its official website, Cheetos has three Flamin Hot flavors, so we are going to look at the ingredients in each one and see if they’re vegan.
Quickly skip to the section below for the full answer.
Are Hot Cheetos Vegan?
These are the ingredient in each Hot Cheetos flavor:
| Hot Cheetos: | Ingredients: | Status: |
| Flamin Hot Cheetos (Cheese Flavor) | Enriched Corn Meal (Corn Meal, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Vegetable Oil (Corn, Canola, and/or Sunflower Oil), Flamin’ Hot Seasoning (Maltodextrin [Made from Corn], Salt, Sugar, Monosodium Glutamate, Yeast Extract, Citric Acid, Artificial Color [Red 40 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake, Yellow 6, Yellow 5], Sunflower Oil, Cheddar Cheese [Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes], Onion Powder, Whey, Whey Protein Concentrate, Garlic Powder, Natural Flavor, Buttermilk, Sodium Diacetate, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate), and Salt. | Not Vegan |
| Flamin Hot Cheetos (Lime and Cheese Flavor) | Enriched Corn Meal (Corn Meal, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Vegetable Oil (Corn, Canola, and/or Sunflower Oil), Flamin’ Hot Limón Seasoning (Salt, Sugar, Monosodium Glutamate, Yeast Extract, Citric Acid, Artificial Color [Red 40 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake, Yellow 6, Yellow 5], Corn Syrup Solids, Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Cheddar Cheese [Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes], Sunflower Oil, Onion Powder, Whey, Lime Juice, Maltodextrin [Made from Corn], Whey Protein Concentrate, Garlic Powder, Natural Flavor, Buttermilk, Sodium Diacetate, Disodium Inosinate, and Disodium Guanylate). | Not Vegan |
| XXTRA Flamin Hot Cheetos | Enriched Corn Meal (Corn Meal, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Vegetable Oil (Corn, Canola, and/or Sunflower Oil), Xxtra FLAMIN’ HOT® Seasoning (Salt, Maltodextrin [Made From Corn], Sugar, Yeast Extract, Monosodium Glutamate, Citric Acid, Artificial Color [Red 40 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake, Yellow 6, Yellow 5], Sunflower Oil, Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Cheddar Cheese [Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes], Onion Powder, Whey, Natural Flavor, Garlic Powder, Whey Protein Concentrate, Buttermilk, Corn Syrup Solids, Sodium Diacetate), and Salt. | Not Vegan |
Unfortunately, Hot Cheetos are not vegan because they contain milk derivatives such as whey, cheese cultures, whey protein concentrate, and buttermilk. Hot Cheetos also have “real cheese” written on the packaging, which typically refers to dairy cheese and not vegan cheese.
Besides milk derivatives, Hot Cheetos also contain ingredients like artificial colors and refined sugar, which are seen as controversial in the vegan community.
Artificial Colors
Artificial colors are controversial because they’re byproducts of animal testing.
Tests are periodically conducted on mice to make sure artificial colors are safe to use. Some vegans suggest such practice is a cruel but necessary evil, but others are wholly against it, so they avoid artificial colors.
This is where each vegan must decide for himself/herself whether they should consume artificial colors because this is quite a divisive topic.
Refined Sugar
Unfortunately, sugar refineries in the United States often filter sugar with bone char, which is essentially a black powder comprised of carbonized cattle bones.
This doesn’t happen with sugar derived from beets, but it’s common with cane sugar.
Plus, it’s difficult to find out if a company has used sugar filtered with bone char because most companies source sugar from a variety of sugar refineries, making it difficult to trace the sugar back to its source.
Sugar is what we call a gray-area ingredient because you can’t really tell whether it’s vegan or not.
Are There Any Vegan Cheetos?
No, unfortunately, there are no vegan Cheetos. They all contain dairy ingredients, and they’re also produced using animal enzymes, so they’re neither vegan nor vegetarian, except for one option.
The Cheetos Flamin’ Hot Puffs are suitable for vegans and vegetarians, but they’re currently only sold in the United Kingdom, so if you aren’t from the UK, you’re out of luck.
Still, that doesn’t mean you can’t find any other vegan options that may come close to Cheetos.
Vegan Alternatives to Hot Cheetos
None of the alternatives I have found are from popular brands, so it’s likely that you may not find them in a grocery store near you; however, they’re available at Amazon.
Fiery Hot Peatos
Peatos are made from peas, and funnily enough, I found them by typing “vegan Cheetos” on Google. They’re a great alternative to the Hot Flamin Cheetos.
Hippeas
Hippeas are vegan white cheddar-flavored chickpea snacks.
They’re not exactly the best substitute for spicy Cheetos, but they’re a great alternative to regular Cheetos.
Unlike the previous product, this one contains several organic ingredients.
Lesser Evil
These Lesser Evil Puffs are made with organic cassava, coconut flour, and sweet potato; unlike the previous products, they’re grain-free.
Most of the ingredients are also organic, which may be interesting for some vegans.
Hot Cheetos FAQs
Are Hot Cheetos Gluten-Free?
Yes, Hot Cheetos are gluten-free.
According to the Frito Lay website, the Cheetos Crunchy Flamin’ Hot Cheese Flavored Snacks, Crunchy Flamin’ Hot Limón Cheese Flavored Snacks, and Crunchy XXtra Flamin’ Hot Flavored Cheese Flavored Snacks don’t have ingredients with gluten.
Are Hot Cheetos Halal?
Even though the Flamin Hot Cheetos are not certified halal, they don’t contain any pork (porcine) enzymes, which are usually used in the production of cheese flavors.
