This popular soft drink says that it has zero sugar, zero fat, and zero carbs…sounds great if you’re on a diet, but what if you are vegan? So, is Diet Pepsi vegan? The short answer is technically: no. Here's what you need to know:

Diet Pepsi Ingredients 

The official company website for all of the Pepsi brands has the nutrition information for Diet Pepsi.  Here are the ingredients:

• Carbonated water
• Caramel color
• Phosphoric acid
• Potassium benzoate
• Sucralose
• Acesulfame potassium
• Caffeine
• Natural flavor
• Citric acid

Need help figuring out what some of these things actually are?  The Pepsi website has an alphabetical glossary of ingredients that explains what everything is.  For example, it tells you that caffeine is found naturally in many plants and can also be man-made.  What’s sucralose?  It’s a sugar substitute that is also known by its brand name, Splenda.

Is Diet Pepsi Vegan?

The Pepsi website does not say whether or not Diet Pepsi is vegan, but Pepsi’s official statement on the issue states that it is suitable for vegetarians but not for vegans.  Could there be animal products involved in any of the ingredients or the manufacturing process?  The answer turns out to be something of a mystery.  Vegan food experts note that Pepsi will not comment on exactly why Diet Pepsi is not suitable for vegans (regular Pepsi is OK for vegans).  The suspected reason?  Some of the ingredients, especially the artificial sweeteners, might be tested on animals, according to some theories.

Vegan Soda Brands

If you are against animal testing, you may want to consider drinking a soda that is certified vegan.  What are your options?  Your best bet is to start with sodas that are labeled as organic.  Here are some products to consider:

Sky Valley Root Beer:  This soda (and many of the other Sky Valley flavors) are organic, vegan, non-GMO, and gluten-free.

Rocky Mountain Soda Co. Ginger Beer:  This company’s sodas are all-natural, non-GMO, vegan, kosher, and gluten-free.

Zevia All-Natural Diet Cola:  Zevia makes a wide variety of sodas that are gluten-free, kosher, vegan, non-GMO, and free of caramel coloring.

Make Your Own Vegan Soda

You can make your own soda at home using fresh, simple ingredients.  Here’s just one example of a homemade soda using orange, sugar, water, and yeast (yes, yeast is vegan…it’s not an animal, it’s a member of the fungus kingdom, like mushrooms).

Do you have a favorite vegan soda brand or your own homemade vegan soda recipe?  Let us know, we’d love to hear from you!