Are Rice Krispies Vegan? It Depends

When switching to a vegan diet, a lot of folks want to know if they have to give up their favorite cereal. Rice Krispies is an iconic cereal, so it’s no surprise I get this question on the regular.

Is it vegan? Kellogg’s Rice Krispies is not vegan, as it contains vitamin D3 derived from animals.¹ However, “Rice Krispies”, while a trademark, is often used to refer to cereals of the same kind (puffed rice). In this sense, the cereal can be vegan, as many generic versions don’t use vitamin D fortification.

The answer also depends on what type of vegan you identify as. Some vegans are primarily concerned with health, and this variety of vegan may not take issue with animal-derived food additives as many pose no health risks.

Why Are Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Non-Vegan?

This is confusing for many as there are actually two types of vitamin D—vitamins D2 (ergocalciferol) and D3 (cholecalciferol). Both can be found in food and supplements. Vitamin D2 is always considered vegan. With the exception of lichen (an obscure source of D3), vitamin D3 occurring naturally in food is never considered vegan.

The vitamin D3 you’ll encounter in supplements can be vegan (lichen derived), but this is easy to spot as it’ll be advertised as such. If it’s not plastered all over the bottle, you can be sure it’s animal-derived.

This brings us to vitamin D3 in fortified foods. This stuff is always animal derived. Perhaps in the future, lichen will become a common source of D3 for food fortification, but as of now, D3 fortified foods are almost sure to be derived from sheeps oil.

If this is confusing, I wrote an entire article on determining when vitamin D is vegan you can check out here. Even included a handy flow-chart.

What Is This Lanolin Stuff Anyway?

Lanolin, aka wool grease, is a waxy substance that’s secreted by the sebaceous glands of wooled animals. It’s often referred to as wool oil or wool fat, but it’s actually not a true fat because it lacks glycerides.^2-4

The compound’s properties make it a great water-proofing agent and sheep need it to help shed water from their coats. Certain breeds tend to produce large amounts of the stuff, making them targets for exploitation by manufacturers of food and other goods.

It’s of interest to the food and supplement industries because it contains 7-dehydrocholesterol which is a compound needed to synthesize vitamin D3 via irradiation with ultraviolet light.⁵

If you’re an ethical vegan, you’ll definitely want to steer clear of lanoline as it’s certainly not appropriate for strict vegans.

Other Non-Vegan Crispy Rice Cereals

Great Value Rice Crispers Rice Cereal (Walmart)

Ingredients:⁶

Rice
Sugar
Malt extract
Salt
Vitamin C (sodium ascorbate)
Iron (Ferric Orthophosphate)
Vitamin A palmitate
Niacinamide
Tocopherols (preservative)
Zinc oxide
Vitamin B1 (thiamine mononitrate)
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride)
Vitamin D (cholecalciferol)
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
Folic acid
Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin).

Clover Valley Cereal, Crispy Rice (Dollar General)

Ingredients:⁷

Rice
Sugar
Salt
Malt extract
Tocopherols
Vitamin C (sodium ascorbate)
Iron (ferric orthophosphate)
Vitamin A palmitate
Niacinamide
Zinc (zinc oxide)
Vitamin B1 (thiamine mononitrate)
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride)
Vitamin D (cholecalciferol)
Viitamin B2 (riboflavin)
Folic acid
Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin)
BHT

Toasted Rice Breakfast Cereal (Target)

Ingredients:⁸

Rice
Sugar
Salt
Malted barley syrup
Mixed tocopherols (added to preserve freshness)
Sodium ascorbate (vitamin C)
Reduced iron
Niacinamide
Alpha tocopherol acetate (vitamin E)
Pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6)
Vitamin A palmitate
Thiamin mononitrate (vitamin B1)
Riboflavin (vitamin B2)
Folic acid
Vitamin D
Vitamin B12

Malt-O-Meal Breakfast Cereal, Crispy Rice

Ingredients:⁹

Rice
Sugar
Corn syrup
Salt
Vitamin B1 (thiamine mononitrate)
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
Niacin (niacinamide)
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride)
Folic acid
Vitamin B12
Vitamin A palmitate
Vitamin C (sodium ascorbate)
Vitamin D
Iron (ferric orthophosphate)
Zinc (zinc oxide)

Vegan Crispy Rice Cereal

These are few and far between, but they are out there. Keep in mind that these are marketed toward a nutrition-conscious crowd so they tend to be on the healthy side. That may or may not be a good thing, depending on your preferences.

I for one, like to find alternatives as close to the original as possible. But, these are still really good and much better than foregoing this tasty cereal altogether.

Also, the below brands don’t list many vitamins at all. But, when you’re scanning the ingredients label of other generic crispy rice cereal, you will sometimes see other vitamins in the ingredients. Usually, thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), vitamin B6 and folic acid (B9). These vitamins tend to be produced via chemical and microbial synthesis, so they’re generally considered vegan.¹⁵

You can check out articles I wrote on B vitamins in the context of a vegan diet here: