Being vegan is about more than just not eating meat. Vegans do not eat, wear or use any animal products whatsoever. Some vegans also will not use animals for entertainment, sport, or experimentation, but this isn’t a mandatory part of veganism – you can still call yourself vegan if you are happy to carry out these actions. However, veganism and animal rights go hand in hand; veganism is a way of living that seeks to exclude all forms of exploitation and cruelty to animals for the benefit of humans. If you’re vegan, then you probably already know that some brands exploit animals by testing on them or paying third-world countries shitloads of money to buy their crap.
You may have heard of veganism before, especially if you are close to vegan friends or acquaintances. You may have even tried vegan food without really knowing it! But do you know where veganism came from? Who were the original vegan pioneers? And why vegan? All these questions and more will be answered in this article.
The term vegan was first coined in 1944 by Donald Watson, who was frustrated that there wasn’t an adequate word for vegan because he wanted to branch out veganism to the general public. He decided to use the first three and last two letters of ‘vegetarian’ (minus the g) since veganism is just vegetarianism without dairy or eggs.
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Mike And Ikes
MIKE AND IKES was founded in 1968 after the merger of two American candy companies, ‘Sunline Inc.’ and ‘The Ikes Candy Company’. The Mikes were a bunch of male skaters who wore sunglasses and wanted a tough name. They chose Mike as a surname since it sounded tougher than Smith or Jones. Ikes derived from the word ‘Eskimos’ since the Mikes started to design their own Eskimo logo.
However, not all members of Mike and Ikes were male skaters. In 1973, a new character called Sugar Molly was added to the Mikes and Ikes line-up.
Unlike the other Mike and Ikes characters, Sugar Molly wasn’t an Eskimo. She was introduced at the height of their popularity, during what is now known as ‘The Blaxploitation Era’. This was a time in American culture when black civil rights were promoted by the media through, amongst other things, blaxploitation films.
Sugar Molly’s inclusion in MIKE AND IKES was an attempt to cash in on the popularity of Blaxploitation movies at the time. According to her original 1973 commercial, Sugar Molly is an Eskimo who was taken away from her family at a young age and forced to work for white people in the city.
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Are Mike And Ikes Vegan?
Mike and Ikes are not vegan because they contain milk and eggs – two animal products vegans don’t eat, wear or use in any way.
The sugar used to make Mike and Ikes are sometimes refined using animal bone char, which makes it unsuitable for vegans.
What about other Mike and Ikes?
The company that manufactures Mike and Ikes is also responsible for manufacturing other famous American candy brands, such as SNICKERS® and TWIX®.
SNICKERS® contains milk chocolate, which is an animal product.
TWIX® has caramel in it, which is made using cow’s milk or cream – both of which are animal products.
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Frequently asked question
So are Mike and Ikes vegan?
NO, they are NOT vegan because they contain milk and eggs in their ingredients list. However, there is a chance that the sugar used to make MIKE AND IKES is refined using animal bone char if it’s not listed in their ingredients list. Sometimes manufacturers don’t state whether they use animal bone char when refining sugar, but the chances are high that they do.
What are animal bone char?
Animal bone char is produced by heating on bones of cattle and other animals to remove the whitish color imparted by the calcium. Bone-char refined sugar is used in many processed foods, including Mike and Ikes.
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Conclusion
The future of Mike and Ikes is unknown, and there is a possibility that they may not be vegan in the future. A lot of the ingredients used in Mike and Ikes are already changed, which is a sign that they may not be vegan very soon.
Activists have already started a petition to get rid of the animal bone-char from MIKE AND IKES’ sugar refining process.
