Have You Heard About Vegan-Friendly E-Liquid: All You Need To Know
The increasing popularity of veganism reflects on consumer choices in the vaping industry as well. Vapers are actively looking for vegan e-liquids to relax and enjoy. They provide a sustainable and guilt-free alternative for a fantastic vaping experience.
In fact, several brands have come up with extraordinary vegan-friendly e-juices that promise to embed the core values without compromising the taste or experience. But these e-juices are relatively new to the market, leaving vapers with a ton of doubts about making the right choice. So, here we present to you a guide to understanding vegan e-juices and how to choose them.
What Are Vegan E-Juices?
Vegan vape juices are specially prepared e-liquids without any animal products. The constituents of the e-juice derive from natural plant-based materials. Therefore, the end product or the e-juice does not contain any traces of animal by-products.
Are They Compatible With Your Vaporizer?
You will not need any special devices to vape vegan e-liquids. All vaping devices consist of a heating mechanism that helps to vaporize the e-juice or e-liquid for the user to inhale. Vegan e-juices have very similar properties to that of normal e-liquids due to similar constituents. Therefore they are compatible with the coil and wick systems of your regular beco bar with 1500 puffs. For example, smok coils that work well with traditional e-juices are good for vegan e-juices as well.
Is Your E-liquid Vegan Friendly?
Let’s discuss the most common components used in e-liquids to help you understand what makes a product vegan friendly.
VG and PG: Vegetable Glycerin and Propylene Glycol are the base constituents of your e-juice. While Vegetable Glycerin or VG derives from plant oils such as coconut, soy, or palm oil, Propylene Glycol or PG is an organic compound distilled from petroleum. Therefore these ingredients do not contain traces of any animal products.
However, an important point to keep in mind is that these products could be animal tested. For example, propylene glycol often goes through animal testing to ensure human safety. While some consider these products to qualify as vegan, it might not be so in a strict sense.
Nicotine: Nicotine is another crucial ingredient of the e-juice that helps to induce a relaxing effect. It is an addictive substance present in certain plant categories known as nightshade plants. The compound derives from these plants as natural sources or is artificially engineered, making it vegan friendly.
Distilled Water: Distilled water used in e-liquid preparation is, of course, vegan-friendly as well.
Flavorings: When it comes to flavoring agents, identifying if the source is animal-free or not might be slightly tricky. Staying away from bacon flavor alone does not mean you are practicing vegan-friendly vaping.
For example, dessert flavors are among the top concern for vegan vapers. From cake to custard, there are some interesting options to please your sweet tooth. While most of us assume that these e-juices contain dairy products or milk, the truth is there is no dairy inside these bottles. Instead, the companies use chemicals to imitate particular recipes' taste and aroma to create a similar experience. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about dessert flavors containing eggs, milk, or other dairy products in them.
But that said, not all flavorings are animal-free. Even e-liquid flavorings that derive from natural sources may be animal-based. According to the FDA regulations, natural flavorings refer to agents created from plant sources in the form of essential oils, essence, extracts, derived from fruits, spices, vegetables, herbs, barks, root or animal sources like seafood, poultry, meat, dairy. Therefore e-liquids that mention natural flavoring may not be vegan as these ingredients could have an animal origin.
Importance Of Vegan E-liquids
PETA reports that the vaping industry holds a long history of being actively involved in animal testing for their products. Several components that constitute the vape juice, such as the flavoring agents, are tested on animals to receive safety approval before they go for human trials. Thousands of animals are exposed to the vapors to understand the short-term and long-term effects of vaping before presenting the products to the market.
But the efficiency and accuracy of animal models to test the reliability of vaping products have been questioned repeatedly. Many organizations worldwide believe that animal trials may not provide relevant results to conclude on the safety of these products for human use. Therefore the need to promote cruelty-free testing methods for vaping products needs to be emphasized in the industry.
Apart from animal testing, the vaping industry also uses several animal by-products to create vape juices. Vape liquids contain a spectrum of ingredients such as nicotine, flavoring, propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, sweeteners, coloring agents. Some of these ingredients may contain animal by-products or could be animal-derived. Even popular fruit flavorings such as vanilla or raspberry may not necessarily come from natural or organic plant sources.
Similarly, some e-liquid coloring agents used to enhance visual appeal may also come from various animal sources. Several companies use bugs or animals to derive these colors and flavor components for their products. While these e-juices may provide a good vaping experience, choosing vegan alternatives can have several benefits to the user and the planet.
Vegan vaping products could be one of the best ways to reduce your environmental footprint and promote sustainable practices. It can help you enjoy a cleaner and safer vaping experience using natural ingredients. Also, leaving dairy products out of e-liquids can make them approachable to lactose-intolerant people. It can further appeal to individuals who are looking for animal-free products for ethical reasons.
How To Choose Vegan?
Explore the market for companies that advertise 100 % vegan and plant-based organic products. These juices derive from natural plant sources and may contain no artificial colorings, flavorings, or sweeteners and are also PG free. You can also contact the manufacturer to understand more about the raw materials and processes before choosing an e-liquid.
A simple way to choose the vegan vaping path is to use 100 % VG liquids with or without plant-based flavoring agents. This way, you can avoid vape liquids involving animal byproducts or animal testing. While these e-liquids tend to have a higher viscosity than normal liquids due to higher VG concentration, they offer a sustainable and guilt-free vaping experience in the long run.
Conclusion
In summary, most e-liquids available on the market are vegan-friendly in a broad sense. But the choice of consuming products that may not be purely animal-free, such as those involving animal testing, depends on your philosophy. Reach out to various vegan-friendly brands to get the answers about their product ranges to help you make an informed decision.