The EatCheck Blog

Label reading, ingredient traps and diet questions, written from what we actually see in our database of 35,000+ checked products.

Oct 9, 2026

Are M&M's gluten free? 105 packs, and the Crispy and Pretzel problem

Plain, Peanut, Peanut Butter and Almond M&M's list no gluten grain and pass our check. Crispy, Pretzel and the biscuit spin-offs do not. We read 105 M&M's labels; here is where the wheat and barley malt are.

Oct 8, 2026

Is Kinder palm oil free? 103 products checked, from Bueno to Happy Hippo

Eighty-eight of the 103 Kinder products in our database name palm oil on the label, and nothing Ferrero sells under the Kinder name passes. Here is what the packs say, product by product.

Oct 6, 2026

Are Sour Patch Kids halal? And vegan? The US and UK recipes are opposites

US Sour Patch Kids contain no gelatin and 51 of 67 packs pass our halal check. Several UK and European packs list gelatine, while the UK Watermelon carries a vegan mark. Here is what each pack says.

Oct 4, 2026

Is Lindt vegan? Excellence dark bars, Lindor, and the "may contain" line

We read 182 Lindt labels. Nine pass our vegan check, 147 fail, and most of the fails are dark chocolate with milk fat or butter in the list. The percentage bars are the ones to read carefully.

Oct 2, 2026

Are Doritos vegan? 154 bags checked, flavour by flavour

Ten Doritos bags in our database pass the vegan check, 95 fail, and the fails are almost all one ingredient: milk, in its cheese, whey and buttermilk forms. Chilli Heatwave is the interesting case, because the answer changed with the recipe.

Sep 30, 2026

Is Starburst halal? Gelatin, glaze and the UK difference

US Starburst fruit chews list gelatin. UK Starburst do not, and carry a vegan mark instead. We read 65 Starburst labels; 12 pass our halal check and 53 stay open, and the reasons come down to four ingredients.

Sep 29, 2026

Palm oil in crisps: Walkers, Lay's and Pringles compared

We checked 594 packs from the three biggest crisp brands for palm oil. Walkers almost never uses it, Lay's depends on the country, and most Pringles tubes cannot be settled from the label. Here is why.

Sep 28, 2026

Are Cheerios gluten free? 64 boxes from the US, the UK and Europe

The same yellow box is two different cereals. US Cheerios are oats and carry a gluten-free label; UK and European Cheerios are a wheat and barley blend. We checked 64 boxes and the split is almost exactly by country.

Sep 27, 2026

Halal energy drinks: Monster, Red Bull, Celsius and Prime checked

We read 372 energy drink labels from four brands. Two thirds pass our halal check on the ingredient list alone, no can fails on a named animal ingredient, and the ones that stay open do so for the same two reasons.

Sep 26, 2026

Are Skittles halal? US and UK recipes, gelatin, and the E120 packs

We read 100 Skittles labels. The chewy originals contain no gelatin anywhere, 56 pass our halal check outright, and the packs that stay open do so for three reasons. The gummies are a different product.

Sep 25, 2026

What "palm oil free" means on a label, and where palm oil hides when it is not there

Palm oil sits in roughly one packaged food in six, and most of the time the label never uses the words. Here is what the claim covers, what it does not, and the three phrases to look for when the front of the pack says nothing.

Sep 24, 2026

E numbers that are always vegan, sometimes vegan, never vegan

Most E numbers are minerals, plant gums or synthetic acids. A few are insects. And one, E471, could be either. We sorted the 60 most common codes in 35,549 products.

Sep 23, 2026

Nut free snacks: what "produced in a facility" really means

3,763 products in our database declare tree nuts and 1,450 carry a warning about them. We explain the wording, the law behind it and which snack aisles are cleanest.

Sep 22, 2026

Is Pringles halal? Flavours, emulsifiers and what the pack says

We read 185 Pringles labels. 20 carry a halal mark and pass, most of the rest hinge on one emulsifier, and the flavour names are not the problem. Here is the detail.

Sep 21, 2026

Are Oreos vegan? Sugar, palm oil and the regional recipe question

The EU Oreo carries a vegan mark; the US Oreo does not. We read 126 Oreo-branded labels to explain why, and what the sugar and palm oil lines say on each.

Sep 20, 2026

Dairy free at the supermarket: allergen lines and "may contain

Milk is declared on 11,450 of the 35,549 products in our database. Here is how to read the allergen line, the hidden milk words and the "may contain" warning.

Sep 19, 2026

Vegetarian vs vegan on a label: gelatin, rennet and the gray zone

A vegetarian label allows milk and eggs but not gelatin, rennet or carmine. We counted how often each gray-zone ingredient appears across 35,549 products.

Sep 18, 2026

Salt in bread: the numbers behind "low salt" claims

We read the salt figure on 135 breads, pittas, wraps and tortillas. The median is 1.0 g per 100 g, only one qualifies as low salt, and none of them say so on the pack.

Sep 17, 2026

How much sugar is in breakfast cereal? 40 boxes compared

We compared the sugar and salt on 566 cereal labels. The median box has 14 g of sugar per 100 g, Frosties has 37 g and plain oats under 1 g. Here are 40 of them.

Sep 16, 2026

Ultra-processed foods: what NOVA groups mean on a real label

NOVA sorts food by how much it was processed, not by nutrients. We explain the four groups with real labels from 17,494 products, and where the system is blunt.

Sep 15, 2026

Is Nutella palm oil free? 14 chocolate spreads compared

Nutella lists palm oil second, right after sugar. We compared 14 hazelnut and chocolate spreads by their ingredient lists to see which ones use a different fat.

Sep 14, 2026

The 30 most common palm oil names on ingredient labels

Palm oil hides behind 37 names in our database, in seven languages. Here are the ones you will actually meet, with how often each appears in 35,549 products.

Sep 13, 2026

Palm oil free snacks: 50 products that pass, aisle by aisle

We ran 35,549 packaged foods through our palm oil check. Here are 50 snacks that passed, sorted by aisle, and the aisles where palm oil is hardest to avoid.

Aug 23, 2026

Are Haribo Halal? It Depends Where the Bag Was Made

The same gummy bear can be halal in one country and not in the next. The answer is printed on the back of the bag, and here is how to read it.

Aug 17, 2026

Halal Soft Drinks: The Checked List

Of the 217 sodas in our database, 117 pass a halal check and only one clearly fails. The gray zone is about flavourings, not alcohol on the label.

Aug 17, 2026

The Halal Candy List: What Actually Passes

We checked 390 candies for halal compatibility: 209 pass, only 3 clearly fail, and 178 sit in the gelatin gray zone. Here is how to read the aisle.

Aug 15, 2026

Where Our Answers Come From

Our verdicts are built on Open Food Facts, a crowdsourced database, and a rule engine we keep auditing in public. Here is the honest tour, including the bugs.

Aug 15, 2026

What 'May Contain' Really Tells You

The traces warning is voluntary, unregulated and wildly inconsistent between brands. Here is how to read it for allergy, for ethics and for religion.

Aug 15, 2026

Breakfast Cereal, Checked

The aisle with the sunniest packaging has the worst numbers in our database. Cereal fails keto almost entirely, and half of it is off the table for gluten-free.

Aug 15, 2026

The Diet Soda Paradox

Sodas are the best category in our database for keto and one of the worst for vegan verification. Both facts come from the same place: the recipe is a secret.

Aug 15, 2026

Dark Chocolate and the Milk Fat Problem

Cocoa, sugar and cocoa butter are all plant-based, so dark chocolate should be an easy vegan win. Our database says otherwise: 7 of 319 chocolates pass.

Aug 15, 2026

The Halal Gray Zone: What Mushbooh Means

Nearly half the products we check for halal land in a gray zone between clearly permitted and clearly forbidden. That is not a bug in the check. It is how packaged food works.

Aug 15, 2026

Reading a Label for Gluten: What Actually Matters

Wheat is easy to spot. Malt extract, barley and a French word for wheat are where people slip. Numbers from 28,601 checked products.

Aug 15, 2026

Keto at the Supermarket, by the Numbers

Only 2 of the 319 chocolates in our database fit keto macros. Sodas do better than cereal. The numbers surprised us too.

Aug 15, 2026

Why We Sometimes Say 'Check the Label'

A tool that always answers yes or no is guessing. Here is what actually makes an ingredient list unverifiable, with numbers.

Aug 15, 2026

Where Milk Hides: Notes from Checking 28,601 Products

We ran every product in our database through our vegan rules. Milk showed up on more than 9,000 labels, and not always in a language you expect.

Dec 2, 2025

Dairy-Free vs. Non-Dairy: The Confusing Difference You Need to Know

Think "Non-Dairy" means vegan? Think again. Learn why your coffee creamer might still contain milk proteins like casein and how to read labels correctly to avoid a mistake.

Dec 1, 2025

The Truth About "Natural Flavors": What Are You Really Eating?

It sounds healthy, but "Natural Flavors" is the most vague term on food labels. From beaver glands to alcohol extraction, discover what is really hiding in your favorite snacks.

Nov 30, 2025

7 Sneaky Animal Ingredients Hiding in Your Food (That Aren't Meat)

Think you know what's in your food? From beetle juice in candy to fish bladders in beer, here are 7 hidden animal-derived ingredients that commonly slip past the radar.

Nov 29, 2025

The Ultimate Guide to E-Codes: Which Food Additives are Vegan, Halal, or Harmful?

Confused by E-numbers on food labels? You are not alone. Uncover the hidden animal ingredients behind these codes and learn which additives to avoid for Vegan and Halal diets.

Nov 28, 2025

Are Protein Bars Actually Healthy? The Hidden Truth About Your Post-Workout Snack

Not all protein bars are created equal. Some are packed with sugar, artificial sweeteners, and hidden non-vegan ingredients. Here is how to spot the good from the bad.

Nov 27, 2025

Is Sugar Vegan? The Bittersweet Truth About Bone Char

Sugar comes from plants, so it should be vegan, right? Not always. Discover why some white sugar involves animal bones and how to spot safe alternatives.

Nov 27, 2025

10 Popular Snacks You Didn't Know Were Accidentally Vegan

Being vegan doesn't mean saying goodbye to your favorite junk food. From Oreos to Pringles, discover 10 surprising snacks whose ingredient lists are plant-based (with the caveats that deserve a mention).