If you’re an active person (or simply love snacks), navigating the energy bar aisle can be confusing when you’re a new vegan. Clif is one of the most well-known brands of energy bars, but are Clif Bars vegan?
The answer is a little more complicated than you might think. Keep reading to see whether Clif Bars fit into a vegan diet.
Introduction to Clif Bars
The Clif brand is a major player in the nutrition bar space. The Original Clif bars are meant to provide sustained energy during a long hike, cycling trip, or certain sports. Clif also offers a variety of other bars, such as their higher-protein Builders Protein Bars and lower-calorie Clif Thins, to help meet the needs of any fitness enthusiast.
Are Clif Bars vegan?
Unfortunately, it isn’t clear whether Clif Bars are 100% vegan. As of 2024, the best I can say is that Clif Bars are potentially vegan.
Clif bars are made primarily from grains and don’t contain any obvious animal products, so they appear vegan on the surface.
On their website, Clif even notes that “all of our products can fit within a plant-based diet and are made with predominantly plant-based ingredients. In fact, most of our foods contain no intentionally added animal-based ingredients.”
They also note that they don’t advertise or label their bars “vegan” due to the potential for unintentional dairy cross-contamination at their manufacturing facilities. This would be fine since vegans usually don’t consider these types of concerns when purchasing processed items unless they have food allergies.
However, all Clif bars contain one ingredient that poses a concern for vegans, which I’ll discuss below.
Ingredients
Non-organic, white sugar is often filtered through animal bone char in the United States, making it a no-go for vegans. Fortunately, the sugar used in Clif Bars is vegan-friendly.
I was happy to receive this response back from Clif customer service when I inquired about their ingredients:
“Our sugars and syrups are all organic, and bone char is not allowed in the processing of organic ingredients.”
That said, Clif also uses natural flavors in virtually all of its bars. Natural flavors are flavors approved by the FDA for use as a food additive. The term is vague and can be used to refer to any approved flavor derived from natural sources, which can include plants or animals.
Food manufacturers are not legally required to list the sources of the natural flavors in their products, which can create a gray area for vegans.
Based on the flavors, it’s probably unlikely that Clif Bars contain natural flavors derived from animal-based ingredients. However, since the term is so vague and because Clif unfortunately did not respond to my request for information on the sources of these flavors, I can’t say for sure.
Potentially vegan Clif Bars
As of the publication of this post, I’d classify Clif bars as “potentially vegan” due to the use of natural flavors. This includes the following varieties:
- Original Clif Bars
- Spiced Pumpkin Pie
- White Chocolate Macadamia Nut
- Chocolate Brownie
- Peanut Butter Banana with Dark Chocolate
- Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch
- Chocolate Chip
- Crunchy Peanut Butter
- Cool Mint Chocolate
- Blueberry Almond Crisp
- Oatmeal Raisin Walnut
- Builders Protein Bars
- Chocolate Peanut Butter
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
- Chocolate Mint Protein
- Cookies ‘N Cream
- Chocolate
- Vanilla Almond
- Nut Butter Bars
- Chocolate Chip & Peanut Butter
- Chocolate & Peanut Butter
- Peanut Butter
- Clif Thins
- Chocolate Chip
- White Chocolate Macadamia Nut
- Chocolate Brownie
Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide whether you’re comfortable consuming natural flavors as a vegan.
Vegan Clif Bar alternatives
If natural flavors worry you, that’s okay! There are several other energy bars available to vegans. Some of these include:
Summary
Clif Bars seem to be plant-based, but their use of vague “natural flavors” makes it difficult to say for sure whether any of their bars are 100% vegan. Hopefully Clif will provide information on the source of these natural flavors in the future.
For now, however, the choice to consume Clif Bars as a vegan is up to your discretion.
