Dave’s Killer Bread may have caught your eye thanks to their brightly colored packaging and fun product names, but is Dave’s Killer Bread vegan? And are their products as healthy as they seem from the labels?
As a vegan Registered Dietitian, I’ll discuss whether this brand is a good choice for vegans based on their ingredients and nutrition profile.
An introduction to Dave’s Killer Bread
Dave’s Killer Bread is a popular brand of sliced bread, bagels, English muffins, hamburger buns, snack bars, and snack bites. Their products are rich in whole grains, USDA-certified organic, non-GMO, kosher, and free of artificial sweeteners, high-fructose corn syrup, and artificial preservatives.
Is Dave’s Killer Bread vegan?
Many Dave’s Killer Bread products are vegan as they don’t contain any animal-based ingredients. They even use organic cane sugar which, unlike most white sugar in the US, isn’t processed with animal bone char.
A few exceptions are the Trail Mix Crumble and Oat-rageous Honey Almond Snack Bars and the Heavenly Honey Nut and Super Cinna Roll Crunchy Snack Bites, all of which contain honey.
As you can see from the Dave’s Killer Bread Powerseed® loaf ingredients list, this is an example of one of their vegan-friendly breads:
INGREDIENTS: Organic whole wheat (organic whole wheat flour, organic cracked whole wheat), water, organic Powerseed® grain and seed mix (organic whole flax seeds, organic sunflower seeds, organic brown sesame seeds, organic pumpkin seeds, organic black sesame seeds, organic ground whole flax seeds, organic rolled oats), organic wheat gluten, organic fruit juices (organic apple, organic pear, organic peach), organic oat fiber, contains 2% or less of each of the following: sea salt, organic vinegar, organic cultured wheat flour, yeast, enzymes, organic acerola cherry powder.
CONTAINS: Wheat, sesame.
While the source of “enzymes” is usually vague, Dave’s Killer Bread states that their products not containing honey are vegan, so we can rest assured that their enzymes are not derived from animals.
Below are all of the vegan products from Dave’s Killer Bread:
- Killer Breads
- 21 Whole Grains & Seeds
- Good Seed®
- White Bread Done Right®
- Powerseed® (my go-to for sandwiches)
- 100% Whole Wheat
- Righteous Rye® (perfect for a vegan reuben!)
- Thin-Sliced Breads
- 21 Whole Grains & Seeds Thin-Sliced
- Good Seed® Thin-Sliced
- White Bread Done Right® Thin-Sliced
- Powerseed® Thin-Sliced
- 100% Whole Wheat Thin-Sliced
- Sprouted Whole Grains Thin-Sliced
- Breakfast
- Epic Everything® Breakfast Bread (great for avocado toast)
- Raisin’ the Roof!® Breakfast Bread
- Epic Everything® Bagels
- Plain Awesome® Bagels
- Cinnamon Raisin Remix® Bagels
- Boomin’ Berry® Bagels
- Killer Classic® English Muffins
- Rockin’ Grains® English Muffins
- Burger Buns
- 21 Whole Grains and Seeds Burger Buns
- Burger Buns Done Right™
- Bars
- Cocoa Brownie Blitz™ Organic Snack Bars
- Amped-Up Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Protein Bars
- Amped-Up Double Chocolate Coconut Protein Bars
- Amped-Up Blueberry Almond Butter Protein Bars
- Snack Bites
- Peanut Butter Choco Bliss Crunchy Snack Bites
- Epic Everything™ Crunchy Snack Bites
- Toasted Garlic Crunchy Snack Bites
- Bold Buffalo Crunchy Snack Bites
NON-Vegan Dave’s Killer Bread products:
- Trail Mix Crumble Snack Bars
- Oat-rageous Honey Almond Snack Bars
- Heavenly Honey Nut Crunchy Snack Bites
- Super Cinna Roll Crunchy Snack Bites
Nutrition & health analysis
Overall, I think Dave’s Killer Bread makes great nutrient-dense products and I use them frequently. The nutrition profile of each product varies slightly, but they have a lot of similarities. These are some of the nutritional benefits I appreciate in their breads:
Rich in whole grains
Dave’s Killer Bread sliced breads contain whole grains as the first ingredient and provide 14-22 grams of whole grains per slice, depending on the product. Their white bread is an exception, although it does contain some whole wheat flour with 10 grams of whole grains per slice – much more than conventional white bread containing zero whole grains!
Thanks to the whole grains, Dave’s Killer Bread is a great source of dietary fiber which helps manage blood sugar levels, regulates bowel movements, and supports the growth of beneficial bacteria1 in the gut.
Some are low in added sugars
Their breads contain between 1-5 grams of added sugars per slice, which is very reasonable considering how great these whole grain breads taste. If you prefer to avoid all refined sweeteners, their Powerseed® bread is sweetened only with fruit juice.
Their bagels do contain more added sugars, however, with the raisin and berry flavors containing 6 to 9 grams respectively.
Contains heart-healthy fats
One of my favorite things about Dave’s Killer Bread products is the inclusion of a variety of seeds rich in heart-healthy unsaturated fats. Depending on the product, a slice of bread may contain flax seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, or pumpkin seeds.
Thanks to the inclusion of flax seeds and organic expeller-pressed canola oil, a slice of their regular-thickness bread contains between 90-520 milligrams of ALA omega-3 fatty acids known for their anti-inflammatory properties2 and benefits for the heart and brain.
RELATED: Is Canola Oil Vegan? Is It Healthy?
This won’t meet the daily recommended omega-3 intake for vegans, but it can help get you closer!
One note about flax seeds – the omega-3s in whole flax seeds aren’t easily digested, so flax seeds need to be ground in order to reap the benefits of their omega-3 content. Some Dave’s Killer Bread products contain ground flax seeds, but the flax seeds on the outside of their loaves are whole, so you may not actually be absorbing the amount of omega-3 fats listed on the package label.
This is a good reason to make sure you still consume other plant-based sources of omega-3s, such as walnuts, chia seeds, hemp seeds, expeller-pressed canola oil, and algae-based DHA+EPA supplements.
May be rich in vitamin C
An interesting addition to most Dave’s Killer Bread breads, bagels, and English muffins is acerola cherry powder. Often sold on its own as a dietary supplement, acerola cherry powder is an incredibly rich source of the antioxidant vitamin C.
It isn’t clear how much vitamin C Dave’s Killer Bread contains since including vitamin C on nutrition facts labels is no longer required by law, but it may be enough to help increase the absorption of nonheme iron from plant-based foods — an important consideration for vegans.
Summary
Most Dave’s Killer Bread products are vegan, with the exception of two flavors of crunchy snack bites and two flavors of snack bars that contain honey. All of their breads, bagels, and English muffins are vegan-friendly.
They’re great products for vegans looking to get more whole grains in their diet, although some of their sweeter breads and bagels are a little high in added sugar. They also provide some anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats and may be rich in vitamin C, which can help improve the absorption of plant-based iron found in the bread itself and any iron-rich foods eaten with it.
Trying to decide how best to use their vegan products? Try spreading one of their bagels with my Vegan Strawberry Cream Cheese (High-Protein)!
Note: This post isn’t sponsored – I just really love their products and think they’re a great way for vegans to get more whole grains and other healthy nutrients!
FAQs
Does Dave’s Killer Bread have dairy in it?
No products made by Dave’s Killer Bread contain dairy. Some of their snack bars and crunchy snack bites are not vegan since they contain honey, but they are all dairy-free.
Is Dave’s Killer Bread Raisin the Roof vegan?
Yes! Dave’s Killer Bread Raisin’ the Roof breakfast bread is vegan since it doesn’t contain any animal-based ingredients like honey, dairy, or cane sugar processed with animal bone char.
The scientific information in this article was accurate at the time of publishing but may change over time as new research becomes available.
References
- Ioniță-Mîndrican CB, Ziani K, Mititelu M, et al. Therapeutic Benefits and Dietary Restrictions of Fiber Intake: A State of the Art Review. Nutrients. 2022;14(13):2641. Published 2022 Jun 26. doi:10.3390/nu14132641
- Fu Y, Wang Y, Gao H, et al. Associations among Dietary Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, the Gut Microbiota, and Intestinal Immunity. Mediators Inflamm. 2021;2021:8879227. Published 2021 Jan 2. doi:10.1155/2021/8879227
