Is Cream Soda Vegan? I Checked 10 Popular Brands

The first ever “cream soda” recipe was published in 1852 in a publication called Michigan Farmer. It included both milk and egg. However, today’s “cream soda” is a different story. And that’s good news if you’re vegan!

Store-bought cream soda is generally vegan. Out of the 10 brands of cream soda I checked, none contained any milk, egg, or other animal ingredients. However, cream soda at restaurants is often still served with real dairy ice cream, making it non-vegan.

Below, I’ll share the ingredients for 10 popular brands of cream soda and why they all count as vegan in my book. I’ll also discuss a couple of the “gray areas” where some very strict vegans might disagree with me.

Cream Soda Ingredients

What is cream soda made of? It obviously varies a little bit by brand—but most of the store-bought cream sodas are actually shockingly similar in ingredients.

After reviewing 10 different brands, I can tell you, the typical store-bought cream soda usually contains:

• Carbonated Water
• High Fructose Corn Syrup or Cane Sugar
• Sodium Benzoate (preservative)
• Caramel Color or Artificial Colors (Red 40, etc)
• Citric Acid
• Natural and Artificial Flavors
• Yucca Extract or Quillaia Extract

Now let’s just quickly address any concerns you might have about the “vegan status” of any of those ingredients.

6 Questionable Ingredients in Cream Soda

Some vegans may feel sketchy about these ingredients commonly found in cream soda:

• Cane Sugar: This is probably the “sketchiest” ingredient in cream soda, from a strict vegan perspective. That’s because non-organic cane sugar is often filtered with bone char to make it whiter. However, I personally let it slide. It’s just not a major

• Sodium Benzoate (Preservative): Sodium benzoate is actually synthetically made from benzoic acid and sodium hydroxide. Nothing sketchy from a vegan perspective, although there are some safety concerns I wrote about here.

• Caramel Color: Caramel color is not actual caramel, so there is actually no dairy used. It’s just a “caramel” shade of color, made by heating up sugar, typically from corn. Fully vegan.

• Artificial Colors (Red 40, etc): These are most common in orange or red cream sodas. They are made synthetically, so they’re not animal-derived. However, they’re still being tested on animals for safety reasons. I don’t boycott them, but some vegans do. Read more here.

• Natural Flavors: “Natural flavors” can include animal ingredients, but usually it will be noted if the natural flavors are from milk, as it’s an allergen. Personally, I wouldn’t worry about the “natural flavor” in cream soda.

• Yucca or Quillaia Extract: If you haven’t heard of yucca or quillaia, they are both plants. So, there’s actually nothing to worry about there. Fully vegan!

Does Cream Soda Have Dairy?

Store-bought cream soda does not generally contain dairy. Out of the 10 brands of cream soda I checked, none contained any milk ingredients. However, cream soda at restaurants sometimes does contain real dairy ice cream.

Always keep in mind that “ice cream floats,” “ice cream sodas,” and other soda/dairy mixes do exist. So keep an eye out. But also know that most mainstream “cream sodas” in stores are dairy-free.

Does Cream Soda Have Eggs?

Cream soda does not typically have egg. Historically, eggs were included in some cream sodas, but today, cream soda does not contain egg, whether you buy it in the store or order it at a restaurant.

Out of the 10 brands of store-bough cream soda I checked, none of them contained any egg ingredients.

Vegan Cream Soda Brands

What cream soda is vegan? Well, here are 10 brands of cream soda I checked. Click any brand to skip to it:

1. Is A&W Cream Soda Vegan?
2. Is Barq’s Cream Soda Vegan?
3. Is Barr Cream Soda Vegan?
4. Is Crush Cream Soda Vegan?
5. Is Dr Pepper And Cream Soda Vegan?
6. Is Great Value Cream Soda Vegan?
7. Is IBC Cream Soda Vegan?
8. Is Sparletta Cream Soda Vegan?
9. Is Stewart’s Cream Soda Vegan?
10. Is Virgil’s Cream Soda Vegan?

Is A&W Cream Soda Vegan?

A&W Cream Soda is considered vegan. It contains no dairy, egg, or other animal-derived ingredients. Here are the full ingredients:

A&W Cream Soda Ingredients: Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, sodium benzoate (preservative), caramel color, citric acid, yucca extract, natural and artificial flavors. (source)

Is Barq’s Cream Soda Vegan?

Barq’s Cream Soda is considered vegan. It contains no dairy, egg, or other animal-derived ingredients.

Below are the ingredients for the French Vanilla flavor, but the Red Creme Soda is vegan, too. It just has different flavoring and red dye (it uses Red 40).

Barq’s French Vanilla Creme Soda Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Sodium Benzoate (To Protect Taste), Caramel Color, Citric Acid. (source)

Is Barr Cream Soda Vegan?

Barr Cream Soda is generally considered vegan. It contains no dairy, egg, or other animal-derived ingredients. However, it does contain sugar, which may have been filtered with animal bone char.

Here are the full ingredients:

Barr Cream Soda Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Sugar (Carbohydrate), Flavouring, Citric Acid, Preservative (Sodium Benzoate), Sweeteners (Sodium Saccharin, Aspartame), Contains a source of Phenylalanine. (source)

If you’re concerned about whether aspartame is vegan, check out my blog post on “Is Phenylalanine Vegan?” I addressed aspartame in that post.

Is Crush Cream Soda Vegan?

Crush Cream Soda is generally considered vegan. It contains no dairy, egg, or other animal-derived ingredients. However, it does contain sugar, which may have been filtered with animal bone char.

Here are the full ingredients:

Crush Cream Soda Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Sugar/Glucose-Fructose, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Artificial Flavour, Colour, Quillaia Extract. (source)

Note: If you’ve never heard of “Quillaia Extract,” it’s an extract from a tree—so, completely vegan-friendly!

Is Dr Pepper And Cream Soda Vegan?

Dr Pepper & Cream Soda is considered vegan. It contains no dairy, egg, or other animal-derived ingredients. Here are the full ingredients:

Dr Pepper & Cream Soda Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Phosphoric Acid, Caffeine, Sodium Phosphate. (source)

Is Great Value Cream Soda Vegan?

Great Value Cream Soda is considered vegan. It contains no dairy, egg, or other animal-derived ingredients. Here are the full ingredients:

Great Value Cream Soda Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Potassium Benzoate (a preservative), Citric Acid, Caramel Color. (source)

Is IBC Cream Soda Vegan?

IBC Cream Soda is generally considered vegan. It contains no dairy, egg, or other animal-derived ingredients. However, it does contain cane sugar, which may have been filtered with animal bone char.

Here are the full ingredients:

IBC Cream Soda Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Cane Sugar, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Citric Acid, Caramel Color, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Natural And Artificial Flavors, Calcium Disodium EDTA (To Protect Flavor). (source)

Is Sparletta Cream Soda Vegan?

Sparletta Cream Soda is generally considered vegan. It contains no dairy, egg, or other animal-derived ingredients. However, it does contain sugar, which may have been filtered with animal bone char.

Here are the full ingredients:

Sparletta Cream Soda Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Sugar, Flavouring, Citric Acid, Preservative (Sodium Benzoate) and Colourants (Quinoline Yellow, Brilliant Blue, Sunset Yellow). (source)

Is Stewart’s Cream Soda Vegan?

Stewart’s Cream Soda is generally considered vegan. It contains no dairy, egg, or other animal-derived ingredients. However, it does contain cane sugar, which may have been filtered with animal bone char.

Here are the full ingredients:

Stewart’s Cream Soda Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Cane Sugar, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Caramel Color, Citric Acid, Artificial Flavors, Quillaia Extract. (source)

Note that the Cherries ‘n Cream and Orange ‘n Cream flavors have very similar ingredients and are also generally considered vegan.

Is Virgil’s Cream Soda Vegan?

Virgil’s Cream Soda is generally considered vegan. It contains no dairy, egg, or other animal-derived ingredients. However, it does contain cane sugar, which may have been filtered with animal bone char.

Here are the full ingredients:

Virgil’s Handcrafted Vanilla Cream Soda Ingredients: Sparkling Filtered Water, Cane Sugar, Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Caramel Color. (source)

And here’s the ingredients for the zero-sugar version:

Virgil’s Zero Sugar Vanilla Cream Ingredients: Sparkling Filtered Water, Sweetener Blend (Erythritol, Stevia Leaf Extract, Monk Fruit Extract), Natural Flavors, Caramel Color, Citric Acid. (source)

Note: The Zero Sugar Orange Cream flavor has very similar ingredients and is also vegan.

Two More Recommendations for Your Plant-Based Journey

1. This is the best free video training I’ve found on plant-based nutrition. You’ll learn how to reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and obesity—all with plant-based food. Watch the free “Food for Health Masterclass” here.

2. This is the best vegan multivitamin I’ve found in my 14 years of being vegan. It has vitamin B12, vitamin D, omega-3—and nothing else. Translation: It only has the nutrients vegans are actually low in. Read my full review of Future Kind’s multivitamin here (with 10% discount).