You may be familiar with energy drinks like Red Bull or Monster, but did you know that there’s a beverage that can give you more energy than these popular energy drinks?
Energy shots like 5-Hour Energy are known to give you a ton of energy in a single shot of the beverage, they’re usually contained in small bottles that provide a ton of caffeine. However, is it vegan?
The quick answer is that 5-Hour Energy is safe for vegans. Looking through the ingredients of 5-Hour Energy, there seem to be no animal products used by the energy shot company.
However, there might be exceptions to what I’ve stated above. If you want to find out what these exceptions are, keep on reading.
Contents
What Is Veganism?
It’s a form of diet where you do not consume any animal-based food products. People who adopt the dietary practice do so mainly for ethical, spiritual, or health reasons.
Some businesses are criticized by vegans on the grounds that the businesses test their products on animals and use animals to make their products as well.
The benefits of going vegan are listed down below.
- a vegan diet is richer in certain nutrients
- being vegan can help you lose excess weight
- veganism appears to lower blood sugar levels and improve kidney function
- a vegan diet may protect against certain cancers
- living a vegan life is linked to a lower risk of heart disease
- a vegan diet can reduce pain from arthritis
If you’re new to veganism and you want to try it out, here’s a video showing you what your body will feel like after being vegan:
5-Hour Energy Ingredients
To determine whether an energy shot is vegan, you should know what ingredients are made to make the beverage. Here’s a list showing the ingredients of 5-Hour Energy:
- Purified Water
- Natural and Artificial Flavors
- Sucralose
- Potassium Sorbate
- Sodium Benzoate
- EDTA
- Taurine
- Glucuronic Acid
- Malic Acid
- N-Actyel L-Tyrosine
- L-Phenylalanine
- Caffeine
- Citicoline
You can find a more detailed look at these ingredients in my 5 Hour Energy Caffeine and Ingredients article, which you’ll hopefully find useful.
What Makes an Energy Drink Vegan
Validations are needed for a beverage, like 5-Hour Energy, to determine whether the product is vegan or not. Companies should also confirm that their products like food, clothing, or beverage are safe for vegans to either use or consume.
Vegan Certification
Animal ingredients during the process of making the product aren’t allowed when it comes to being certified as a vegan product, vegans also don’t allow or tolerate animal testing on products since it’s still considered animal exploitation.
Vegan.org is a reliable source that informs you on why being vegan is important and which brands are vegan-friendly.
Vegan Label
Also known as v-labels, vegan labels are stamped onto products that have been certified vegan by vegan certification agencies like vegan.org. It shows that the product not only contains zero animal-based products but free from animal testing as well.
Although there are energy drinks that are labeled and certified as safe for vegans, you may be baffled on why other energy drinks don’t have vegan labels despite not having a trace of ingredients that are made from animals.
There are various reasons that can explain this matter. First and foremost, a few energy drink brands or energy shot brands neglect the notion of certifying their products as vegan-friendly.
There are also brands like Red Bull that don’t put certifications on their product, but instead validate it on their website that Red Bull is safe for vegans. Lastly, a few beverage companies may contain ingredients that have undergone animal testing, like food dyes and flavorings.
Splenda has been rumored to be an ingredient that has been involved in animal testing. Splenda is a popular sucralose brand, an ingredient you often see in an energy shot like 5-Hour Energy. So if you live a strict vegan life, beverages that contain sucralose might not be a good option for you.
Vegan Energy Drinks and Other Beverages That Are Vgean
If you want to see a list of energy drinks and other beverages that are considered safe for vegans, here’s a list:
- Classic Monster Energy
- Java Monster
- Juice Monster
- Monster Hydro
- Monster Ultra
- Rockstar Zero Carb
- Power Dream Soy Energy Drink
- Sambazon Amazon Energy
- Sambazon Amazon Energy
- Wonder Drink Kombucha
- Chameleon Cold-Brew Coffee
- Rise Brewing Co. Nitro Cold Brew Coffee Oat Milk Latte
- G.O.A.T Fuel
- Mati Energy
- Celsius
- Ali Nu
- Boost
- Emerge
- Lucozade
Vegan Ingredients in 5-Hour Energy
| Ingredients | Properties | Source | Is It Vegan? |
| Acesulfame Potassium | Artificial Sweetener | Synthetic | Yes |
| Sucralose | Artificial Sweetener | Synthetic | It Depends Since Animal Testing Might Be Used on the Process |
| Caffeine | Stimulant | Synthetic | Yes |
| Sodium Benzoate | Preservative | Synthetic | Yes |
| EDTA | help preserve food; and to promote the color, texture, and flavor of food. | Synthetic | Yes |
| Taurine | Amino acid; helps stimulate metabolism. | Synthetic | Yes |
| Glucuronic Acid | Increase energy levels and improve alertness. | Synthetic | Yes |
| Malic Acid | Food additive, adds a sour taste | Synthetic/Plant-Based | Yes |
| N-Actyel L-Tyrosine | Amino acid; protein supplement | Synthetic | Yes |
| L-Phenylalanine | Essential Amino Acid | Synthetic | Yes |
| Citicoline | Possibly improve memory, thinking and brain function. | Synthetic | Yes |
| Choline | Muscle growth and delaying fatigue. | Synthetic | Yes |
Caffeine
Caffeine is important in making 5-Hour Energy, it’s the ingredient that allows you to get a temporary boost throughout the day. It acts as an adenosine receptor antagonist which basically means that caffeine prevents you from feeling sleepy.
The benefits you can get from caffeine are:
- Improved cognition
- Weight loss
- Alertness
- Improves physical performance
- Reduced inflammation
- Lowered the risk of chronic diseases
A regular 1.93 fl.oz shot of 5-Hour Energy has 200mg of caffeine, which is a high amount of caffeine. The recommended intake of caffeine is 400mg and drinking two bottles of 5-Hour Energy will prevent you from consuming other caffeinated products like coffee, chocolate, and tea.
Despite the benefits that caffeine offers your body, too much caffeine can lead to side effects like:
- Dizziness
- Diarrhea
- Increased thirst
- Insomnia
- Headache
- Irregular or Fast Heartbeat
- Nausea
- Fever
- Irritability
Ingredients in 5-Hour Energy That May Not Be Vegan
Sucralose
As you can see on the table I showed a while ago, sucralose is controversial on whether it’s considered vegan or not.
There are no official statements from 5-Hour Energy if the sucralose contained in 5-Hour Energy has been tested on animals. If you’re not strict in your diet, then drinking 5-Hour Energy is fine. However, if you’re a strict vegan, then 5-Hour Energy may not be a good option for you.
5-Hour Energy Flavors
You might think that 5-Hour Energy only has one flavor since you often see just one flavor in the convenience stores you’ve visited, but there are actually a ton of flavors for you to choose!
5-Hour Energy have regular strength flavors and extra strength flavors, here’s a list showing those flavors:
Regular Strength Flavors
- Berry (Regular Strength)
- Pomegranate
- Orange (Regular Strength)
- Pink Lemonade
- Grape (Regular Strength)
Extra Strength Flavors
- Strawberry Watermelon
- Watermelon
- Strawberry Banana
- Peach Mango
- Pink Watermelon
- Pineapple Apricot
- Sour Apple
- Cherry
- Orange (Extra Strength)
- Ultra Orange
- Tropical Burst
- Grape (Extra Strength)
- Cool Mint Lemonade
- Blue Raspberry
- Berry (Extra Strength)
Is 5-Hour Energy Drink Vegan-Friendly?
5-Hour Energy Drink is okay when it comes to a beverage that contains no trace of ingredients that contains animals, but the sucralose in 5-Hour Energy may make you think twicem since it’s often said that the popular sweetener has undergone animal testing.
If your reason for being vegan is merely for health benefits, then consuming 5-Hour Energy Drink occasionally is alright. Nonetheless, it’s really you who has the final decision on whether you should drink 5-Hour Energy or just opt for energy drinks and energy shots that are labeled as vegan-friendly.
Conclusion: Is 5-Hour Energy Vegan?
5-Hour Energy doesn’t have an official vegan label, and there may be several possible reasons it doesn’t but we won’t get into it for now simply because we don’t know all the facts.
Most food and beverage brands don’t disclose what they really put into their product because they don’t want to jeopardize their image. The truth is any number of ingredients can have unknown or dubious sources.
Veganism is just one of many dietary practices that have put F&B brands in the spotlight after reading nutrition labels became “trendy”. Before the health food industry blew up, people didn’t really care what goes into their favorite food products.
Even if you’re not vegan, it’s important to know what companies use as their ingredients. This is why I write articles about energy drinks because the industry has managed to fly under the radar even with all the issues it’s experienced.
If you want to know more about whether you should make 5-Hour Energy part of your daily life, check out my other articles.