Of all the things you might think of ditching when becoming vegan, cigarettes probably aren’t one of them. But are cigarettes vegan? We take a look at the ingredients, production and impact of cigarettes.

When transitioning to a vegan lifestyle, there are some very obvious changes that need to be made. For example, cutting out meat, dairy, eggs, and honey is the clearest first step. Following this, many people turn to things like their cosmetics, where they may find that a lot of products they use aren’t vegan-friendly. 

The next step may be things like clothing, avoiding leather and wool for example, but what about the smaller and more obscure things in many people’s day-to-day life that they might not have even considered.

Cigarettes certainly fall under this category. So, are cigarettes vegan and if not, why not? 

The truth is, for the most part, cigarettes are not vegan for a number of reasons:

Ingredients

Some ingredients found in many cigarettes are not part of the vegan lifestyle. From hydrolysed milk solids to beeswax, of the almost 600 ingredients in the average cigarette (yikes) there are some that just aren’t conducive to a vegan life.

Animal testing

One of the biggest reasons that many vegans turned to a plant-based lifestyle is due to wanting to reduce the harm their way of living is having on animals. While it’s often argued that living in the modern world naturally causes suffering to animals, going vegan is certainly one of the best ways to reduce your impact overall.

When someone isn’t eating animals and therefore not supporting the animal agriculture industry, the number of animals they save in just a year is astronomical.

However, even if you don’t eat animals or their byproducts, the things you buy can still cause harm to animals if they are tested on them. While many companies have come a long way in stopping the practice of testing their products on animals, others still do.

Many cigarette companies still test on animals today, meaning that, even without the ingredients being considered, they aren’t vegan.

Other considerations: The planet and your health

Although not technically a vegan issue, the fact that cigarettes have a detrimental impact on health and the environment, certainly doesn’t help as many people go vegan for environmental reasons and for their health. If you’re one of these individuals, smoking doesn’t fit well into your way of living. 

So, whether you’re a pack-per-day kind of person or just a social smoker, if you’re interested in living a vegan lifestyle, it may be time to quit.

If you’re curious about whether other things are vegan, check out are fireworks vegan? Should they go out with a bang?