Is Barilla Pasta Vegan? Here's What We Know

If you're a long-time vegan, you likely already have a running list of what foods and brands you can eat, and what you should probably steer clear of. At its most basic, dried, storebought pasta is usually made from durum wheat semolina flour, water, and sometimes salt. So, when you're shopping for it, you probably aren't giving the ingredients much thought. Aside from egg noodles, most pasta is considered safe for vegans to consume. But when it comes to a brand called Barilla, on the other hand, you should be giving the ingredient list a quick peek. As it turns out, some of its products contain eggs and milk.

Being the biggest pasta brand in the world, you've likely had a few helpings of Barilla pasta in your lifetime -- and might be freaking out after learning that some of its products may not be vegan. But you should know that most of Barilla's pasta products are. There are, however, a select few that aren't -- those being the Tortellini and the Protein Plus varieties. The Tortellini is a given, considering that its egg pasta is almost always stuffed with cheese. The Protein Plus line, however, raises some questions because it's made on equipment that also processes eggs and milk and therefore can't be certified vegan.

Read more: 44 Types Of Pasta And When You Should Be Using Them

What Are Your Vegan Pasta Options?

For many vegans, a food label that states that a product is processed on equipment that handles non-vegan ingredients and "might" contain something like eggs, milk, or fish, isn't much of an issue. If you're one of them, then you can carry on enjoying all of the Barilla Protein Plus pasta you like. The rest of you, however, may want to look into some other options — and, fortunately, there are many of them.

For one, you can enjoy most of Barilla's other products, including its spaghetti, rotini, and penne, among others. You can also reach for any of the brand's gluten-free pasta options, as they're all certified gluten-free and are therefore processed on separate equipment than any of their other, more glutenous products. Now, it's understandable if you're still a bit disappointed. It's no secret that those on plant-based diets have limited choices when it comes to vegan protein sources, and Barilla's Protein Plus line was a convenient option.

But luckily, there are many others. Barilla itself has a full line of chickpea and red lentil-based pasta alternatives, which provide a healthy addition of plant-based protein to all of your pasta dishes — without any mentions of possible cross-contamination. However, there are other brands, too. Banza is a notable one, selling bright orange boxes of chickpea-based pasta in all of your favorite forms. There's also GoodWheat, which makes its pasta from a wheat variety that delivers an impressive 9 grams of plant-based protein per serving.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.