Go on certain forums, and you’ll see claims that Crest contains pork, and isn’t vegan.
So I wanted to find out once and for all.
Table of Contents
Why Crest Might Not Be Vegan
I examined all the ingredients in various Crest toothpastes (we’ll go over them in a bit), and I had 3 main concerns:
- Glycerin – Glycerin can come from animal sources (like pork) or from plant sources. Only Crest would know.
- “Color” – Is included in multiple toothpastes, but it’s unclear what it means. Some colorings are not vegan.
- “Flavor” – Like color, it’s in multiple toothpastes and is vague. Some flavorings are vegan, and some are not.
So, I emailed Crest for clarification on those 3 ingredients, and got back a helpful response.
Each line of the response lines up to a question I asked in my initial message.
Is There Animal Glycerin in Crest?
Regarding glycerin…
There are no materials from animals in our toothpastes.
That’s a clear indication that there is not pork in Crest toothpastes, and that the glycerin comes from plant sources.
Artifical Colors in Crest Toothpast
Regarding “Color”…
Colors do indeed refer to common artificial colors like Blue #1 or Red #40.
This is what I suspected, and may or may not be a problem for you because artificial colors are controversial.
Here’s my full post on whether or not artificial colors are vegan, but the short answer is that while they aren’t made from animal products, they are often tested on animals (mainly due to concerns about if they cause health issues or not).
Personally, I don’t consider them vegan, but it’s up to you to decide if you’re okay with them. All Crest toothpastes have artificial colors in them, so this will decide if you’re okay with using Crest or not.
Flavoring Ingredients in Crest
Finally, regarding “flavor”:
Anything not listed more specifically on SmartLabel is proprietary to P&G.
Not super clear.
However, the only flavors that are not vegan are the ones derived from animal products, and since the response already clearly indicated that there are none, the “flavor” ingredient is a non-issue.
Summary:
- There is no pork or other animal products in any Crest toothpaste.
- There are artificial colors in all of their toothpastes. Some vegans avoid them, and some don’t, make your own call.
One More Issue: Crest Tests on Animals
As of now, Crest is known to test their products on animals.
So even if you’re okay with artificial colors, Crest toothpaste is not vegan. It’s the same reason why most teeth whitening strips are not vegan.
You might think, what’s wrong with brushing an animal’s teeth?
Unfortunately, that’s not what testing consists of. Crest hasn’t publicly made their testing procedure public, so unless they do that, we can only speculate.
However, the typical testing procedure for a product like this is to force animals to ingest it to determine where it makes them sick or kills them. That’s not vegan in any form.
Ingredients of Crest Toothpastes
You can look up all of these yourself on the Crest website. Just go to each toothpaste and click the link to the SmartLabel ingredients list. I thought I’d do the work for you and include the ingredients here for convenience.
Note that each toothpaste has flavor variations and what not, I just looked at the most popular ones.
Artificial colors are bolded.
| Toothpaste | Ingredients |
|---|---|
| Crest Pro-Health Toothpaste | Water, sorbitol, hydrated silica, sodium lauryl sulfate, carrageenan, sodium gluconate, flavor, xanthan gum, zinc citrate, stannous chloride, sodium hydroxide, sodium saccharin, color |
| Crest 3D White | Glycerin, hydrated silica, sodium hexametaphosphate, water, PEG-6, Flavor, Trisodium Phosphate, sodium lauryl sulfate, carrageenan, cocamidopropyl betaine, sodium saccharin, PEG-20M, xanthan gum, sucralose, titanium dioxide, mica, blue 1 |
| Crest Complete Whitening | Sodium fluoride, sorbitol, water, hydrated silica, flavor, disodium pyrophosphate, sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium saccharin, sodium hydroxide, carbomer, xanthan gum, cellulose gum, titanium dioxide, color |
| Crest sensitivity | Water, hydrated silica, glycerin, sorbitol, trisodium phosphate, sodium lauryl sulfate, flavor, cellulose gum, alcohol, xanthan gum, sodium saccharin, polysorbate 80, sodium benzoate, cetylpyridinium chloride, benzoic acid, titanium dioxide, color |
| Crest Gum Detoxify | Water, sorbitol, hydrated silica, sodium lauryl sulfate, carrageenan, sodium gluconate, flavor, xanthan gum, zinc citrate, stannous chloride, sodium hydroxide, sodium saccharin, color, sucralose, titanium dioxide |
If you have any questions about any of this, leave me a comment below :).
A Vegan Alternative to Crest Toothpaste
If you’re looking for a toothpaste that is clearly vegan, and contains fluoride (not all “natural” toothpastes do), I highly recommend Tom’s of Maine Natural Toothpaste with Baking Soda and Fluoride.
It’s the one I use now, and I’ve had no issues with it.
Another alternative is Colgate’s line of “Colgate Zero” products, which are all vegan.
I know this is in most toothpaste, but is fluoride necessary, bearing in mind it is poisonous, if you have high enough concentrations. Before you say medically effective doses , is it acceptable to put a poison in your mouth,considering this is a highly vascular area? As chemical engineer, what are your thoughts?
I would also like to commend you on your thorough research, well done.
Everything is “poisonous” if you consume it in a large enough amount, including water.
Dosage is the important part.
Fluoride in reasonable amounts is highly effective at preventing cavities, but getting too much can lead to dental fluorosis, which is particularly a concern for children during tooth formation.