Is Now and Later Vegan?

Now and Later is made by Ferrara Candy Company (a subsidiary of Ferrero). The product line has expanded significantly over the years and the different formats have meaningfully different ingredient lists.

The Original hard-chew squares (the classic individually wrapped pieces) contain corn syrup, sugar, palm oil, citric acid, salt, artificial flavor, soy lecithin, and artificial colors, no egg, no gelatin, no dairy. That version is vegan by ingredient list.

The Chewy Original Mix (the softer, more pliable version that is increasingly common in bulk bags and jars) adds egg white and potato starch to achieve its texture. That version is not vegan.

The Chewy Bites (candy-coated pellet style, sometimes called Shell Shocked) use a different base with gelatin in the shell, also not vegan. Some strict vegans flag the sugar because cane sugar in the US is sometimes processed through bone char filters, though this is an indirect concern and not unique to Now and Later.

Artificial colors like Red 40 and Yellow 5 are synthetic (not carmine) so they are vegan by current formulation. Palm oil is a common ethical concern for environmental reasons but is not an animal-derived ingredient.

Always check the label because Ferrara does reformulate products and the Chewy format has become dominant in retail.