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Milk bottle sweets
Small, white and shaped like old fashioned milk bottles, these chewy sweets taste of milk. Whether they actually contain any depends on the recipe, and three UK listings show how much that varies.
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Milk bottle sweets are small, white, chewy sweets shaped like old fashioned milk bottles, with a sweet, milky flavour. They are made in bottle shaped moulds like other gummy sweets: see how are milk bottle sweets made?
Three recipes
Barratt Milk Bottles, 150 g bag, as recorded by Open Food Facts. Glucose syrup, sugar, sweetened condensed milk (17 per cent, made from whole milk, sugar and lactose), maize starch, beef gelatine, flavouring and salt. The record was last updated in July 2026.
Barratt Milk Bottles, as listed by The Candy King. Sugar, glucose syrup, maize starch, beef gelatine, flavourings, palm, coconut and sunflower oils, and carnauba wax and beeswax as glazing agents. This listing includes no milk at all.
Morrisons Milk Bottles, 75 g, as recorded by Open Food Facts. Glucose syrup, sugar, modified potato starch, water, maize starch, maltodextrin, hydrolysed pea protein, potato protein, sunflower oil, flavouring, carnauba wax and beeswax, and caramelised sugar syrup. There is no milk and no gelatine.
Same name, different recipe
The two Barratt listings do not match: one lists condensed milk, and the other does not. The listings do not say whether one is out of date or whether they describe different products. Either way, the lesson for anyone with a milk allergy is plain: read the label on the sweets in front of you, not a list you remember: see how to read a sweet label and milk in sweets
Milk flavour without milk
Where there is no milk in the recipe, the milky taste comes from flavourings. The Morrisons recipe gets its chew from potato and maize starches, with pea and potato proteins, instead of gelatine. Starch based sweets use added protein like this to help them hold air: see what sweets are gelatine free?
Diet and allergy points
- Milk. The Barratt bag recipe contains milk, so it is not suitable for anyone with a milk allergy or for vegans.
- Gelatine. Both Barratt listings name beef gelatine, so those milk bottles are not suitable for vegetarians: see gelatine in sweets explained
- Beeswax. The Morrisons recipe has no gelatine, but its beeswax glaze means it is not vegan: see what is beeswax on sweets?
- Young children. The Candy King's Barratt listing says milk bottles are not suitable for children under 36 months, because of the risk of choking.
In our pick and mix
We sell 
Milk Bottles by the 100 g. Recipes differ between makers, so the card opens up to show the full ingredients and allergens for the milk bottles we actually stock.
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Questions and answers
Do milk bottle sweets contain milk?
Some do. An Open Food Facts record for a 150 g bag of Barratt milk bottles lists 17 per cent sweetened condensed milk. Other listings, including Morrisons' own label milk bottles, list no milk at all, so check the label.
Are milk bottle sweets vegetarian?
Not if they contain gelatine, and both Barratt listings here name beef gelatine. Morrisons' milk bottles, as recorded on Open Food Facts, list no gelatine, but they are glazed with beeswax.
Are milk bottle sweets vegan?
None of the recipes here is: two contain beef gelatine, and the Morrisons recipe uses beeswax as a glaze.
Are milk bottles safe for small children?
The Candy King's listing for Barratt milk bottles carries a choking warning: not suitable for children under 36 months.
Sources
- Barratt milk bottles, 150 g, product record, updated July 2026, Open Food Facts
- Milk bottles, Barratt, product listing, The Candy King
- Morrisons milk bottles, 75 g, product record, updated August 2026, Open Food Facts
- What are the different types of gummies?, Tanis Confectionery, May 2026
Keep reading
- How it is madeHow are milk bottle sweets made?Milk bottles are chewy white sweets cast in bottle shaped moulds. Some recipes use condensed milk and beef gelatine; others use starch and plant protein.
- Diet, allergens and labelsMilk in sweetsMilk is one of the 14 allergens. It turns up in chocolate, fudge, toffee, caramel and butterscotch, sometimes as milk powder or whey. How to spot it on a label.
- Diet, allergens and labelsGelatine in sweets explainedGelatine gives gummies and marshmallows their texture, and it melts below body temperature, which shapes how they feel in the mouth. Who avoids it.
- Questions people askWhat sweets are gelatine free?Boiled sweets, rock and sherbet rarely need gelatine, and some chewy sweets have dropped it, from Fruit Pastilles to Percy Pigs. How to check.
- Questions people askWhat is beeswax on sweets?Beeswax, E901, is the wax honey bees build their comb with. A thin coat gives sweets a shine and keeps moisture in. It is not vegan and cannot be digested.
- Diet, allergens and labelsHow to read a sweet labelWhat each part of a sweet label means: ingredients by weight, allergens in bold, E numbers, the nutrition table, legal warnings and when there is no date.