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Is Dole Whip Vegan? The Truth Revealed

Wondering if Dole Whip is vegan? We break down the ingredients and reveal whether this iconic Disney treat is compatible with a plant-based diet.

Sep 3, 2025

by Megan McFadden

The Pineapple Swirl Everyone's Talking About

Dole Whip is the (pine)apple of Disney's eye. This creamy, dreamy soft serve has been whipping up smiles since the 1980s. Despite being dairy-free, it's become a favorite treat for park-goers and pineapple lovers alike.

But when it comes to being vegan, does this swirl live up to the hype or is it just all whip and no truth?

A Scoop of Thanks to Kathy Westphal

Before we talk about the scoop on Dole Whip, let's talk about the inventor behind it: Kathy Westphal. She is a 1982 graduate of UC Davis with a Bachelor of Science in Food Science and Technology, and she invented Dole Whip in 1983.

Shortly after starting at Dole Food Company as a Food Technologist, she was assigned the task of creating a frozen fruity dessert at Disney World in Florida. Due to the booth's lack of refrigeration and Florida's hot weather, it had to be dairy-free and a dry mixture to prevent it from going bad. A year later, the formulation was completed.

Dole Whip debuted in Magic Kingdom Park in 1984 as Dole Pineapple Whip. It became available at Disneyland Park in 1986. Kathy Westphal left Dole Food Company in 1987. Besides a year at Venezia Italian Foods as a Food Technologist, she spent the remainder of her career at Mattson as a Senior Food Technologist until retiring in 2023.

Today, even though she developed many foods over the course of her career, she is most known for Dole Whip. Here is more information about it.

Samples of Dole Soft Serve (aka Dole Whip)

What's in Dole Soft Serve, and Is It Vegan?

Dole Soft Serve, also known as Dole Whip, is the dairy-free frozen treat that you can find all over Disney. Nowadays, I can buy Dole soft serve locally at Menchie's Frozen Yogurt, a ice cream shop, and the nearby Lost Island Themepark.

If it's not obvious enough by the photo from Menchie's, all Dole Soft Serve flavors are dairy-free and vegan. They are also kosher, gluten-free, and cholesterol-free. In addition to pineapple, Dole Soft Serve is also available in peach, pomegranate, raspberry, cherry, watermelon, lime, strawberry, lemon, orange, and mango flavors.

If you want more concrete, factual data to back this up, you are welcome to check out the following information provided by Dole Food Company through their Dole Soft Serve website.

Dole Soft Serve Nutritional Facts (Sept. 2025)

in case you want further proof about Dole Soft Serve being vegan

Dole Soft Serve Nutritional Facts (Sept. 2025).pdf

848 KB

What's in Dole Whip Frozen Treat, and Is It Vegan?

Back in March 2025, I visited Hy-Vee and noticed Dole Whip Frozen Treats in the freezer section for the first time. Unfortunately, I was disappointed that all three flavors (strawberry, mango, and pineapple) weren't vegan due to containing honey.

In short, honey isn't vegan because bees produce it for their own nourishment, not for human use. Vegans avoid it to prevent exploitation and harm to bees, choosing alternatives like maple syrup, agave nectar, or date syrup instead.

Fortunately, Dole Food Company changed the formula, and as of this summer, store-bought Dole Whip Frozen Treat is also vegan. It comes in two flavors: pineapple and mango.

The only red flag I saw with looking at the pineapple flavor was that it contained milk in the allergen information, even though there weren't any milk or dairy derivatives in the ingredient list and it was labeled dairy-free. I contacted Dole Food Company about that, and I will keep you posted when I hear back from them.

Verdict on the Dole Whip

I'm happy that all Dole Whip options are now vegan. Note, you might see some old products that contain honey in the frozen section of the grocery store for the next few months. Hopefully, all of those products will be purchased by the end of this year.

Do your part and contact your local grocery stores, frozen yogurt and ice cream shops, amusement parks, movie theatres, and more and help this dairy-free and vegan option spread like wildfire. I tried their pineapple, raspberry, and lemon flavors and loved them.

Vegan or not, life's always better with a swirl of Dole Whip. Until next time!