Get the brief

Is it vegan?

Last reviewed August 22, 2026

Hyaluronic acid

Hyaluronic acid used to mean an extract from a rooster's comb, but most of what is sold today is grown by fermenting bacteria in a tank, and only the second kind is vegan.

Where it hides

  • Skincare serums, moisturisers and lip fillers
  • Joint-health and dry-eye supplements
  • Dermal filler injections
  • Labelled "hyaluronic acid" or "sodium hyaluronate", rarely with a source

What it is

Hyaluronic acid is a long sugar molecule the body already makes, prized in skincare and joint supplements for how much water it can hold. For decades the commercial supply came from a genuinely animal source.

Primary source 01 / 01

Traditionally HA was extracted from rooster combs, and now it is mainly produced via streptococcal fermentation.

Liu, Liu, Li, Du and Chen biotechnology researchers, Microbial Cell Factories (peer-reviewed review) Microbial production of hyaluronic acid: current state, challenges, and perspectives, 2011

Rooster combs, the fleshy crest on top of a rooster's head, are unusually rich in hyaluronic acid, which made them a practical raw material before fermentation technology existed. That extraction process is difficult to purify and carries a small risk of viral contamination, which pushed the industry towards a cleaner alternative.

How it is made now

Growing Streptococcus bacteria in a fermentation tank and harvesting the hyaluronic acid the bacteria produce as they multiply is now the dominant production method worldwide, and no rooster or any other animal is involved. Rooster-comb extraction has not disappeared entirely, though, and it still turns up in some supplements and pharmaceutical-grade products, particularly where a manufacturer has not switched suppliers.

How to tell which one you are buying

A tube of serum or a bottle of joint capsules will usually say "hyaluronic acid" or "sodium hyaluronate" and stop there, with nothing to flag whether it came from a fermentation tank or a rooster. The practical workaround is to look for a brand that states its hyaluronic acid is vegan or fermentation-derived outright, since a manufacturer using the animal-free version has every commercial reason to say so; silence on the point is not proof either way, but it is the closest thing to a clue a label gives.

  • Glucosamine The joint supplement most people reach for is usually built from crab and shrimp shells. A corn-fermented vegan version exists, but it is the exception, so the default bottle is off the menu.
  • Chondroitin Chondroitin is cartilage in a capsule: cow windpipe, pig ears and noses, shark and fish. Unlike its shelf-mate glucosamine, it has no easy plant version, so the supplement is animal through and through.
  • Collagen Collagen is the scaffolding of animal bodies: skin, bone, connective tissue. There is no plant version, so every real collagen supplement is animal-derived, and vegan collagen is a different thing wearing the same name.

Frequently asked

Is hyaluronic acid always vegan now?

No, though it usually is. Bacterial fermentation makes most of the hyaluronic acid sold today and involves no animal, but rooster-comb extraction is still used by some suppliers, and a product rarely states its source outright.

Why was hyaluronic acid ever made from rooster combs?

A rooster's comb is unusually concentrated in hyaluronic acid, which made it a practical raw material before fermentation technology existed and put a slaughterhouse by-product to use.

Does 'sodium hyaluronate' mean something different from 'hyaluronic acid'?

Not for sourcing purposes. Sodium hyaluronate is simply the salt form of hyaluronic acid, more stable and easier to formulate, and it can come from either fermentation or rooster combs just like the acid form.

The sources

What each verdict rests on. Read them yourself.

Read the label with us, every morning.

The same clear-eyed sourcing behind these verdicts, applied to each day’s news: what actually moved veganism forward, quoted and checked before you read it. One short brief, free.

Free, every morning. No guilt. No preaching.