What plain dried pasta contains
Italian law defines the plain kind, pasta di semola di grano duro, by its dough. The dough is prepared exclusively with durum wheat semolina and water. Garofalo's No. 9 spaghetti lists just '100% Durum Wheat Semolina' on its product page, as of 7 November 2026.
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i prodotti ottenuti dalla trafilazione, laminazione e conseguente essiccamento di impasti preparati rispettivamente ed esclusivamente: a) con semola di grano duro ed acqua
A pasta made this way is the plain kind. The rest of this page covers the versions that add something, and the egg is the one that changes the answer.
Egg pasta is where the egg goes
Article 8 of the same law covers egg pasta, and the egg is written into the definition. It requires at least four whole hen's eggs, and at least 200 grams of egg for every kilogram of semolina.
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La pasta all'uovo deve essere prodotta esclusivamente con semola e almeno quattro uova intere di gallina, prive di guscio, per un peso complessivo non inferiore a duecento grammi di uovo per ogni chilogrammo di semola.
Dried does not mean egg-free. Article 8 also sets a moisture ceiling for egg pasta, so dried egg pasta is part of the law. Article 9 applies Articles 6 to 8 to fresh pasta, apart from moisture and acidity, which puts fresh egg pasta under the same egg rule. The law also lets liquid egg product, made only from whole hen eggs, stand in for the eggs.
The US standard starts from the egg
The federal standard for noodle products is built around egg. Eggs are a required ingredient, and at least 5.5 percent of the solids, by weight, must come from egg or egg yolk. The standard's names include 'noodles' and 'egg noodles', so a product that meets the standard has egg in it.
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The total solids of noodle products contains not less than 5.5 percent by weight of the solids of egg, or egg yolk.
Macaroni is the other standard, and it leaves room for egg white. Dried macaroni products are made with water and semolina, durum flour or other flours, and the standard lets them add egg white as an optional ingredient.
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Egg white, frozen egg white, dried egg white, or any two or all of these, in such quantity that the solids thereof are not less than 0.5 percent and not more than 2.0 percent of the weight of the finished food.
So read the list on dried pasta too. Egg white in a box of macaroni is optional under the standard, but it is still egg.
Filled pasta has two lists
Ravioli, tortellini and other filled pasta have a dough and a filling, and either can carry animal ingredients. Buitoni's Four Cheese Ravioli lists ricotta, mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano and Asiago in its filling, and eggs in its dough, as of 7 November 2026. Its Parmigiano Reggiano is listed with rennet, the question covered on the rennet page.
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FILLING: RICOTTA CHEESE (PASTEURIZED MILK, PASTEURIZED WHEY, VINEGAR, SALT)... DOUGH: WHEAT FLOUR, DURUM WHEAT SEMOLINA, EGGS, WATER, SALT, BETA CAROTENE COLOR.
Filled pasta is vegan only when the dough and the filling both are. The word 'ravioli' on the pack says nothing about either.
Squid ink is an animal product
Squid-ink pasta gets its black from ink, and the ink comes from a cephalopod. Garofalo's Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia lists '4% Sepia ink' among its ingredients, as of 7 November 2026. A review of cephalopod ink describes the cuttlefish as Sepia officinalis.
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Ink sac from the cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis
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The ink sac with its ink gland produces a black ink containing melanin
The black comes from an animal's ink sac, so squid-ink pasta is not vegan, whatever sauce it is served with.
How to read the label
Start with the ingredient list, not the name or the picture. For egg, look for 'egg', 'eggs', 'egg yolk' and 'egg white'. In Italian, look for uova, and for the words pasta all'uovo, the name the law gives egg pasta. Liquid egg product can stand in for whole eggs under the Italian rule, so it counts as egg too.
For squid ink, look for 'squid ink', 'cuttlefish ink', 'Sepia ink' and 'nero di seppia'. Dried or fresh, the list decides, and one egg in it is enough.