It’s that time of year when the aisles of stores become filled with bags of bite-size candies. Ever since my kids started getting candy from trick-or-treating, I’ve been trying to figure out which candy has gluten and which doesn’t. It was easy in the beginning because they didn’t really get much candy, and I could always just throw it out (or give away to non-celiacs) without them realizing it. Then, I found the list that circulates around the web every year. It’s a list that Melonie Katz and many other parents of celiac children put together. They combined resources to look up ingredients and call companies to get a list of safe and unsafe candies for celiacs. Here is the 2009 GF Candy List .
Then, my kids started having Halloween parties at school, and getting more candy from trick-or-treating. Sometimes, they would get some unusual candies that you only see at Halloween time. They are a little more difficult to look up online. As a result, I just started reading all the packages of candy in stores. I started doing it just casually, out of curiosity. Then, I started to write it down, so I could better remember come Halloween night. Now, I go to several stores (grocery, discount, dollar, etc.) to see what candy our neighbors and classmates might be offering for Halloween treats.
Here is the list I’ve compiled to share with you. The safe candy/treats are determined safe by me based on reading the ingredients, allergy statements, and cross-contamination warnings on the packages of candy I found in the stores in our area. It’s always best if you can check the ingredients of the candy yourself because it can vary if they were packaged or manufactured in different facilities or on different dates. But, if you can’t find it, I hope these lists can offer you some peace of mind. If you have any corrections or additions to make to the list, please put them in the comments so that others may benefit from the information.
Gluten-Free (Safe) Candy and Treats
- 3 Musketeers fun size
- 3 Musketeers Mint with dark chocolate
- Act II Popcorn Balls
- Albert’s Gummy Eyeballs
- Albert’s Iced Halloween pops (lollipops)
- Almond Joy fun size bars
- Baby Ruth fun size
- Bazooka Big Mix (includes bubble gum, bubble gum filled candy, candy chews, and bubble gum filled lollipops)
- Betty Crocker Fruit by the Foot Wicked Webs Berry Wave mini feet
- Betty Crocker Halloween fruit flavored snacks – “Gluten Free”
- Bit•O•Honey
- Butterfinger fun size
- Big Blow bubblegum
- Black Forest Gummy Tarantulas
- Black Forest Gummy Fun Bugs Juicy Oozers
- Bubbly lollipop + gum
- Candy Checkers (made for Target)
- Caramel Apple Pops (lollipops made by Tootsie Roll)
- Charleston Chew fun size
- Charms Blow Pops
- Charms Candy Carnival Package (Blow Pops, Sugar Babies, Zip a Dee mini pops, Sugar Daddy, Pops, Sugar Mama Caramel, Tear Jerkers sour bubble gum, Blow Pop Bubble Gum)
- Charms Fluffy Stuff Spider Web cotton candy
- Chewy Lemonheads and Friends
- Child’s Play
- Colombina Scary Eyeballs bubblegum
- Colombina Fizzy Pops
- Comix Mix Candy Sticks (Tom and Jerry, Flintstones, Scooby Doo, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Popeye) – “Gluten Free”
- Cracker Jack caramel coated popcorn and peanuts
- Disney Halloween Candy Mix (jelly beans, gummies, candy bracelets and candy characters from Cars, Tinkerbell and Toy Story)
- Dove pieces (Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate, Caramel Milk Chocolate)
- Dots Gumdrops – including Candy Corn Dots (candy corn flavored), Ghost Dots (assorted fruit flavored), and Bat Dots (blood orange flavored)
- Dubble Bubble bubblegum
- Dum Dum Lollipops (including Shrek Pops) – “This product does not contain peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat or gluten. It has been manufactured on dedicated equipment.”
- Dum Dum Chewy Pops – “This product does not contain peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat or gluten. It has been manufactured on dedicated equipment.”
- Farley’s Kiddie Mix (includes Smarties, SweetTarts, Now and Later, Jaw Breakers, Super Bubble and Lolli-pops)
- Ferrara Pan Caramels
- Ferrara Pan Lemonhead & Friends candy mix (includes Applehead, Cherryhead, Grapehead, Chewy Lemonhead & Friends, Chewy Atomic Fireball, and Red Hots)
- Florida’s Natural Healthy Treats Nuggets, Sour String, Fruit Stiks – “Gluten Free”
- Fright Fingers Popcorn Kit
- Frankford’s Bugs Gummy Candy
- Frankford’s Gummy Body Parts
- Frankford’s Marshmallow Pals
- Game Night boxes of candy game pieces (includes Operation, Sorry!, Monopoly, Life, and Clue)
- Grave Gummies (Yummy Gummies)
- Gummy Pirate Choppers
- Heath milk chocolate English toffee bar snack size
- Hershey’s Bliss (Milk Chocolate, Milk Chocolate with Almonds, Milk Chocolate with Meltaway Center, White Chocolate with Meltaway Center, Milk Chocolate with Raspberry Meltaway Center, Dark Chocolate)
- Hershey’s Kisses (Candy Corn flavored candy, Caramel, Caramel Apple flavored filling, Milk Chocolate, Chocolate Meltaway, Pumpkin Spice, Hugs, Hugs & Kisses, Cherry Cordial Creme, Milk Chocolate with Almonds, Special Dark)
- Hershey’s Milk Chocolate snack size bars
- Hershey’s Milk Chocolate with Almonds snack size bars
- Hershey’s Mr. Goodbar fun size
- Hershey’s Nuggets (Milk Chocolate, Milk Chocolate with Almonds, Milk Chocolate with Toffee and Almonds, Special Dark, Special Dark with Almonds)
- Hot Tamales – “Gluten Free”
- Humphrey Popcorn Balls
- Jolly Rancher hard candy and Doubles Candy
- Jolly Rancher lollipops and sticks
- Jr. Mints fun size
- Jujyfruits
- Kellogg’s Spongebob Squarepants fruit flavored snacks
- Kraft Jet-Puffed Boo Mallows marshmallows
- Lemonheads
- LiveSavers Gummies
- M&M’s (original, peanut, peanut butter)
- Mallo Cup
- Marvel Heroes Candy Sticks (Hulk, Spiderman, Wolverine) – “Gluten Free.”
- Melster Peanut Butter Kisses
- Milk Duds
- Mike and Ike – “Gluten Free”
- Mini Mentos
- Mini Sour Dudes Straws
- Monstaz Pops (jack-o-lantern lollipops)
- Monster Hunt plastic monster eggs filled with candy bones, skulls and pumpkins (made for Target)
- Mounds dark chocolate fun size bars
- Mr. Goodbar
- Necco’s Sky Bar 4 in 1 chocolate bar
- Nestle Milk Chocolate fun size bars
- Nestle Raisinets (milk chocolate) fun size
- Now and Later
- Operation Gummy Candy
- Palmer Peanut Butter Cups
- Pay Day peanut caramel bar snack size
- Peanut M&M’s
- Pearson’s Bun candy - maple and roasted peanuts
- Peeps Jack-o-lanterns, Ghosts and Chocolate Mousse Cats – “Gluten Free”
- Pez candy – “Gluten Free”
- Pop Rocks
-
Rain•Blo Bubble Gum Eyes of Terror
- Raisinets
- Reese’s Fast Break candy bars and snack size
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups snack size and miniatures
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins
- Reese’s Pieces
- Reese’s Select Peanut Butter Cremes
- Reese’s Select Clusters
- Reese’s Whipps
- Rolo chocolate covered carmels
- Sixlets
- Skeleton Pops (lollipops)
- Skittles fun size – “Gluten Free”
- Skittles Crazy Cores fun size – “Gluten Free”
- Skittles Sour fun size – “Gluten Free”
- Smarties (this is the small candies sold in rolls, not Nestle’s chocolate candies) – “Contains none of the following: gluten (from wheat, barley, oats and rye), milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, or soy beans.”
- Snickers fun size and mini’s
- Snickers Fudge bar mini’s
- Sour Patch
- Starburst Fruit Chews fun size – “Gluten Free”
- Starburst Gummibursts and Sour Gummibursts – “Gluten Free”
- Sugar Babies
- Sugar Daddy Caramel Pops
- Super Bubble bubble gum
- Swedish Fish treat size
- Sweethearts conversation hearts Forbidden Fruits (candy packaging of The Twilight Saga, New Moon the movie)
- Sweet’s Candy Corn Taffy – “This product is Gluten Free”
- Tootsie Pops (original and miniatures)
- Tootsie Rolls midgies and snack bars
- Transformers Candy Mix (gummy shields, fruit chews, candy shields, gum rocks)
- Warheads (Extreme Sour hard candy and Sour QBZ chewy cubes)
- Wonka Chocolate Laffy Taffy
- Wonka Giant Chewy Nerds Jelly Beans
- Wonka Giant Pixy Stix
- Wonka Laffy Taffy Ropes
- Wonka Mix-Ups
- Wonka Monster Mix-Ups (SweetTarts Skulls and Bones, Spooky Nerds, Howlin’ Laffy Taffy)
- Wonka Nerds (cross contamination warning on the Spooky Nerds orange and fruit punch flavors)
- Wonka Pixy Stix
- Wonka SweetTarts
- Wonka SweetTarts Boo Bag Mix (SweetTart Chews were OK, but other packages in the bag were labeled with a cross-contamination warning. See list below.)
- X-scream Mouth Morphers Fruit Gushers – “Gluten Free”
- York Peppermint Patties Pumpkins
- Zed Candy Skulls and Bones (fruit flavored hard candy)
.
Unsafe Candy and Treats (may contain gluten)
- 100 Grand – contains barley malt
- Air Heads – “Manufactured in a facility that processes wheat flour.”
- Brach’s Autumn Mix – “Packaged on equipment that also packages products containing traces of milk, egg, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts and/or soy protein.”
- Brach’s Candy Corn – “Packaged on equipment that also packages products containing traces of milk, egg, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts and/or soy protein.”
- Brach’s Caramel Candy Corn – “Packaged on equipment that also packages products containing traces of milk, egg, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts and/or soy protein.”
- Brach’s Mellowcreme Pumpkins – “Packaged on equipment that also packages products containing traces of milk, egg, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts and/or soy protein.”
- Brach’s Milk Maid Caramel Apple Candy Corn – “Packaged on equipment that also packages products containing traces of milk, egg, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts and/or soy protein.”
- Chex Mix – contains wheat
- Chuckles Ju Jubes – “Packed on equipment that also packages products containing traces of milk, egg, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, and/or soy protein.”
- Clark Bar Wicked Mix (includes mini Clark, Dark Clark, Clark Coconut and Clark Peanut Butter Crunch) – contains malt flavoring, peanuts, milk, soy, wheat and barley. “Processed in a facility that also processes eggs and tree nuts.”
- Farley’s Chewy Mix (includes Caramel Creams, Bit-O-Honey, Slo Poke and Assorted Toffees) – contains wheat flour
- Farley’s Harvest Mix and Candy Corn – “Packaged on equipment that also packages products containing traces of milk, egg, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts and/or soy protein.”
- Goetze’s Caramel Creams – contains wheat flour
- Good & Plenty – Thanks to Alice for alerting us to the change. My research found that this product was previously gluten-free, but was changed in 2008. You may still find some that are gluten-free in discount stores. However, any that were produced in 2009 contain wheat.
- Hershey’s Cookies & Creme snack size bars – contains wheat flour
- Hershey’s Kisses Cookies and Creme – contains wheat flour
- Hershey’s miniatures – “May contain wheat.”
- Hershey’s Take 5 Bar – contains wheat flour
- Keebler Gripz Chips Deluxe cookies – contains wheat flour
- Kit Kat snack size – contains wheat flour
- Lindt milk chocolate with smooth filling truffle balls with jack-o-lantern wrapping – contains barley malt powder
- Milky Way fun size and mini’s – contains malted barley
- Mini Oreo packs – contains wheat flour
- Nestle Crunch fun size – contains barley malt; “Made on equipment that also processes peanuts, nuts and wheat“
- Nestle Crunch Crisp – contains wheat flour and barley malt
- Palmer Bag of Boo’s fudge bars – “Manufactured on equipment which also processes peanuts, wheat, and tree nuts”
- Palmer Double Crisp Googly Eyes – contains barley malt; “Manufactured on equipment which also processes peanuts, wheat, and tree nuts”
- Palmer Double Crisp Monster Munny – contains barley malt; “Manufactured on equipment which also processes peanuts, wheat, and tree nuts”
- Palmer Fright Bites (vampire teeth) – “Manufactured on equipment which also processes peanuts, wheat, and tree nuts”
- Palmer Ghostly Goodies – contains barley malt; “Manufactured on equipment which also processes peanuts, wheat, and tree nuts”
- Palmer Tricky Treats (mix of Googly Eyes, Boneheads, and Pumpkin Patch chocolate candies) – “Manufactured on equipment which also processes wheat, peanut butter and tree nuts.”
- Pepperidge Farm Goldfish cheddar crackers – contains wheat flour
- Quaker Chewy Fright Night Chocolate Chip granola bars – contains rolled oats, malted barley, whole grain rolled wheat, whole wheat flour
- Reese’s Sticks wafer bars – contains wheat flour
- Rice Krispies Treats mini squares – contains malt flavoring
- Ritz Bits peanut butter sandwiches – contains wheat flour
- Russel Stover’s Assorted Chocolates – “Products have been produced on shared equipment with peanuts, tree nuts, eggs and wheat.”
- Spongebob Squarepants Gummy Krabby Patties – “Manufactured in a facility that processes peanuts, almonds, wheat, and eggs.”
- Snyder’s Pretzel snack sacks – contains wheat flour
- Stauffer’s Animal Crackers – contains wheat flour
- Teddy Grahams packs – contains wheat flour
- Trolli gummy candy Sour Frite Crawlers – “Packaged on equipment that also packages products containing traces of milk, egg, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts and/or soy protein.”
- Twix fun size – contains wheat flour
- Twizzlers – contains wheat flour
- Utz Halloween Pretzel treats – contains wheat flour and malt syrup (derived from barley)
- Whoppers – contains barley malt and wheat flour
- Wonka Spooky Nerds orange and fruit punch flavors – “Made in a facility that also processes wheat and egg.”
- Wonka SweetTarts Boo Bag – (Packages of SweetTarts, SweetTarts Twist and Mini Chewy SweetTarts were labeled with “Made in a facility that also processes egg and wheat.”)
Have a Safe and Happy Gluten-Free Halloween!





18 Comments
October 3rd, 2009 at 3:19 am
I don’t have kids but love that you do this for them. It’s fabulous and so helpful!
October 4th, 2009 at 1:51 am
I know this list took a lot of time and work to put together, but it is a fantastic resource for teachers, friends and families of kids who have celiac or other food allergies that require them to live gluten-free.
Great work!
October 5th, 2009 at 3:50 am
[...] goodies. I made my trek to the stores last week to check out the Halloween candy and posted a list of gluten-free candy. This week, I’m going to the pumpkin farm where my daughter and I will eat apples and kettle [...]
October 5th, 2009 at 7:39 am
Great lists! This will really help moms too.
October 26th, 2009 at 9:51 am
[...] dinner. If you’re sorting out the gluten-free candy tonight and need some help, check out the gluten-free candy list I [...]
October 26th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Good and Plenty is NOT gluten free! Wheat is the 3rd ingredient – sugar, corn syrup, WHEAT FLOUR! Almost all licorice contains wheat flour. Please take this off your list!
October 27th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
[...] Celiac Family: “Safe Gluten-Free Halloween Candy“ [...]
October 29th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Thanks for putting this together! What a great list. I just found out that one of the girls we invited to our Halloween party has Celiac’s disease. I plan on printing this list (both lists acutally) just to have on hand. Hopefully her mom will feel a little better about leaving her with us too!!
October 29th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Gina – I’m happy I could help! How great of you to be concerned about your celiac guests.
October 31st, 2009 at 5:51 am
The team at myGlutenFacts.com have developed the most comprehensive 2009 GF Candy List (over 1700 candies sold in the USA & Canada).
You can browse through the list by category, brand, GF Status or even by keyword. Every product has a dated GF Statement and GF Meter ranking, so you can easily tell which products are made in a gluten free facility.
It’s ideal to go through those bags of candy since it only takes a few seconds to get the information you need.
October 31st, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Thank you so much for this list! It is very helpful to me. I have to try and track down everything! My daughter is allergic to peanuts, soy & eggs so Halloween is a scary time of year for us in more than one way! Thanks again!
November 7th, 2009 at 8:37 am
you are awesome
December 23rd, 2009 at 9:26 am
[...] drops, M&Ms, candy-canes, and some holiday-shaped marshmallows. Of course, you can use whatever gluten-free candy you have [...]
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:30 pm
ALRIGHT EVERYONE. I know that whoever made this was trying to help, but MOST of these items HAVE GLUTEN in them, in some form or the other. For example, candy canes are often rolled in flour before being wrapped, so they won’t stick together or to other things. Another issue is that companies will often have new leadership which will change ingredients or proccesses of manufacter and a previously gluten-free product will now contain gluten. Take Cadbury Eggs, for example. They were gluten free for so many years, and now they contain gluten. As for Hershey’s, the only Hershey’s products that are now safe for people with gluten sensitivities are their plain chocolates and jolly ranchers. M&Ms – the only ones that are currently “gluten-free” are the crunchy ones.
Most candies (and nuts) sold in packaging are processed in a factory and some type of “gluten”, i.e. flour is added to them after the processing. This is done so that the candies/nuts do not stick together in the bag/box.
“Gluten free” is not always gluten free. Google “gluten free labeling” and you will find that there are criteria that manufacturers use to say something is gluten free even though it may contain small amounts of gluten. Here’s what one website said: “To date, there is no legal definition of “gluten-free,” but there is an international standard for gluten-free products called Codex Alimentarius. The standard allows products to be labeled as gluten-free if there are less than 200 parts per million (ppm) of gluten in the final product, according to the Food Standards Agency.”
I’d stick with dark chocolates from folks we know we can trust.
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Another thing – I know of a person who had an incident with dry roasted peanuts with “carmel color” by which she had a reaction. I have had the same problems. Colorings are iffy.
Also, every chocolate is usually made in multiple countries, and they are made differently in each country. So BE AWARE!
Anybody who is newly gluten intolerant should also know that many people are also (at least temporarily) lactose intolerant, so if you try something with milk chocolate that is supposed to be gluten free you may have similar symptoms because of the milk in the chocolate.
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Ruth – I can certainly appreciate your concern about gluten being in candy, and everyone needs to make that decision for themselves. I offer the above lists based on my own research, and I believe the candy on the safe list above to be gluten free. To make those determinations, I review the ingredients listed on the packages and use the safe and unsafe lists at celiac.com to determine if those ingredients are gluten free. I also review any allergy statements or cross-contamination warnings listed on the packages, and indicate what is on those. If needed, I may also review manufacturer websites, send emails, or make phone calls requesting more information.
Re: food labels
Manufacturers are required to indicate if wheat in any form is used in the manufacturing of the candy, and that would include flour that is used to keep candy from sticking to together as well as added coloring and flavorings.
This press release from the FDA states “Effective January 1, 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is requiring food labels to clearly state if food products contain any ingredients that contain protein derived from the eight major allergenic foods. As a result of the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA), manufacturers are required to identify in plain English the presence of ingredients that contain protein derived from milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, or soybeans in the list of ingredients or to say “contains” followed by name of the source of the food allergen after or adjacent to the list of ingredients.”
Further official documents regarding food labeling:
The current regulations on food labeling in the US indicate that they are also in the process of making a determination of what “gluten free” means. The proposed recommendation is 20 ppm.
For further information on food labeling, you can check the Q&A on the FDA food labeling proposal for gluten.
You should also note that Europe’s FSA (Food Standards Agency) has changed their standards of the gluten threshold this year to 20 ppm. Companies are encouraged to update labels immediately, but they do have until Jan. 2012 to comply with the new regulation.
You can find even more information about gluten food labeling in Europe at the FSA website.
If there are specific candies on my safe list, that you think does indeed contain gluten, please let me know. I am happy to do further research to determine if it has gluten. Like you, I want to keep my family safe from gluten, too.
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Ruth – If the product is made in the US or Canada, the caramel coloring should be safe. The real problem is if it was made with barley or malt syrup. Those would not have to be clearly labeled (at this time) as having gluten. Occasionally I read from people that caramel coloring can be a problem, but no one I’ve talked to has ever experienced it themselves, nor can they ever point to a specific product with caramel coloring that contains gluten. Caramel coloring in North America is made from corn, not wheat, and not barley/malt.
Gluten Free Living says “Corn is used to make caramel color in the U.S. The FDA does permit use of barley malt but all major caramel color producers say corn makes a better product.”
Registered Dietitian and respected expert on celiac disease, Shelley Case, says that “While gluten-containing ingredients can be used in the production of caramel color, North American companies are now using glucose from corn, or sometimes sucrose (table sugar). In Europe, Shelley says, companies use glucose syrup that’s derived from wheat starch, but the caramel color is highly processed and contains no gluten. Therefore, Shelley says, “Caramel color is an acceptable ingredient on the gluten-free diet and does not need to be restricted.” Read the full article by Nancy Lapid at About.com.
I believe it is the glucose syrup which is why Cadbury eggs now lists wheat in their ingredients. They use glucose syrup that is derived from wheat starch. Most people and experts consider the glucose syrup to be gluten-free due to processing. However, if the ingredient WHEAT is on the label, I will include it in the unsafe list for people to decide for themselves.
March 9th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
[...] gluten-free candy lists for Halloween Candy and Valentine Candy. Categories : Candy, Holidays, Product [...]