I'm way excited about finally living in a place where I'll have trick-or-treaters without a doubt! For the last four years, I've been bouncing around university housing and I've just settled into a place in a cozy neighborhood filled with families and small children. This year, I'm handing out completely allergen-free candy (free of the top 8 allergens and gluten). The percentage of kids with food allergies is on the rise, and according to an article by CNN, it could keep increasing. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that the number of kids with food allergies went up 18 percent from 1997 to 2007. Though the cause is still debatable, it doesn't change the numbers. Since I'm allergic to what my coworkers call "the world and then some", I totally understand how difficult a time Halloween can be for parents and kids with food allergies--no candy swapping with friends and triple-checking ingredients can be stressful. But with these safe treats, rest assured no one's going to need the Epipen injection during the party.
Shown Above:
- Yummy Earth Organic Gummy Bears -- Yummy Earth has many other allergen-free options.
- Grape Bat Lollipops by Strawberry Hill -- Non-GMO sugar, Free of the top 8, gluten, & corn.
- Dark Chocolate Jack-O-Lantern Lollipop by Strawberry Hill
- Glee Gum Fruit Flavors -- No artificial coloring, flavors, GMOs, or artifical sweeteners & free of the top 8
- Creepy Brains Cherry Lollipops by Strawberry Hill
- Surf Sweets Spooky Gummy Spiders -- Surf Sweets has many other allergen-free options.
- Gummi Jack-O-Lanterns by Indie Candy -- Indie Candy has other allergen-free options.
- Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Boom-Choco-Boom Bar
- Enjoy Life Ricemilk Crunch Chocolate Bar
- Gimbals Fine Candies -- Allergen-free
- Haribo Gold Bears -- Allergen-free. Note: Some of their other candy contains allergens.
- Jelly Belly Jelly Beans --Allergen-free. (They discontinued the Peanut Butter flavors and do not process any peanuts in their facilities as of 2011).
- Annie's Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks
Popular Candies that are Allergen-free & Gluten-free: For complete allergen-info breakdowns, see last year's brilliant listing by Sure Foods Living, which I consulted for some of the following.
Sour Patch Kids
Sweedish Fish
Necco Wafers
Original Dots
Welch's Fruit Snacks
LifeSavers Gummies (Note: the hard candies contain soy oil)
Original Starburst
Original Skittles, Skittles Sour, & Skittles Crazy Core
Wonka: Bottlecaps, Nerds, Everlasting Gobstopper, Runts, Fun Dip, Pixie Stix, Spree Original, Sweet Tarts Original
Note/Disclaimer: It's always best to check allergen statements with the companies themselves as ingredients can change, as well as manufacturing practices. This listing is meant as a guide only and not medical advice. I am not held liable for any reaction that may occur due to consuming these products.
~Have a safe and allergy friendly Halloween!~
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Corn-free candy is close to impossible to come by...
ReplyDelete* INDIE CANDY is great for food allergies! they even have a CORN-FREE section: http://www.indiecandy.com/Corn-Free-Candy-s/57.htm
* Also Natural Candy Store: http://www.naturalcandystore.com/category/special-diets has a section with Top 8 Allergens-free candy, and candy for special diets, including Top-8-free.
Corn-free candy is almosy impossible to come by...especially when combined with other food allergies.
ReplyDeleteNatural Candy Store has a Special Diets section for food allergies, and a special section for corn allergy: http://www.naturalcandystore.com/category/special-diets
And Indie Candy also has a con-free section: http://www.indiecandy.com/Corn-Free-Candy-s/57.htm
BRAINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHaha! Love it =)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great list! I did a search for allergy free halloween candy and this was perfect :) My daughter has celiac and goes to preschool with a friend who has a tree nut and egg allergy, so this really will come in handy. Love the gummy spiders! Happy to have discovered your blog.
ReplyDelete-Dana
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for stopping by =)
ReplyDeleteHi! So happy to have discovered you. We are a paleo eating family in Switzerland. We are opting for all homemade gluten and grain free treats this year. Here's a link to what we're making
ReplyDeletehttp://swisspaleo.ch/paleo-halloween-ideas/ We can't really get any of the choices you listed over here so we don't have a lot of other I'll be making it all :-)