Gluten Free: Halloween Candy Edition

Hi All!

     As you may or may not know, I've been gluten free for a while now since we discovered that gluten intolerance runs in my family, and my mom and brother both started having some serious health issues related to it. 
     Lucky for us, in the past few months going gluten free has become the "cool thing to do", so there have been way more options for us at the grocery store and on menus, as well as being able to enjoy packaging that brightly announces things are GLUTEN FREE! 
     Being GF is still hard though, and even when you think you've become a pro at turning down chocolate chip cookies and birthday cake, and walking past the bread isle at the grocery store, it can still be tricky, and gluten can be "hiding" in all sorts of unexpected places (blue cheese, Mentos, flavored potato chips…). 
     Since it's Halloween, I thought I'd compile a quick list of the top ten GF candy favorites you can say "yes!" to while trick-or-treating (or buying on discount tomorrow), as well as a few tricky treats that have gluten lurking in them where you might not expect it!
   
Top 10 Safe, Gluten Free Treats:
  
1. Reeses Peanut Butter Cups
This one's for all the Peanut Butter Chocaholics out there, don't worry, your addiction is safe! Reeses Peanut Butter cups are totally GF, which means they 

have no gluten containing ingredients OR cross contamination. Much away!






2. Junior Mints AND York Mints
To all the mint lovers out there, okay, I cheated a little by including 2, but these are both to ally safe. Junior mints are made by Tootsie Roll Industries, which does not use wheat, barley, rye, oats, triticale, spelt, or any of their components, either as ingredients or as part of the manufacturing process. That means you're totally safe, with no

worry of any gluten containing ingredients being contained in the "natural flavor" section of the ingredients list. York Mints are included on Hershey's "Gluten Free List", so they also contain no threat of "glutenization" ;)




3. Jelly Bellies
These little guys are literally for everyone! If you have dairy allergies, or follow a vegetarian diet, Jelly Bellies are safe for you too. As well as not containing gluten, Jelly Belly has come out as saying that, "all Jelly Belly beans are gluten-free, dairy-free, gelatin-free,

vegetarian and OU Kosher". Even the licorice flavor (licorice traditionally contains wheat) is 100% GF!





4.Milky Way Dark Chocolate & Milky Way Caramel Bars (Original Flavor DOES contain gluten)

Manufactured by Mars, these two milky way flavors are GF, however Mars urges consumers to check the label anyways, to be absolutely sure. These two flavors ARE on their Gluten Free List, though.



5. Wonka Pixy Stix
These tubes of sugar and chemicals may be terrible for you, but hey, at least they're gluten

free! If you so desire, although they may not be the healthiest choice, they are still a perfectly gluten free Halloween indulgence :)







6. Butter Fingers ***(ONLY the original flavor!)
The original flavor is totally gluten free, and totally safe, BUT the variations all have gluten containing ingredients.

This is a great example of a sneaky treat; you'd imagine that all of the butterfingers shapes wouldn't contain gluten (they're all the same, just different sizes, right?), but they DO! So be aware, and only eat the original.

7. Milk Chocolate (Original) M&Ms

Similar to Butterfingers, the original M&Ms are totally gluten free, but variations are NOT. White Chocolate M&Ms are glutinous, as well as pretzel M&Ms (duh?), coconut flavor M&Ms, and Mint M&Ms. Don't eat

these if you are avoiding gluten! If you stick to the original, though, you should be safe & sound. Plain, Original, Milk chocolate M&Ms are actually certified gluten free, which means they meet very stringent GF standards, ensuring there are at least less than 10 parts per million of gluten.

8. Tootsie Pops, Caramel Apple Pops, Charms Blow Pops

All of these major Lollipops are Gluten

Free, but just to be safe, don't eat the variations. If you stick to the original varieties, you'll be safe. And yes, Tootsie Pops being GF does mean that Tootsie Rolls are GF as well :)

9. Heath

 Bars

is it just me, or are these a classic favorite? I feel like Heath Bars can often be under appreciated, but

they are definitely in my top few favorite candies. Luckily, they're gluten free!

10. Swedish Fish

Swedish Fish are Gluten Free, however not all gummy candies are. It's better

safe than sorry, so for the most part try to stay away from them unless they specifically state they are GF on the packaging. 

Beware! These spooky treats contain gluten…

- Wonka Nerds

-Everlasting Gobstoppers

-Wonka Bars (all flavors)

- Chewy Spree

- Original Flavor of Milky Way Bar

- Hershey's Special Dark Bar

- Hershey's Cookies 'N' Creme Bar

- Hershey's Air Delight

- Hershey's Milk Chocolate Drops

- Hershey's Miniatures

- Mr. Goodbar

- Hershey's Extra Dark Chocolate

- Butterfinger Crisp Bar

- Butterfinger Giant Bar

- Butterfinger Snackerz

- Butterfinger Medallions

- Butterfinger Jingles

- Butterfinger Hearts

- Butterfinger Pumpkins

Have a Happy Halloween,

love Abby