Which Halloween candy is gluten-free? Photo: CC-Jushika_Redgrave
Celiac.com 10/11/2010 - Halloween is upon us again, and for parents of children who must avoid gluten, a simple walk down the store candy aisle can present a daunting challenge: How to know with certainty which candies, especially seasonal candies, are safe for kids on a gluten-free diet?

The good news this year is that awareness of gluten-sensitivity and gluten-free issues is on the rise, and more parents are demanding gluten-free candy choices. Also, more manufacturers are now identifying their candies as gluten-free, giving parents and trick-or-treaters a wider range of choices.

It's easy to find gluten-free specialty candies from a reliable source. But, since more mainstream treats are common on Halloween night, it's helpful to know which ones are safe.

Below you will find the latest gluten-friendly and gluten-free lists of candies which were current as of the date of this article. Below that you will also find a list of unsafe, NON-gluten-free candies, and a partial list of manufacturers with links to their websites. Remember, the list is meant to be used as a gauge, and is not meant to be authoritative or comprehensive. Adjust your vigilance according to your own sensitivity levels, or those of your children.

Gluten-friendly and Gluten-Free (Safe) Candy and Treats for Halloween

3 Musketeers fun size
3 Musketeers Mint with dark chocolate

A
Act II Popcorn Balls
Albert’s Gummy Eyeballs
Albert’s Iced Halloween pops (lollipops)
Almond Joy fun size bars
Amanda's Own Confections Chocolate shapes and chocolate lollipops
Annie's Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks
Applehead, Grapehead, Cherryhead,

B
Baby Ruth
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

C
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 Atomic Fireballs
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)

D
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.”

F
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
Fun Dip
Fun Dip Sour

G
Game Night boxes of candy game pieces (includes Operation, Sorry!, Monopoly, Life, and Clue)
Grave Gummies (Yummy Gummies)
Gummy Pirate Choppers

H
Heath milk chocolate English toffee bar snack size
Hershey’s Kisses - Milk Chocolate Only!!
Hershey’s Milk Chocolate snack size bars (1.55 ounce)
Hershey’s Milk Chocolate with Almonds snack size bars
Hot Tamales – “Gluten Free”
Humphrey Popcorn Balls

J
Jelly Belly beans are gluten-free and dairy-free
Jolly Rancher hard candy and Doubles Candy
Jolly Rancher lollipops and sticks
Jr. Mints fun size
Jujyfruits
Just Born marshmallow treats

K
Kellogg’s Spongebob Squarepants fruit flavored snacks
Kraft Jet-Puffed Boo Mallows marshmallows

L
Lemonheads
LiveSavers Gummies

M
M&M’s – original, peanut, peanut butter
Mars M&M's (all EXCEPT Pretzel M&M's)
Mars Dove chocolate products (all)
Mars Munch Nut bar
Mars Snickers & Snickers Dark bars
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

N
Necco’s Sky Bar 4 in 1 chocolate bar
Necco Wafers
Necco Mary Janes
Necco Mary Jane Peanut Butter Kisses
Necco Sweethearts Conversation Hearts (available for Valentine's Day only)
Necco Canada Mint & Wintergreen Lozenges
Necco Haviland Thin Mints and Candy Stix
Necco Clark Bars
Necco Skybars
Necco Haviland Peppermint & Wintergreen Patties
Necco Candy Eggs
Necco Talking Pumpkins (available at Halloween only)
Necco Squirrel Nut Caramels and Squirrel Nut Zippers
Necco Banana Split and Mint Julep Chews
Necco Ultramints
Nestle Milk Chocolate fun size bars
Nestle Baby Ruth
Nestle Bit-O-Honey
Nestle Butterfinger (but NOT the Butterfinger Crisp or the Butterfinger Stixx)
Nestle Goobers
Nestle Nips (both regular and sugar-free)
Nestle Oh Henry!
Nestle Raisinets and Sno-Caps
Nestle Wonka Pixy Stix
Nestle Wonka Laffy Taffy
Nestle Wonka Lik-M-Aid Fun Dip
Nestle Wonka Spree

O
Operation Gummy Candy

P
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
Pixie Stix

R
Rain•Blo Bubble Gum Eyes of Terror
Raisinets
Red Hots
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 caramels

S
Sixlets
Skeleton Pops (lollipops)
Skittles fun size – “Gluten Free”
Skittles Crazy Cores fun size – “Gluten Free”
Skittles Sour fun size – “Gluten Free”
Smarties – the small pastel-colored candies sold in rolls, not Nestle’s chocolate version) – “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
Snickers Fudge bar
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”

T
Tootsie Pops (original and miniatures)
Tootsie Rolls midgies and snack bars
Transformers Candy Mix – gummy shields, fruit chews, candy shields, gum rocks

W
Warheads – Extreme Sour hard candy and Sour QBZ chewy cubes
Wonka Bottlecaps
Wonka Chocolate Laffy Taffy
Wonka Giant Chewy Nerds Jelly Beans
Wonka Giant Pixy Stix
Wonka Gobstopper Everlasting
Wonka Gobstopper Chewy
Wonka Laffy Taffy Ropes
Wonka Mix-Ups
Wonka Monster Mix-Ups – SweetTarts Skulls and Bones, Spooky Nerds, Howlin’ Laffy Taffy
Wonka Nerds – carry a cross contamination warning on the Spooky Nerds orange and fruit punch flavors
Wonka Pixy Stix
Wonka Runts
Wonka Runts Chewy
Wonka SweetTarts
Wonka Sweetarts (regular)
Wonka Sweetarts Chew
Wonka Sweetarts Giant Chewy
Wonka Sweetarts Mini Chew
Wonka Sweetarts Chewy Twists
Wonka Sweetarts Shockers
Wonka Tart N Tinys,
Wonka Tart N Tinys Chew
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
X-scream Mouth Morphers Fruit Gushers – “Gluten Free”

Y
York Peppermint Patties Pumpkins

Z
Zed Candy Skulls and Bones (fruit flavored hard candy)

With all these selections, finding some good, gluten-free candy should be a snap. As always, be sure to read labels, as some ingredients can vary.

**WARNING! THESE UNSAFE CANDIES CONTAIN GLUTEN:

AIRHEADS
Airheads Xtremes Rolls contains wheat flour

ANNABELLE’S
Rocky Road – contains barley malt and wheat flour

BRACH'S
All Brach's candy should be considered NOT gluten-free

HERSHEY
Kit Kat – contains wheat
Twizzlers – contains wheat
Whoppers –  contains barley malt and wheat flour
MARS and WRIGLEY

Milky Way –  contains barley malt
Twix –  contains wheat

NESTLE
Butterfinger Crisp –  contains wheat flour
Crunch –  contains barley malt, “made on equipment that also processes wheat.”
Wonka Oompas and the Wonka Bar are NOT gluten-free.

WONKA
Sweetarts Gummy Bugs –  contains wheat/gluten
Sweetarts Rope –  contains wheat/gluten
Oompas
Wonka Bar


Here is a partial list of major candy manufacturers and how to contact them:
Other resources:
As always, Celiac.com welcomes your comments (see below).