Is Candy Safe?

[lwmichaud]

Hello, I'm new to the board and pretty new to the gluten-free lifestyle. We started a gluten-free diet for my son in November. He hasn't been diagnosed w/ celiac, but we've been trying to find the cause of his eczema and the blood test showed he was reacting to gluten. Anyway, I'm slowly but surely learning some of the various things he can and should not eat.

I'm wondering about candy. I've become smart enough to be suspect of anything processed and with lots of additives, mostly because I haven't learned what's safe or not. But, I'm cheating on this one and though it would be a lot easier to just ask those of you who probably know this already, instead of figuring it out for myself. Are things like gummy bears safe? How about hard candies? We don't eat a lot of candy, but my husband likes to give him a treat once in a while.

Thanks for your help,

Lisa

Testing 4 yo son for gluten-intolerance

[tarnalberry]

you can't make assumptions for any category. hard candies are all different, and made by different companies - same for gummies. always check with companies and read ingredient lists. most are fine, but some can contain wheat. (licorice, for instance, pretty much always does. hard mints often don't.)

[Lisa]

Lisa,

Here is a list of companies who will clearly list gluten (as wheat, barley, rye and malt). This will be helpful in reading labels, which is the only way you can be assured that your son's food is safe:

Open Original Shared Link

Here is a listing of safe and unsafe ingrediences:

https://www.celiac.com/articles/181/1/Safe-...ents/Page1.html

https://www.celiac.com/articles/182/1/Unsaf...ents/Page1.html

[dandelionmom]

Open Original Shared Link

hmmm, that didn't work. I was trying to give you the Gluten-free Candy List from ROCK. Maybe this will work? Open Original Shared Link

[lwmichaud]

Thank you, that list is really helpful! And thanks for everybody's help! Lisa

[gfmolly]

I'm curious as to what type of test you did for the gluten? My 6 yo has eczema and I have celiac. He has a rash that comes and goes on his cheek that we have tried to figure out but can't. I'm close to taking him to a dermatologist to have it biopsied when it flares.

We have tried a diet response and it always seems to get foiled somehow by well-meaning relatives and I can never get a true test.

Dots are gluten free and are a little like gummy bears, if that helps at all.