By Kelley
Lindberg
(Update 10/21/14: I added SurfSweets gummy candies/fruit snacks, which are free from the Top 8 plus sesame and sulfites, and can be found at Harmon's, Whole Foods, and online. Love 'em!)
Last week, I
shared some online sources for ordering allergen-free Halloween candy. This
week, I’ll tell you about the candy I found in stores locally. You can use this
list to shop for candy, and you can use it on Halloween night to help your
little trick-or-treaters sort through their candy loot.
Most of the
common brands can be found just about anywhere, like grocery stores, Sam’s
Club, Costco, Walmart, and Target. (If I only saw a product in one store, I’ll
list the store where I found it.) Dollar Tree has a surprising amount of safe “icky”
choices, like gummy skeletons and lollipops shaped like skulls, so if you’re
looking for something fun and gross to put on top of cupcakes, for example, try
Dollar Tree!
A BIG
WARNING: CHECK EVERY PIECE, EVERY TIME.
Large
companies use multiple factories. That means the same candy may be produced in
different places, with different allergens present. So CHECK LABELS on every
single piece of candy. Wonka is one of the worst companies for producing the
same candy in different packages containing different allergen warnings, but
they are one of the best at individually labeling their candies so you can
verify its safety before every bite. A few candies have changed their
ingredients and moved to other places in my list from last year -- a good
reminder to check old favorites. When in doubt, call the manufacturer for clarification
(most list a phone number right on their package).
If I missed
something or made mistakes as I scribbled my notes while standing in the aisles,
let me know.
First I’ll
list candies that don’t list corn as an ingredient (because there aren’t very
many of them). Then I’ll list the candies and treats that do contain corn, but
are free from some or all of the Top 8 allergens (peanuts, tree nuts, milk,
egg, soy, wheat, fish, shellfish).
Corn-free as well as free from
Top 8:
- Bob’s Sweet Stripes Soft Mint Candies (red & white peppermints) (Sam’s Club)
- Cotton Candy (Parade brand, Sam’s Club, 8 tubs per package)
- Cotton Candy in Candy Corn and Boo-Berry flavors (Dollar Tree)
- Cotton Candy, Hello Kitty (Dollar Tree)
- YumEarth Gummy Bears (in Target!)
- YumEarth Organic Pops (in Target!)
Everything
from here on down contains corn ingredients:
Free from Top 8 (Wheat, Peanut,
Tree Nut, Milk, Egg, Soy, Fish, Shellfish):
- Baby Bottle Pops (Sam’s Club)
- Betty Crocker Halloween Fruit Snacks
- Bubble Babies Gum Balls (contains coconut, Dollar Tree)
- Candy Jewelry (Dollar Tree)
- Dots
- Dum-Dums
- Giant
Lollipop (Dollar Tree)
- Grave Gummies (contains coconut) (Dollar Tree)
- Gummy Body Parts (contains coconut oil) (Dollar Tree – coffins and bags) [Note: 2 years ago,
- Walmart sold Frankford Candy Body Parts that contained peanuts, nuts, milk, soy, beef, and corn, so read company name and ingredients carefully]
- Gummy Turtle Power Candy Pizza (contains beef gelatin, Dollar Tree)
- Halloween Pops (contain gelatin, Dollar Tree)
- Haribo Gummy Bears (contains coconut)
- Hello Kitty Family Favorites Candy Mix (Dollar Tree)
- Hot Tamales
- Hubba Bubba bubble gum
- Jelly Belly trick-or-treat-sized packets of jelly beans (Target)
- Jolly Rancher
- Life Savers
- Life Savers Lollipops
- Life Savers Gummies (contains gelatin, possibly pork-derived, although I can’t verify)
- Market Pantry Spooky Shapes fruit snacks (Target – contains pork gelatin)
- Mike & Ike
- Pixy Stix, regular and giant (Sam’s Club carries a package of 50 Giant Pixy Stix)
- Push Pops
- Ring Pops
- Skittles
- Skulls & Bones Hard Candy (Dollar Tree)
- Smarties
- Sour Patch Kids (but be careful—the Sour Patch Twists contain wheat, so read labels carefully)
- Spiderman Villains Candy Sticks (contains beef gelatin) (Dollar Tree)
- Spongebob Gummy Krabby Patties (beef gelatin) (Dollar Tree)
- Spooky Lollipop Rings (Dollar Tree)
- Starbursts
- SurfSweets gummy worms, gummy spooky spiders, jelly beans (Harmon's, Whole Foods)
- Swedish Fish
- Tic Tacs
- Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers (gummi worms) (Sam’s Club – contains gelatin)
Contains Soy or Soy Warning (but
free from other 7 top allergens):
- Bon Bon Boom Lollipops (Dollard Tree)
- Cry Baby Extra Sour Bubble Gum (Dollar Tree)
- Hubba Bubba Bubble Tape
- Jolly Rancher Crunch ‘n’ Chew (last year, these had soy listed, but I didn’t find any this year, so I can’t verify ingredients. Call the company at 800-468-1714)
- Jolly Rancher Fruit Chews (last year, these had soy listed, but I didn’t find any this year, so I can’t verify ingredients. Call the company at 800-468-1714)
- Jolly Rancher Lollipops (last year, these had soy listed, but I didn’t find any this year, so I can’t verify ingredients. Call the company at 800-468-1714)
- Laffy Taffy
- Laffy Taffy Ropes (Sam’s Club)
- Lollipop Skulls (Dollar Tree)
- Market Pantry Candy Corn Flavored Kettle-Cooked Popcorn (Target)
- Scary Eyeballs Bubble Gum (Dollar Tree)
- SweeTarts Chews (check every individual Wonka candy label because ingredients vary by assortment, and SweeTarts GUMMIES contain a warning for peanuts, tree nuts, milk, soy, and wheat!!!)
- Gum: Dentyne, Trident, Orbit, Eclipse, Wrigley’s (Doublemint, Winterfresh, Big Red, Juicy Fruit, Spearmint, etc.)
Contains Wheat or Wheat warning (but
free from other 7 top allergens):
- Red Vines
- Scooby-Doo Sour Straws (beef) (Dollar Tree)
- Sour Punch Twists
- Twizzler’s Pull ‘n’ Peel (these don’t list soy, although regular Twizzlers do, so read carefully)
- Twizzler’s Strawberry Twists (these don’t list soy, although regular Twizzlers do, so read carefully)
- Twizzler’s Rainbow Twists (these don’t list soy, although regular Twizzlers do, so read carefully)
- Pop Rocks
- Popping Candy (Dollar Tree)
- Pumpkin Face Bubble Gum in Jar (Target)
- Bottlecaps (check every individual Wonka candy label because ingredients vary by assortment – some have wheat warning)
- Gobstoppers (check every individual Wonka candy label because ingredients vary by assortment)
- Nerds (check every individual Wonka candy label because ingredients vary by assortment – some have wheat warning)
- Nerds Ropes(check every individual Wonka candy label because ingredients vary by assortment)
- Spree (check every individual Wonka candy label because ingredients vary by assortment)
- SweeTarts (check every individual Wonka candy label because ingredients vary by assortment, and SweeTarts GUMMIES contain a warning for peanuts, tree nuts, milk, soy, and wheat!!!)
- SweeTarts Mini (check every individual Wonka candy label because ingredients vary by assortment, and SweeTarts GUMMIES contain a warning for peanuts, tree nuts, milk, soy, and wheat!!!)
- SweeTart Twists (check every individual Wonka candy label because ingredients vary by assortment, and SweeTarts GUMMIES contain a warning for peanuts, tree nuts, milk, soy, and wheat!!!)
- Airheads
- Twizzlers
- Charms Blow Pops
- Double Bubble gum (check every individual Double Bubble candy label because ingredients vary by assortment and store)
- Hershey’s Chocolate bars, the 1.55 ounce size ONLY (the S’mores size) (all other sizes contain nut warnings)
- Kraft Caramels
- Sixlets candy-coated chocolate drops
- Tootsie Pops
- Tootsie Rolls
- Tootsie Fruit Rolls
- Bottlecaps (check every individual Wonka candy label because ingredients vary by assortment – some don’t have wheat warning)
- Nerds (check every individual Wonka candy label because ingredients vary by assortment – some don’t have wheat warning)
- Nerds Ropes (Sam’s Club)
- Shockers (check every individual Wonka candy label because ingredients vary) (Sam’s Club)
- SweeTarts (check every individual Wonka candy label because ingredients vary by assortment – some don’t have wheat warning)
- Utz Halloween Pretzel Treats (contains sesame warning, too)
- Sugar Daddies (Dollar Tree)
- Boom Chicka Pop Sea Salt Popcorn (Target – 16 individual bags per container)
- Chex Mix (contains wheat, soy, and corn)
- David’s Sunflower seeds
- Funyuns Onion Flavored Rings (contains milk, soy, and corn)
- Jack Link’s beef jerky (contains beef, free from Top 8)
- Keebler Crème-Filled Sugar Wafer Cookies (contains soy, wheat, and cornstarch)
- Lay’s Potato Chips (free from Top 8)
- Nabisco Lorna Doone cookies (contains wheat, corn, and soy)
- Oberto Beef Jerky (contains beef, free from the Top 8)
- Oreos (contains soy, wheat, and corn)
- Slim Jim Meat Sticks (contains beef, chicken, soy, wheat, and corn)
- Zoo Animals crackers (Sam’s Club, contains wheat, corn, soy, milk)
- Drinks, like Kool-Aid Jammers or Capri Suns, or sodas in mini-cans – check ingredients
Don’t forget,
you don’t have to hand out candy to your trick-or-treaters. Walmart, Target,
Dollar Tree, and party stores like Zurchers, as well as Oriental Trading
Company’s website have plenty of Halloween-themed novelties you can hand out,
such as:
- Bat or Spider Rings
- Plastic bugs and creepy crawlies
- Halloween bouncy balls
- Vampire teeth
- Halloween-colored bracelets
- Halloween pencils or erasers
- Glow Sticks or bracelets
- Drinking Straws with Halloween figures on them
- Tattoos
- Coins
- Friendship Bracelets
The
following candies may land in your child’s trick-or-treat bags, and they may
not have ingredients labels, so watch out for them:
- Bazooka Gum-Filled Pops – lists only corn, but comes in an assortment listing all allergens in a factory warning
- Banana Splits (sold at Sam’s Club in an assortment. Contains soy and egg, and has factory warning for peanuts, tree nuts, and milk)
- Columbina candies – all have a factory warning for peanuts, egg, tree nuts, soy, milk, and wheat
- Goetze’s Caramel Creams (sold at Sam’s Club in an assortment. Contains wheat, milk, and soy.)
- Hershey’s: All mini and fun-sized Hershey’s chocolates contain nut warnings and should be avoided. Plain milk-chocolate and dark-chocolate Hershey’s kisses are nut-free, but contain milk. Most flavored Hershey’s kisses (caramel, cherry-filled, etc.) list nut contamination. The only nut-free size of Hershey bars is the 1.55 ounce size (the type commonly sold alongside graham crackers and marshmallows for S’Mores.)
- IBC Root Beer Barrels (sold at Sam’s Club in an assortment. Has factory warning for peanuts, tree nuts, milk, soy)
- Jawbreakers contain only sucrose, but packaged in an assortment that lists all the allergens in a factory warning
- Lemonheads contain only corn, but are usually found in assortment bags that include warnings for all the allergens on the overall packaging
- Mary Janes (sold at Sam’s Club in an assortment. Contains peanuts and soy, and has factory warning for tree nuts, wheat, milk, and egg)
- Slo Poke (sold at Sam’s Club in an assortment. Contains soy and milk, and has factory warning for peanuts, tree nuts, and milk)
- Taffy: For the first time this year, there are 2 taffy brands that are nut free. One is made by Taffy Town, and local company, but theirs do contain eggs, milk, and soy. The other is by an online store called Sweet Pete’s, which advertises that their taffy is made in a nut-free, dairy-free, and gluten-free facility. Other than those two sources, I have not found any other taffy that is nut-free, so assume most taffy in your child’s trick-or-treat bucket contains nut contamination.
- Tiger Pops – packaging lists all allergens
- Warheads – various packaging lists some or all Top 8 allergens in factory warnings
1 comment:
Wow, you've really done your homework! My kids always wind up with more than I'm willing to let them eat, even after I've removed the unsafe items. We donate a lot to Halloween Candy Buyback. Thanks for doing so much legwork!
Btw, I'm a writer too! I blog about allergies and used to blog about writing--my author's blog has gone dark for almost a year, but I count it as a victory that I'm still writing, at least. Just don't have time to write about writing!
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