Allergy-Friendly and Dye-Free Halloween Candy Options

What child doesn’t love Halloween candy? I know I did as a child and my kids sure do now. When I found out I had food sensitivities a few years ago, I took most candy out of my diet. As a person with food sensitivities, it can be tricky for me to navigate what foods to eat and what not to eat – and I’m an adult! I feel for the kiddos who have food sensitivities and food allergies during holidays like Halloween. I can only imagine that they often feel left out of the festivities and that makes me sad. 

In honor of my favorite holiday, Halloween, I thought I’d create a list of allergy-friendly and dye-free candy options, so the kids with food allergies or sensitivities can enjoy the holiday too! In addition to the candy below, please check out this post on the Teal Pumpkin Project, which encourages providing non-food alternatives on Halloween for children who have food allergies and leaving a teal pumpkin on your porch, so families know you have provided this option. I hope this list is helpful for parents of kiddos with food allergies or sensitivities. 

Organic Candy (gluten-free, dye-free, dairy-free & nut-free)

• Annie’s – Fruit Snacks & Fruit Tape (vegan, gluten-free, organic & natural dyes)
• Wholesome – Surf Sweets Gummy Worms, Fruity Bears, Watermelon Rings, Sour Worms, Spooky Shapes (vegan, gluten-free, organic, natural dyes & nut-free), Jelly Beans (vegetarian, gluten-free, organic, natural dyes & nut-free)
• Yum Earth – Organic Pops, Candy Corn, Gummy Fruits, Licorice (gluten-free, dairy-free, organic, dye-free, & nut free)

Organic Candy with Nuts (gluten-free, dye-free, dairy-free)

• Justin’s Mini Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups – organic, dairy-free, gluten-free (contains peanut and soy and produced on equipment that also processes tree nuts and milk)

Other Candy that is gluten-free, vegan & dye-free 

• Enjoy Life – Chocolate Chips, Chocolate Bars (vegan, gluten-free, dye-free & nut-free)
• Free2B – Dark Chocolate Sun Cups Minis (vegan, gluten-free, dye-free, tree nut-free)

*Gluten-free candy (regular candy):

(Worth a mention here is that some companies do not consider their holiday production candy to be gluten free, because of increased production in outsourced maufacturing facilities. For instance, Reece’s peanut butter cups are marked gluten free, but this label is missing from the pumpkin shaped ones and tree shaped ones produced during the holidays because of possible cross-contamination. Always read labels carefully, and if you are uncertain of a particular version, call the manufacturer.)

• Jelly Belly Jelly Beans –  (gluten-free, peanut free, dairy free, & vegetarian)
• Hershey’s candies – (these are gluten-free, but NOT dairy-free)- Heath Bars, Hershey Kisses Candies, Hershey’s Nuggets Chocolates, Hershey’s Milk Duds, Mounds Bars, Payday Candy, Skor Toffee Bars
• Nestle candies – (These are gluten-free, but NOT dairy-free)- Baby Ruth, Bit-O-Honey, Butterfinger Bar (original flavor only, NOT Crisp, Giant Bars), Milk Chocolate, Goobers, Raisinets (including Cranberry and Dark Chocolate flavors), Sno-Caps, Wonka Pixy Stix, Laffy Taffy, Wonka Lik-M-Aid Fun Dip
• See’s
• Smarties

*Dairy-free Candy- not vegan (regular candy):

• Airheads
• Brach’s Candy Corn
• Dots (also gluten-free)
• Dum Dums (also gluten-free)
• Hot Tamales
• Jelly Belly Jelly Beans
• Jolly Ranchers
• Junior Mints (also gluten-free)
• Laffy Taffy
• Lemonheads
• Nerds
• Pixy Sticks
• Now and Later
• Ring Pops
• Skittles
• Starburst
• Sour Patch
• Sweetarts

Have a happy and safe Halloween! 

Note: This list is not comprehensive. Also, please check all candy labels to make sure that the candy meets the allergy needs of your child before they eat them (sometimes companies change ingredients in candy products).

*Sources:

• Go DairyFree
• Celiac.org 
• Visit this link to Celiac.org  and scroll to the bottom, to download a list of gluten-free Halloween candies.
• Check out this video on the Teal Pumpkin Project

 

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