Certified gluten free halloween candy is a safer bet for your Celiac child. It always surprises me how many times I will look into a product that claims it is ‘gluten free’ to find out it’s manufactured on the same product line as a product containing wheat! Well, geez, no wonder I don’t feel well after eating that! This is the main reason I have embraced a simplistic way of eating. Simple, natural ingredients of mostly whole foods encompasses my philosophy. If it doesn’t have an ingredient list then there is no company to contact and no unknowns. An apple is just an apple right? Try and convince kids to eat apples on halloween! HA!
When your child has food allergies halloween can be an anxiety inducing holiday. How is my kid NOT going to get sick? Which candy is safe? ‘Dairy-free and gluten-free’ pretty much takes out at least half of their candy bag every year. But do not fear, if there is a will, there is a way! Halloween can still be a blast! Let’s dive into what certified gluten free means, which candies have these logos and tips to make Halloween easier for your celiac child.
WHAT CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE MEANS?
Certified gluten free means the product has more that just the words ‘gluten free’ written on the packaging. Like I previously mentioned a product can have these words but also state ‘may contain wheat’ or may be manufactured in a facility with gluten or on the same product line. Let’s take a look at the company YumEarth. I was so excited to find these new Halloween Fruit Candies! They are vegan, organic and don’t have all the artificial colourings/dye in them but if you look closely they just have ‘gluten free’ on the packaging no symbols.
So I went on their website to look up why? In their FAQ section it states:
The facility that manufactures our Organic Halloween Gummy Fruits is free from eggs, peanuts, shellfish, tree nuts, and sesame. They are manufactured on shared processing equipment with products containing fish and wheat.
The facility that packages our Organic Halloween Giggles is free from peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish. The facility does contain milk, eggs, soy, wheat and sesame.
YUMEARTH website
I was pretty disappointed. Some companies sure don’t make it easy for Celiacs. This is why I want to reinforce the importance of certified gluten free products and really taking the time to look into products..
Certified gluten free has a symbol. Here are some of the common ones on Canadian packaging:
If the product has these symbols they are the safest products you can eat as a Celiac. These symbols hold companies’ responsible for ensuring their gluten free products are indeed safe for Celiac consumers. Most importantly the products are tested from an outside company to meet the standard of below 20 parts per million (ppm). By supporting companies that have a ‘certified gluten free symbol’ we can encourage more companies to correctly label their products. Also, these symbols are easy to recognize and help reduce the amount of time staring into the ingredient list for hours in the grocery store until you are convinced you need reading glasses.
CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE HALLOWEEN CANDY
1. ENJOY LIFE CHOCOLATE. (The certified gluten free symbol is on the main packaging)
2. YUMEARTH ORGANIC LOLLIPOPS
The YumEarth website states:
Yumearth website
Isn’t it totally nuts the company YumEarth can have a certified gluten free product like the lollipops but then also have products that aren’t? I really wish more candy companies would get certified or at least have more transparency. Don’t write; ‘gluten free’ on your product if it is manufactured on the same line as a wheat product.
3. MADE GOOD PRODUCTS
4. LAYS POTATO CHIPS
4. RUFFLES POTATO CHIPS
5. ROCKETS
6. CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE OREO’S
This is the list of Canadian Gluten Free Halloween Candy List for 2022. These products are not all certified gluten free but free of gluten ingredients so there IS a chance of cross-contamination. Also, most of these products contain dairy.
8 HALLOWEEN ACTIVITIES NOT CENTRED AROUND CANDY
There are lots of ways to still make Halloween fun without focusing on what candy we can’t eat! It’s all about a positive mindset.
- Go to a haunted house.
- Enter a pumpkin carving contest.
- We love costume parades! My kiddos just love playing dress up in their costumes. We do it year round.
- Make trick-or-treating more about the social fun. Have a big group of your kids friends or relatives to go out with.
- We plan a trip to Nana and Papa’s house for trick-or-treating. She always buys the kids special candy they can eat!
- Watch fun Halloween cartoons.
- Have a blast decorating the house.
- Have a Halloween dance party. We always practice the thriller dance moves.
6 Extra Tips For Dealing With Halloween
- Buy dairy free gluten free chocolate before hand. When my kids come home with their candy bags we take out all the dairy chocolate bars and give them to my husband. Then I bring out the dairy free/gluten free chocolate for them.
- Have a list of approved 2022 Halloween gluten free candy list here. Go through all the candy taking out the unapproved.
- Friends have offered to trade candy. We usually don’t have to do this because the kids still end up with tons of candy.
- Donate the candy for money. Our dentist will pay the kids money for their candy donations.
- Avoid the play dough. Sometimes people give out play dough. It contains gluten.
- Have fun with your dog! Pick out fun Halloween treats for them and an amazing costume.
Remember your kids will adjust. My son has experienced how he feels if he gets ‘accidentally glutened’. Pain avoidance makes this easier. Hopefully with more demand companies will be encourage to have certified gluten free Halloween candy in the future. Let me know if you have other suggestions in the comment section. Check out 4 Simple Ways To Make Preparing for Birthday Parties A Snap with Celiac Disease. Happy Halloween!
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