Thankfully, many popular candies are gluten-free, so people with celiac disease can still have a Halloween full of treats, not frights! Check out the list below for an overview of gluten-free candy, trick-or-treating ideas for parents of children with celiac disease, and Halloween-themed recipes.
General Safety Tips
Please remember that it is always safest to read the label before enjoying a candy, even if you have had it before! Ingredients and manufacturing facilities can change without notice, and sometimes the special versions of a gluten-free candy are unsafe, such as seasonal, minature and king sizes. For example, Reese’s peanut butter cups are labeled gluten-free, but the holiday/seasonal-shaped Reese’s are not.
If you’re unsure about a product, contact the manufacturer directly.
Gluten-Free Candy List
*Please note this list reflects candy in the United States of America. Candy may include different ingredients or be manufactured in different plants in other countries*
Hershey keeps an updated list on their website. Their gluten-free candies include:
- Almond Joy (all except Almond Joy Pieces candy)
- Brookside
- Heath
- Hershey’s kisses
- Hershey’s chocolate bars
- Hershey’s Nuggets
- Milk Duds
- Mounds
- Payday
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (all except seasonal shaped items)
- Rolo Caramels in Milk Chocolate Candies (all except Rolo Minis)
- Skor
- York Peppermint Patties
Mars Wrigley does not label any of their products gluten-free and have, in the past, reported none of their chocolate candy offerings are gluten-free, but state that they will include any gluten-containing ingredients on their labels.
While riskier options, some on the gluten-free diet choose to enjoy the following Mars candies, which have no gluten-containing ingredients:
- 3 Musketeers
- Dove Chocolate products (all flavors except milk chocolate cinnamon graham/cookies and cream, and some holiday varieties, such as milk chocolate truffles)
- Lifesavers (gummies, hards, and mints)
- M&Ms (except pretzel, crispy, and potentially seasonal items)
- Milky Way Midnight Dark Chocolate (not any of the original flavors, which contain barley malt)
- Skittles
- Snickers Bars
- Starburst
Schär offers gluten-free sweets, including candies like:
- Hazelnut Truffles
- Twin Bar
Nestle calls out a few of their candies as being gluten-free, these include but are not limited to:
- Butterfinger Bars (except Crisp and some seasonal items)
- Goobers
- Raisinets
They also have candies with no gluten-containing ingredients, but not labeled gluten-free, including:
- Pixy Stix
- Sno-caps
Additional gluten-free candies include:
- Andes Mints
- Blow Pops
- Charleston Chew
- Dots
- Dubble Bubble gum
- Dum Dums
- Hot Tamales
- Junior Mints
- Junior Caramels
- Mike and Ike
- Peeps
- Razzles
- Salted Nut Rolls
- Smarties
- Sugar Babies
- Sugar Daddy
- Surf Sweets Fruity Bears (certified GF)
- Surf Sweets Gummy Worms (certified GF)
- Tootsie Pops
- Tootsie Rolls
- YumEarth Choco Yums
- YumEarth Gummy Fruits
- Zolli Taffy
- Some varieties of TaffyTown Saltwater Taffy
To learn more about gluten and candy, please watch the recording of our Facebook Live video, where Beyond Celiac staffers discuss gluten-free Halloween candy:
Other Gluten-Free Candy Lists
- VeryWellFit has a comprehensive gluten-free candy list, updated July 2024
- Hershey’s gluten-free candy list
- For a totally allergy-friendly candy list, check out Allergic Living‘s Halloween Guide
Halloween Ideas for Parents of a Gluten-Free Child:
- Make a game of sorting the candy after the trick or treating.
- Our Director of Scientific Affairs, Amy Ratner, did this with her daughter Amanda, who has celiac disease: Amanda would trick-or-treat with the other kids, accepting whatever was given to her. At the end of the night they would sort out the candy that contained gluten. For each gluten-containing candy, Amy gave Amanda one gluten-free candy. It helps to have different sizes, too—if Amanda got a King-sized Twix bar, she could exchange it for a King-sized Hershey’s chocolate bar.
- Let your child use the gluten-containing candy as “currency.” They can exchange candy for little toys, a trip to the movies, or more TV time.
- If they are old enough, talk to your child about the fact that they may not be able to eat all the candy, but they can still have a lot of fun.
- Skip the trick-or-treating and have Halloween fun at home or with friends or family who understand and will help you keep your child safe.
- Host a “Trunk or Treat” event at a local park or parking lot with friends and family that know which candies are safe!
Additional Resources for a Celiac-Safe (and fun!) Halloween:
Gluten-Free Halloween Recipes
| Pumpkin Cake | Cauldron Cakes | Candy Corn Muffins |
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