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Is Candy Gluten-Free?

Some candies are gluten-free while others are not. Some may have no gluten-containing ingredients but still not be safe for those with celiac disease due to cross-contact on manufacturing lines. Some mini versions of products have different ingredients than the original size.

It’s always best to read the label before enjoying candy, even if you’ve had it before—the ingredients or manufacturing facilities can change at any time. If you’re unsure about whether or not a candy may be safe, contact the manufacturer directly.

Note: Beyond Celiac is a US-based company, therefore this list is primarily for those buying candy in the US. Some candies may be produced in different ways in different countries. This list is updated infrequently, so it’s always good practice to double-check with the manufacturer.

Gluten-Free Candy by Maker

Ferrara

On their website, Ferrara says: “For every Ferrara product containing any of the ‘Big 9’ allergens, we list a CONTAINS statement immediately following the ingredient list on all of our packages, indicating which allergens are present. Please refer to the packaging, as the packaging contains the most current ingredients and allergen statements.”

Ferrara does not maintain a list of allergen-free or gluten-free candy.

Candy from Ferrara that do not have gluten-containing ingredients include:

  • Atomic Fireballs
  • Fun Dip
  • Gobstoppers
  • Jujyfruits
  • Laffy Taffy
  • Lemonhead
  • Sweet Tarts (original and chewy)

Hershey

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 milk chocolate kisses
  • Hershey’s milk chocolate bars
  • 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

Hershey candy that does not contain gluten but is not explicitly gluten-free includes:

  • Jolly Ranchers
  • Oh-Henry!

The following Hershey products, among others, contain gluten:

  • Twizzlers
  • Kit Kat
  • Whoppers

Just Born

On their website, Just Born claims, “We offer many gluten-free products under the […] JUST BORN® brands and we are in the process of updating package labels to include gluten-free statements where appropriate. The modified food starch that we use in our candies is corn starch.”

Gluten-free candy by Just Born include:

  • Hot Tamales
  • Mike and Ike
  • Peeps

Mars Wrigley

Mars Wrigley does not label any of their products gluten-free, but state that they will include any gluten-containing ingredients on their labels. The following Mars candies 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

The following Mars products, among others, are not gluten-free:

  • Maltesers
  • Mars Bars (does not contain wheat, but does have barley malt)
  • Milky Way (original contains barley malt)
  • Twix

Mondelez

Mondelez has candy that does not use gluten-containing ingredients, but they do not always use dedicated lines. Candy without gluten-containing ingredients include:

  • Sour Patch Kids
  • Swedish Fish

Nestlé

Nestlé 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

They also have candies that are not labeled gluten-free but have no gluten-containing ingredients, including:

  • Baby Ruth
  • Pixy Stix
  • Raisinets
  • Sno-caps

The following Nestlé products, among others, are not gluten-free:

  • 100 Grand (contain barley malt)
  • Crunch bar

Spangler

Most Spangler candy products are gluten-free. Those that are stated to be made on dedicated gluten-free equipment are marked with an asterisk (*) in the list below. Here are a few of their products to enjoy:

  • Candy Canes*
  • Circus Peanuts*
  • Dum Dums*
  • Necco*
  • Smarties*
  • Starburst Lollipops*
  • Sweethearts

Tootsie

Tootsie has a wide variety of candy that they note as gluten-free on their website. They include, but are not limited to:

  • Andes Mints
  • Blow Pop
  • Caramel Apple Pops
  • Charleston Chew
  • Dots
  • Dubble Bubble gum
  • Frooties
  • Fruit Chews
  • Junior Mints
  • Junior Caramels
  • Razzles
  • Sugar Babies
  • Sugar Daddy
  • Tootsie Pops
  • Tootsie Rolls

Other

Additional gluten-free candy include:

  • Jelly Belly Jelly Beans
  • Salted Nut Rolls
  • Schar Twin Bar (certified GF)
  • Schar Hazelnut Truffles (certified GF)
  • Surf Sweets Fruity Bears (certified GF)
  • Surf Sweets Gummy Worms (certified GF)
  • Tic Tacs
  • YumEarth Choco Yums

To learn more about gluten and candy, watch the recording of our Facebook Live video, where we discuss gluten-free Halloween candy and chocolate bars:

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