Halloween Candies for the Gluten Free Crowd

Halloween is a time of games, costumes and hidden secrets. But, for many people, including kids, there's nothing fun about wheat gluten hiding in your candy. A quick look at many of the famous candy labels, and it's easy to see how scary it becomes. For example, the most popular Halloween candies, Brach's Candy Corn and Twizzlers, both list wheat flour near the top of their ingredients labels. To help the unsuspecting consumer, our personal kiddie candy tasting panel goes to work considering ingredients, kiddie popularity, convenience and quantity. Here are their top five brands of gluten free Halloween candies.

Mars M & M Candies
For about $5.00 a bag, M & M brand candies are available in large Halloween marked bags that boast a generous 22 servings per bag. While they don't list "Gluten Free" on their label, there is no mention of wheat or wheat by-products in their ingredients listing. The Mars company does mention that their M & Ms are manufactured in a facility that uses milk, soy, peanuts and or almonds. For this reason, Mars M & Ms comes in at a mere #5.

Smarties Candies
For about $2.00 a bag, Smarties candies, made in Canada, are available in 17 ounce Halloween bags that list 64 rolls per bag. Smarties are not the most popular candy among the kiddie ghouls, but, the Smarties company lists their product as gluten, milk, peanut and soy free. With ingredients winning out over popularity, the Smarties candy comes in at #4.

Dum Dum Suckers
Again, at $2.00 a bag, the Spangler Company offers their product in a 13.68 ounce bag with approximately 78 suckers per bag. Just like Smarties, the Spangler Company certifies their Dum Dum suckers as wheat gluten, milk, peanut and soy free. Dum Dums are a little more popular than Smarties. For this reason, Dum Dums come in at #3.

Charms Blowpops
For $5.00, Charms, an American company with the Tootsie roll company as it's parent, offers their popular "2 treats in 1" sucker in a 2.23 pound bag that holds about 55 servings. Larger than Dum Dums and hiding a secret bubblegum center, almost everyone is familiar with this brand of sucker. While there is no mention of wheat or wheat by-products on the ingredients label, there is a warning that milk or soy may be present. For popularity and label listings, Charms Blowpops come in at #2.

Skittles, all flavors and varieties
For $4.00 a bag, the Snackfood US LLC company of New Jersey offers a great candy distributed by none other than Mars. The 20 serving Halloween bag lists "Gluten-Free" on it's ingredients label and comes in several varieties, colors and flavors. Popular among kids, teens and adults alike, these candies are practically a guaranteed hit at Halloween time. The "Crazy Cores" variety boasts "Gluten Free and Gelatin Free". For this reason and at the insistence of our kiddie candy tasting panel, Skittles comes in like a zipping zombie at #1.