I’ve gone to the most basic, regular, grocery store and easily pulled off eight candies that are all top eight free! If you’ve ever wondered what type of candy to get a kid with food allergies, here is an easy-to-find list. All candies are free of the most common allergens: gluten, dairy, egg, soy, fish, shellfish, peanut and tree nuts! This list is great for class parties, class rewards and especially HALLOWEEN!
I literally get asked “What in the world do you feed your children” question constantly when people hear that my oldest has so many food allergies. But, you’d be so surprised! It can be done!
My entire blog and social media is to help break down this ginormous question. My goal is to help you find items that are easily attainable.
I’ve been asked the “What in the World Do You Feed Your Kids” question by fellow church members, teachers, friends, neighbors and I’m sure the list will go on as my kids get older. So, not only do I hope that this series will be helpful for others, but I’ll probably start giving this link out as well! It’s so nice to have a handy-dandy list somewhere that is easily sharable.
We avoid: wheat, gluten, dairy, egg, peanut, tree nuts, beef and goats milk. And yes, those are all anaphylactic allergies. My son has had anaphylaxis four times, and we go and get re-tested every year by the allergist to confirm. Those are not just intolerances and reading labels can be the difference between life and death for my family.
Please note I am not sponsored by any of these companies, although–I’d totally be open to it (wink, wink, cough, cough). These are just candies we’ve found that work for us, and I want it to be a helpful resource. That said–I did receive the chocolate bars for free in light of full transparency. Speaking of the chocolate…
One thing you’ll notice right off the bat is that there is only one kind of chocolate! Chocolate is a land mine for allergies, so I wasn’t even going to include any. We almost always have to stick to something fruity and gummy. However, I did want people to be aware that they do exist, but you’ll typically only find them at specialty stores or online.
You can also find a fun #FacebookLive video I did at my grocery store around this same subject. Some are the same, and some are not. I just dared myself to spend only a minute and go up and down the candy aisle and see what I could find. Click on the image below (sorry, because it’s live the still shot isn’t great!) to see it.
I hope that this helps you find a safe treat for a loved one and to help you realize that yes, food allergic kids can eat some “normal” things. I always find it best to feed everyone to the lowest common denominator, so that everyone can eat the same thing. Not only does that help with inclusion, but it also helps the caretaker or server not worry about little hands or fingers getting a hold of the wrong thing.
Lastly, I know that candy may seem like a super unhealthy way to start this series–but I do have little kids, who happened to get the sugar addicted gene from me! And, I find we tend to eat more candy during the summer. There’s lots of get togethers, movies, road trips–you name it and candy is typically involved. So, I’ll try to post a salad next, ha!
Now, as with all things food allergy. PLEASE consultant the parent of the food-allergic child before buying or feeding them anything. Unfortunately, there aren’t many hard and fast rules when it comes to food allergies, and each parent may feel comfortable with different things. For example, some allergies are so severe that they have to call each manufacturer to find out what is processed on the same lines, as it’s not a federal requirement to list if there is a “may contain” warning. I have not made any calls on behalf of these candies. I went strictly off labels, and the fact that my kids have eaten these many times without any issues–*for our particular and individual circumstances*. Only YOU can protect you, right? MMM-K thanks.
Happy and SAFE snacking!
OFFICIAL LIST OF OUR FAVORITE TOP-8 FREE CANDIES FOR FOOD ALLERGIES:
- Dum Dum Suckers
- Smarties (please note in Canada they’re called Rockets, smarties in Canada have chocolate & are not allergy friendly)
- Skittles
- Mike and Ikes
- Starbursts
- Life Saver Gummies
- Dots
- Enjoy Life Chocolate
- Sweedish Fish
- Air Heads (Note: They have soybean oil. Check with your allergist, but many who have a soybean allergy can eat the oil. Source.)
- Pixy Stix
- Laffy Taffy (Note: They have soy lecithin. Check with your allergist, but many who have a soybean allergy can eat soy lecithin. Source.)
- Ring Pops
- Jolly Ranchers (Note: They have soy lecithin. Check with your allergist, but many who have a soybean allergy can eat soy lecithin. Source.)
- Dubble Bubble Gum (does have a warning “soy may be present” so call & check if you have soy allergies)
- Fun Dip
PLEASE NOTE that variations of candy, or seasonal candy sometimes have different ingredients than it’s classic counterpart, so always double check your labels and never assume!
*Please note I am an Amazon affiliate, so if you purchase them through the links I provided, I will receive a small wage, at no cost to you. This helps run my blog, thanks in advance!
Looking for more safe candy ideas for food allergies, check out these posts:
Allergy-friendly Easter Candy (Store-bought, top-8-free)
Ten Top-8-free Valentine Candies
Do you want to make a homemade allergy-friendly treat? Here are some super simple ones:
Allergy-friendly Rice Krispie Treats (Top-8-free & Vegan Option)
How to Make Jello Dairy-Free (Top-8-Free Too!)
Rachel
It looks like there’s a small culture clash in the comments. American Smarties (hard, light pastel color, circular pill looking) are indeed top 8 free. For Europe/Canada Smarties are chocolate, similar to M&Ms, with a vibrant shell. Probably best to clarify whenever making a statement about either.
That being said, I love this series! Sometimes it’s difficult to find out what “normal” things you can eat. I stumbled across this blog a couple days ago and it’s amazing!
Heather M
Smarties??? The main ingredient is MILK chocolate. They are absolutely NOT top 8 allergy free. My son is allergic to milk and egg and I was excited to read this post as it is difficult to find him treats for the holidays and Easter is around the corner. I truly hope your readers didn’t trust your list and give Smarties to any children with milk allergies. You should be 100% sure of what your posting when it comes to such important matters.
Megan Lavin
Heather, I appreciate you making sure that people are being careful when talking about food allergies. When posting things like “such and such has XX allergen” please list a source.
For example, if you go to the smarties homepage, they list this:
“YES! All Smarties® products are free from peanuts, treenuts (e.g. almonds, walnuts, pecans), shellfish, fish, milk, eggs, soybean and wheat. If the UPC number on the packaging begins with “0 11206”, you can be assured that it is manufactured in a peanut-free facility as well.” SOURCE: https://www.smarties.com/faqs/
So, I’m not sure where you’ve read that Smarties have milk, as I have never and the direct maker of them claims they are milk free as well.
Elle @ Only Taste Matters
What a fantastic series! This is a great post and I can’t wait to read the future ones.
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Thanks Elle! I’m excited for the next installation of this series!
Keeley McGuire
Great post! It’s a question I get asked often. Many don’t realize these yummy candies are allergy-friendly. 🙂
Sandi (@fearless_dining)
I love this idea….our kids love the candies you found.
Amanda
This is awesome! It is so great to have treats that are top 8 free!
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Amanda–thanks! Yes, top 8 free treats are the best! 🙂
Alisa Fleming
I think this is such a great series idea! I admit, too, that I’ve never outgrown my love for candy. My favorite is Runts, but I’m not sure if they are fully allergy-safe for the top 8.
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Thanks! I know, I eat way more candy than I should. I havent’ seen a box of Runts in forever–so I’m not sure if it’s allergy friendly or not. I’ll be on the look out now 🙂
Ricki
Will be sharing this with my friends whose kids have allergies–thank you for this post!
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You’re so very welcome!
amanda -runtothefinish
Mike and Ikes have been a long time favorite around here, good to know they don’t have anything that’s going to make me feel bad either!!
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Yes, I’ve been known to eat an entire box myself. Mike n Ike lovers unite!
Gluten Free With Emily
I get asked “what do you eat?” All the time too!
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Seriously. It’s the question you can count on being asked when you eat differently!
Megan @ MegUnprocessed
Love your article, there is so much goodness and knowledge here. Thank you for sharing.
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Ahh, thanks so much Megan! That’s one of the goals of my blog is to spread awareness and knowledge of food allergies, so that makes me so happy you feel it does that.
Kelly @ TastingPage
Good information to share to those parents who have kids with allergies. Knowledge is king!
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Thanks Kelly! Yes, knowledge definitely is power, and in food allergy cases, saves lives!
Heather
My heart goes out to all parents whose children have allergies. This is a very helpful post!! My hope is that these companies offer organic options in the future.
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Thank you! Yes, if they could make them organic and dye free, that’d be even better. Baby steps! 🙂
Lane & Holly @ With Two Spoons
Great list! I’m always happy when schools send home recommendations for treats/snacks when their are allergic kiddos in the class-happy to keep them safe, but nice when it’s easy!
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So glad you found it helpful. Yes, it’s nice to arm everyoen with info. I know most are willing, but just don’t know what. Thanks!!
Cricket Plunkett
Swedish fist are my favorite too, glad to see they made the list!
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They’re my favs too!
Nutrimom
I see a lot of familiars that we use but one of our favorites is Enjoy Life Foods 😉
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Yes, thank goodness for them, otherwise my son would never know what a chocolate bar tasted like!
Julie
This is a great post. There are so many people that don’t even give it a thought when offering children candy that it may be a bad idea.
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Thanks so much Julie! I hope by bringing this to people’s attention it will help them think. I appreciate it.
Celeste
I always stock up on Dum Dums for Halloween, but I had no idea these other candies were top 8 free too! Thanks for this great list, I’ll be sharing it for sure!
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Thanks Celeste! Yes, I’ll def have to re-share this around Halloween!
Katie Clark
This was such a great post! I think it’s so important for everyone to know about different products that are (often) good for allergen-free children. I will definitely be keeping this one handy for reference later on. And I loved your FB live video – you are so good on camera!
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Thanks so much for the kind words, Katie! Yes, I’m hoping to re-share this at the beginning of the school year, as I think people would be willing to be more accomodating, if they realized that there’s many things that are easy, that their kids already like too! Hugs!