Gwynedd Stuart
If you’re looking for “allergy friendly candy,” you’ve probably noticed that “allergy friendly” can mean an array of things. A lot of regular ol’ candy is considered “allergy safe” because it is, in fact, safe for certain allergies. For instance, Twizzlers are nut free, but they still contain gluten and dairy. And then there are candies like Dots, Swedish Fish, and Dum-Dums that are free of the top eight allergens—meaning they don’t contain gluten, dairy, egg, soy, fish, shellfish, peanuts, or tree nuts—but they could still contain sesame, that pesky ninth allergen.
So here’s what we looked for in the best allergy friendly candy…
Top nine allergen-free: We only tried allergy friendly candy that’s friendly for all allergies. That limited us to just a small handful of brands, but, hey—if you’re going to do something do it right, right? This is truly allergy friendly candy, no guesswork involved.
Convincing flavors and textures: Allergy friendly candy should still be enjoyable to eat. It shouldn’t taste like junk just because it doesn’t have trace shellfish.
This list of the best allergen free candy will surely grow in the future, but based on the allergy friendly candy we tried in our first taste test, here’s what we can recommend.
Note: If you have a food allergy, ALWAYS check packaging and ingredient lists closely. We are taste testers, not food allergy specialists! Please do your own research.
- YumEarth Chewys
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Okay, I’m going to lead with this info: Starburst are actually top eight allergy friendly! That’s great, right? If you have any allergy besides a sesame allergy, I highly recommend eating Starburst instead of YumEarth Chewys. That said, if you have a sesame allergy OR you’re vegan/vegetarian and don’t eat gelatin, these will (pretty much) scratch that Starburst itch. The chew is a little gritty and they stick to your teeth more than Starburst, but they’re safe for everyone at movie night, and that counts for something!
Credit: Merc / Sprouts
- YumEarth Giggles
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As you may have already gathered, YumEarth is, like, THE allergy friendly candy brand. They do a lot, and even make some seasonal treats for Halloween and Easter (although we focused on year-round options here). Giggles are their take on Skittles, and even though they aren’t quite as good as Skittles they do have a name that sounds less like a disease that would make your skin itch. Once again, Skittles are top eight friendly, but they contain corn syrup and some people are sensitive to it. Giggles dissolve really quickly in your mouth, and I don’t mean that in a good way, but you get used to it after a while. Ultimately, they’re sweet and will satisfy a sweet tooth at 3 p.m.
Credit: Merc / YumEarth
- Free2B Mini Mint Cups
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These Free2B chocolate candies are allergy friendly AND they’re also low sugar. Well, not low sugar, but lower sugar. A serving of three mini cups has 14g. I tried two other Free2B chocolate cup concepts (sunflower butter and caramel), and mint is the best one by far. The dark chocolate is nice and snappy, and the filling is like a runnier version of what’s inside a Junior Mint. And you can rest assured that they’re made in a dedicated allergen free factory.
Credit: Merc / Sprouts
- YumEarth Organic Sour Littles
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I don’t have food allergies (yet), but I would still happily eat YumEarth’s take on Sour Patch Kids. You get three flavors: lemon, blue raspberry, and strawberry. The lemon is so bright and fresh it almost tastes like grapefruit rind—it’s really pleasant. And the blue raspberry is tart and lovely, too. And despite being vegan, the texture is spot on. I think it might even be a little better than Sour Patch Kids because these have fatter bodies rather than flat bodies. And they’re still shaped like little people so you can bite their heads off! The best allergy friendly candy should be fun, too.
Credit: Merc / Sprouts
Allergy Friendly Candy
Allergy Friendly Candy
Allergy Friendly Candy
Best Allergy Friendly Candy
Other allergen free candy we tried
Free2B Caramel Cups, Free2B Sunflower Butter Cups
Ariana Losch
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!