If you have been reading this blog for awhile, then you know our philosophy is that "simply and naturally gluten free" foods are the easiest, least expensive and safest way to eat GF.
But everything in life needs to be in moderation, and so at Easter I take the time to find some GF candy, fill the plastic Easter eggs, and let my kids pig out on really unhealthy completely processed junk!
We have fun believing in the Easter bunny at my house.
While we may indulge in highly processed Easter candy, I take extra care to make sure it is all Gluten Free!
Our friends over at My Gluten Facts.com have compiled a list of Gluten Free Easter Candy. The list is very extensive and I really appreciate the fact they designate whether the candy is made on a cleaned line, designated GF line or in a GF facility.
For the comprehensive list of GF Easter Candy, click on this link to My Gluten Facts.com.
Other resources include:
- Surf Sweets are a really good alternative if you are looking for gluten free candy. All of their candies are made in a gluten free facility. In addition, you may have heard about the recent findings associating synthetic food dyes and children's risk of hyperactivity. This is a very controversial issue, but if you are concerned Surf Sweets is one of the few candy companies in the U.S. that avoids using synthetic dyes or artificial flavors in any of its products. Instead, Surf Sweets seeks out and uses natural ingredients like black carrot juice concentrate and turmeric (from the ginger family) to color its candy.
- Natural Candy Store The Natural Candy Store has a selection of gluten free and allergen free candy. They differentiate between strict gluten free and no gluten ingredients. I would only eat those candies that are strickly gluten free as processed foods which may not have gluten ingredients can nevertheless not be gluten free because of cross-contamination during processing!
- Gluten Free Products List This website has some cute chocolate bunnies on their website that are GF.
- Peeps are always a hit at Easter. I spoke to customer service and they informed me that there was no chance of cross-contamination as everything manufactured in the facility where Peeps are manufactured is gluten free and also that if there ever were cross-contamination issues they would label the product as "main contain . . .."
I have noticed that some people are clicking on lists of GF candy from prior years - older list of GF Easter Candy have to be considered out of date and I would not rely on them as food manufacturers are constantly changing ingredients, production standards etc.
While these lists are very helpful as starters, always read the label when you purchase anything that is this processed and independently verify that the candy meets your standards for gluten free.
