If your mouth waters when you think about chocolate but you're on a gluten free diet, don't despair. You can still enjoy many delicious chocolate products without risk.
Gluten Free Chocolate Brands
Chocolate in its pure form does not contain gluten, but many chocolate products have either added ingredients that contain gluten or are at risk of gluten contamination due to the manufacturing process. As a result, if you have celiac disease or gluten intolerance, it's important to know which chocolate brands/products are safe to eat.
Hershey
Some of the Hershey Company's most popular products are gluten free. Hershey states on its website that the following products meet the FDA's gluten free standards.
- Milk Chocolate bar (1.55 ounce only)
- Milk Chocolate w/Almonds bar (1.45 ounce only)
- Air Delight bar
- Hershey Kisses (milk chocolate and filled chocolates)
- Hershey Nuggets (milk chocolate, milk chocolate w/almonds, special dark chocolate w/almonds, extra creamy milk chocolate w/toffee and almonds)
- Almond Joy (all candies except Almond Joy Pieces)
- Heath Bars
- Mounds
- Reese's Pieces (except Reese's Pieces Eggs)
- Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
- ROLO Caramels in Milk Chocolate (except ROLO minis)
- Skor Toffee Bars
- York Peppermint Patties (except York pieces, minis or shapes)
Many of Hershey's baking products and toppings are also gluten free.
- Semisweet and unsweetened baking bars
- The following baking chips: Butterscotch, Cinnamon, Kisses Mini, Milk Chocolate, Mini Semisweet, Semisweet, Mint Chocolate, Premier White, Special Dark, Sugar Free, Reese's
- The following toppings: Caramel Syrup, Classic Caramel topping, Chocolate Syrup (regular, sugar free and calcium added), Double Chocolate Sundae Syrup, Lite Chocolate Syrup, Special Dark Syrup, Strawberry Syrup (regular and sugar free), Reese's Chocolate Peanut Butter topping, York Peppermint Pattie Sundae Syrup
A division of Hershey's, Scharffen Berger offers gourmet chocolate bars and tasting squares. All of their products are gluten free except for the cocoa powders, states Hershey's website.
Nestle
Nestle also has many gluten free offerings. Here are some gluten free Nestle chocolate choices:
- Baby Ruth
- Butterfinger (not Butterfinger Crisp or Stixx)
- Goobers
- Nestle Milk Chocolate
- Nestle Treasures
- Raisinettes
- Snow Caps
- Semi-sweet morsels, chocolate chunks and mini morsels
- Nesquick
Endangered Species Chocolate
According to their website, all Endangered Species chocolate products are "Certified Gluten Free" by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization. They have a nice range of products to choose from including filled bars with dairy-free creme, dark and milk chocolate bars with an assortment of fruit and nut add-ins, and organic bars. Ten percent of Endangered Species' proceeds goes to animal conservation.
Enjoy Life
Enjoy Life is known for providing tasty products for people with food allergies. According to its website, it was the first gluten free company to receive non-GMO status for all of its products. Their chocolate offerings include:
- Baking chocolate
- Chocolate Chip and Double Chocolate Brownie Soft Baked Cookies
- Chocolate bars
- Chocolate Chip and Double Chocolate Crunchy Cookies
- S'mores and Chocolate Sun Butter Decadent Bars
- Coco Loco Chewy Bars
Hot Chocolate
Even if you're following a gluten free diet, you can still enjoy a mug of hot chocolate on a cold day. Here are some gluten free hot chocolate brands:
- Hershey's Cocoa
- Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
- Swiss Miss
- Trader Joe's Sipping Chocolate
- Nestle Hot Cocoa Mix (all flavors except Double Chocolate Meltdown, Rich Chocolate, Fat Free and Fat Free with Marshmallows)
Read Labels Carefully
Don't assume that just because you don't see gluten ingredients on the label, the product is gluten free. The product may have been made on machinery that also processes gluten products. Manufacturers are required to include allergens on product labels, including gluten. Unless the products label says "gluten free," read the entire label carefully for allergen and ingredient information.
