Review: Surf Sweets Organic & Natural Candy!

My girls love fruit flavored candy and fruit snacks, but they typically tend to contain “crap” ingredients, and I am not overly thrilled about allowing them to have them.  They are made with high fructose corn syrup, and other ingredients that I cannot pronounce and have never heard of before.  I was thrilled to see that Surf Sweets are natural and organic candy.  All the candy, none of the bad ingredients!  YAY!  They are made with organic fruit juices and sweeteners, natural colors and flavors, 100% RDA of Vitamin C, are free of corn syrup and GMO’s, plus they are made in a nut free facility, are gluten free, dairy free, casein free, and are made right here in the good ole US of A!  They make Gummy Worms, Gummy Bears, Gummy Swirls, Fruity Bears, Jelly Beans, Sour Worms, and Sour Berry Bears.

My family all has very different tastes and favorites when it comes to candy, but we all agree that these were some of the best tasting candy we have tried.  I am not sure if it’s because of the real fruit juices, or the natural ingredients they use, but they tasted more like real fruit!  They are candy that I feel good about giving my girls.  I have never been a big fan of sour candy, but my oldest daughter, Bean, loves them.  I did try some of the sour gummy worms, and they were actually good.  They were a great blend of sweet and sour, and not that make your mouth pucker and gag type of sour.  My absolute favorites were the Gummy Swirls.  My younger daughter Bubbles loved the plain gummy worms, and my older daughter loved the sour gummy worms!  Of course the jelly beans, gummy bears, and fruity bears were a big hit with everyone.

I was thrilled to find that you can buy Surf Sweets at Whole Foods, Buy Buy Baby, and other stores selling healthy foods and products.  You can also buy Surf Sweets online at places like Amazon.com.

Disclaimer: Surf Sweets provided us with all of the products pictured above in exchange for our honest reviews.  We were not compensated in any way for this, and all opinions are our own and were not influenced in any way.

Gluten Free Candy

Over the past few days I have been working on some research and emailing companies to try and bring you the best list of gluten free candy that I can.  This is is not, by any means, complete.   What I mean by that is, it does not contain all of the candy out there that is gluten free.  If it did, it would probably be as long as a book!  I have not included any of the specialty candy brands that only work with gluten free candies, but rather chose to focus on what “normal” candies are safe.  This is because, odds are, you and your children will come into contact with these mainstream candies way more often than those of a specialty nature.  As always, please make sure to check the labels.   While all of this information is current, that does not guarantee that the manufacturers will not change their recipes or manufacturing processes.

 

Tic Tacs are considered by the company to be gluten free.  They said that none of their items contain any gluten containing ingrediants.  For more information, you can reach the maker of Tic Tacs, Ferrero at 732-764-9300.

Jelly Belly jelly beans are considered by the company to be gluten free.  ALL of their jelly beans, in ALL flavors are safe.  However, sometimes Jelly Belly will package their items as a mixed set that may contain malted milk balls, or other candies that are not safe.  Always make sure to check the packaging… as long as its JUST jelly beans, you are free and clear.  You can contact Jelly Belly  at 800-522-3267.

Wrigleys makes gum, mints and other candies.  They also make Lifesavers, Creme Savers, Skittles and Starburst.  Almost all of their items are considered to be gluten free.   The company assured me that the only products that are NOT considered to be gluten free are:  Altoids Smalls Peppermints, Altoids Chocolate Dipped Mints, Hubba Bubba Gummie Tape and Lucas and Swinkles Candy Strips.  Contact Wrigley at (800) 974-4539.

Necco is another famous brand of candies that replied to me with a list of their gluten free options.  They include : Necco Wafers and Chocolate Wafers, the Sweethearts Valentine Conversation Hearts, Mary Janes, and Peanut Butter Mary Janes, Sky Bar, Mint Julep Chews,  Banana Split Chews, Candy House Candy Buttons, Haviland Thin Mints, Wintergreen Patty, Nonpareils and Chocolate Stars, and Canada Mint, Wintergreen and Spearmint Lozenges.  You can contact Necco at 781-485-4800.

Nestles also makes are variety of candies, both under their name as well as Willy Wonka.  The items that they have assured me are currently considered to be gluten free are:  Laffy Taffy, Pixie Stix, Bit O Honey, Baby Ruth, Original Flavor Butterfinger (no seasonal flavors, or shapes), Goobers, Nips, O Henry, Nestles Milk Chocolate,  Snowcaps, and Raisinets.  For more information, you can contact Nestles at 800-225-2270.

Just Born makes the marshmallow peeps that we usually see on Easter, and they also make Mike and Ikes.  The company said that any of their marshmallow products that are gluten free will be labelled gluten free.  They began this process last October.  While some of the products do say modified food starch, the company assured me it was corn, so it was safe.  This list of Mike and Ike candies that are safe are the following flavor varieties: Hot Tamales, Zours, Tropical Typhoon, Jelly Beans, Berry Blast, Italian Ice, Original Fruits, Tangy Twister, Redrageous.  You can contact Just Born at 888-645-3453.

Smarties says that most of their line is gluten free with the exception of the Smarties Gummies.  While the Smarties Gummies have no gluten containing ingredients, they are processed on machinery that also processes gluten containing ingredients.  However, something to be aware of with Smarties, is that the company often sells them to other companies to bag together with other items.  In these cases, the other items that the products may be bagged with cannot always be considered safe.  Note from the Smarties Company…. “Note: If the UPC number on the packaging begins with “0 11206”, you can be assured that it is manufactured in a facility that is gluten free and safe to eat if you have Celiac Disease.”  If you need to contact Smarties, you can do so through their website.

Mars Chocolates sent me the following list of what was safe.  Please note that some varieties of M&Ms are NOT safe and you are always going to want to check the packaging!  Here is what is safe from Mars: all flavors of 3 musketeers and Snickers Bars, M&Ms EXCEPT for pretzel and SOME mint and coconut, Milky Way Midnight and Milky Way caramel bars, and ALL Dove chocolate products EXCEPT cinnamon graham and cookies and creme flavors. You can contact Mars at 800-627-7852.

Tootsie Roll who also makes Charms Products has ensured me that as of October of last year, ALL of their products are considered to be gluten free, with the only EXCEPTION being Andes Cookies.   Great job Tootsie Roll!  You can call Tootsie at 773-838-3400.

Hersheys Chocolate lists the following products on their website as gluten free. The list is: all Almond Joy and Mounds, Milk Chocolate Kisses, the caramel and cherry cordial filled chocolate kisses, Hersheys nuggets, Heath Bars, Skor and Skor Toffee bars, all York Peppermint Patties, all Reeses peanut butter cups EXCEPT holiday shapes.  Hersheys chocolate bar and Hersheys chocolate bar with almonds are also considered to be gluten free, but ONLY certain sizes.  The plain chocolate bar is gluten free in the 1.55 ounce size and the Hersheys with almonds is gluten free in the 1.45 ounce size.  I think that this is strange and in our house we avoid those two bars altogether though.  You can contact
Hersheys at 800-468-1714.

 

I hope this helps to put your mind at ease a bit when your kids want candy, or come home with candy from school or from friends houses.  I recommend printing out this list, or one of your own if your children have other allergies, and giving it to friends, family, babysitters, or school teachers.  Anyone who could possible give your child candy.  This safe list allows for a little more freedom and normalcy for your child when they are not with you.  If you have any questions, or if there is anything you think I may have missed, please feel free to let me know.