Thursday, January 29, 2009
When we first found out about my daughter's nut allergy, it was really hard to find "safe" candies for each holiday, especially the really iconic ones like candy corn for Halloween (still trying to find that one!) and of course, conversation hearts for Valentine's Day. It seemed like every candy heart package had a nut allergy warning on it, so she couldn't eat them at class parties or at home. Bummer.
Luckily, Sweet Tarts Hearts are the allergy-free answer to our "conversation heart conundrum." The candies are the Willy Wonka brand, made by Nestle, so I did a little digging to ensure these candies are safe for most food allergies.
The Wonka web site states that "all the Wonka brand sugar candies are peanut/tree nut free." Just to be sure, I called Nestle and asked about the Sweet Tarts Hearts. They assured me that if there were any cross-contact risk for the "Top 8" allergens, this info would be reflected on the label with warnings such as "Processed on equipment that also processed nuts (or the other top 8) or "Made in a facility that also processes peanuts (or egg, etc.) The Nestle rep also said that these candies did not have this risk. The packaging for these candies doesn't list any allergy warnings for any foods--so according to what I was told, these candies can be safely eaten by most.
Of course, if you ever are unsure about a candy, just call the company as I did. The side benefit of calling is that they usually send you free stuff or coupons.
I'm sending these to my daughter's class party--they also sell small boxes of these perfect for taking to school.
Personally, I like the taste of Sweet Tarts better than the "traditional" candy hearts. I bought these at Super Target, but I've seen them for sale everywhere. Enjoy!