Sweethearts Candy Blog's

Almost everyone loves chocolate on Valentine's Day. For those of us caring for kids with nut allergies (or who have nut allergies ourselves) it can be difficult to find chocolate that is not only nut-free but also delicious.

Internet shopping to the rescue! Luckily, there are a few really good nut-free chocolate candy companies out there with everything we need to treat our kids or ourselves. You may have heard of some of these before but for those of you who haven't seen these before, allow me to introduce you.

First up is Vermont Nut-Free Chocolate, one of my all-time favorites. I've ordered from them numerous times and every product I've tried is absolutely delicious. Best of all, both of my daughters go ga-ga over this stuff! This is true gourmet chocolate at its finest. You can find beautiful heart-shaped boxes of nut-free truffles and fudge if you really want to impress. Plus, there are many Valentine's Day-themed chocolates that will make your child's day! In fact, Vermont Nut-Free has pretty much every holiday covered in terms of chocolate. They also offer great baking chocolate if you want to whip up a homemade treat. Check them out . I got a note from them that they get busy this time of year so if you want your order by February 14, head there now!

Next is Divvies, a fabulous nut-free candy company that is also egg-free and dairy-free. They have all sorts of Valentine's Day themed goodies and a great array of candies in general. I also like them because they offer a choice for people dealing with multiple food allergies.

Finally, many of you have tried Enjoy Life Foods chocolate treats. Candy bars like Boom Choco Boom (crispy rice is my favorite) are free of the top 8 food allergens as well as sesame and sulfites. While Enjoy Life does not offer Valentine candy, per se, you can check out their website for Valentine's Day themed recipes using their delicious, allergy-friendly chocolate products like dairy-free, nut-free semi-sweet chocolate chips!

Later this week: online nut-free bakeries!

I'm bringing back my Valentine's Day post about conversation hearts from Sweet Tarts. Please note: these have nut-free status, only. I will be sharing more Valentine's Day treat ideas soon, so keep visiting!

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 problem. 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 you should "check the back of the package" to locate allergen information. 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.

They also sell small boxes of these candies, 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!