Be Free For Me Blog

Ever since I was a little girl my favorite candy has been red licorice. But after getting diagnosed with celiac disease I had to forgo my favorite candy since most brands are laced with gluten. That’s why I was super thrilled to finally, finally, finally find gluten-free licorice!

Just recently I tried Yum Earth Soft Eating Licorice. Besides the chewy texture and the real fruit juicy burst of strawberries, there is so much more to love about the Yum Earth brand of licorice.

For starters… it’s Certified Gluten-Free. On top of that it is vegan, non-gmo, peanut free, contains real fruit juice, is naturally flavored and has no synthetic dyes. Plus… it is soy free, egg free, dairy free and contains no high fructose corn syrup. Wheww! That’s a lot of “free of” stuff! (Note: it is also made in a dairy & peanut free facility)

Yum Earth is the #1 brand that Mom’s & Dad’s trust when it comes to finding a candy that is free of most allergens. Check out what others are saying about the Yum Earth on their website.

And lucky for all of you there will be two winners of this Win-It-Wednesday. Each of the two winners will receive a bag of the Strawberry soft chewy licorice. What a yummy prize!

One (1) winner will be randomly selected to win from the entries received before Tuesday, May 10, 2016 at 11:59 PM EST, and one (1) more winner will be randomly selected to win from the entries received between Wednesday, May 11 and Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at 11:59PM. SO – make sure you enter two times to win!

How can you win?

Easy!

How can you win? Easy! Reply to this blog and tell us what yummy flavor of the Yum Earth Licorice looks the best to you. Is it the Pomegranate? Peach? Or my favorite, the traditional Strawberry?

Good luck, Keep things yummy, and, as always …

Be Free!

Want to buy now? Check out these links on Amazon.com:

Strawberry Licorice

Mixed Variety Pack

This week’s Friday Favorite on BeFreeForMe.com is awarded to YumEarth Naturals, the makers of candy that is free of gluten, tree nuts & peanuts, soy & dairy.

And as an added bonus all the YumEarth Naturals products are also free of fat, MSG… and even fat.

Some of the products that they make are lollipops that, according to Phil Lempert, the Food Trends Editor for NBC’s Today show and also known as the “SupermarketGuru” are “The best lollipop I’ve ever tasted.” They also make sour jelly beans, and my favorite… the gummy bears.

The gummy bears are also made with real fruit juice, have no artificial flavors or colors, and supply 100% of the daily requirement of Vitamin C. YumEarth also has an extensive list of allergen certifications on their website.

In particular I like the bag of gummy bears that contains 10 snack packs containing 4 grown-up, yet kid-friendly, flavors of gummy bears – Pomegranate Pucker, Sour Apple Tart, Mango Tango and Perfectly Peach. All of them provide an unexpected burst of flavor – unlike any other gummy bear brands.

Each snack pack is less than 70 calories per pack, so they are perfect for snacking.

All of these yummy, gummy reasons are why this week’s Friday Favorite is awarded to YumEarth Naturals Gummy Bears. Congratulations!

Want to buy YumEarth Naturals Gummy Bears? Check out this link on Amazon.com: YumEarth Natural Gummy Bears

Simple, tasty and tiny enough to be discreetly eaten, Smarties are small – but mighty. Billions of Smarties rolls are produced each year. Placed end to end, they would span over 85 thousand miles which is more than 3 times around the Earth!

Smarties are owned by the Ce De Candy Company that started in England in 1932. These sweet-making folks sure are smarties themselves. Over seven years ago they took the lead in labeling allergen statements on their packaging. This is now a law.

I like Smarties as my “little” indulgence when I need a little treat. At only 25 calories a roll, with no fat, it’s a smart sweet treat. Plus, the way I eat Smarties, one at a time, enjoying every white, yellow, green and orange piece, I am sure that I burn off more calories than I am consuming. =)  So why not have two… or three?

Smarties are just plain old smart for the allergen and gluten-free. That’s my friends, is why Smarties take this week’s Friday Favorites honor.

The allergen statement on the Smarties website is straightforward and charted for easy reading. As noted below:

See notes below from the Smarties website allergen statement:
Smarties® and our entire line of products are free from most the known allergens, and they do not appear anywhere in our manufacturing facilities. Our new item, Bubble Gum Smarties®, may contain minute traces of soy lecithin.
We sell our products to many different classifications of trade, including “re-baggers.” A “re-bagger” buys products from many different companies and re-bags them in their own packaging. We cannot verify whether their manufacturing plants are free of nuts, soy, etc. If the UPC number on the packaging begins with “0 11206”, you can be assured that it was manufactured in one of our facilities and that it is allergen free.
Gluten Statement
Smarties® and our entire line of products are gluten free. 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.
All Ce De Candy, Inc. products contain no dairy, thereby eliminating the ingredient Melamine.

Halloween doesn’t need to be a boo-hoo type of holiday. While doing research on gluten and allergen free candy, I discovered so many resources that can assist you in contacting the retailers, gluten and allergen free candy lists and also direct links to manufacturers.

Check out these sweet resources and make sure your Halloween treats aren’t packed with gluten and allergens!

About.com – Gluten-free candy
http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/glutenfreefoodshopping/a/GFcandies.htm
Nancy Lapid blogs about a very comprehensive list of gluten-free candy items, as well as the manufactures contact info.

AvoidingMilkProtein.com: http://www.avoidingmilkprotein.com/candy.htm
A list of candy free of gluten, nut and milk.

About.com – Nut-free candy
Lists manufactures that offer nut-free candy.
http://specialchildren.about.com/od/foodallergies/qt/nutfreecandy.htm

GFCFDiet.com
Lists a complete list of gluten and casein free candies.
http://www.gfcfdiet.com/Chocolatecandy.htm