Review of Vermont Nut Free Chocolates

One of the things I love about being involved in the food allergy community is meeting other people fighting the fight! I have crossed paths with Mark from Vermont Nut Free Chocolates at several events over the years. I love that he makes chocolates free of peanuts and tree nuts! Unfortunately with my son’s multiple food allergies and my many sensitivities, we were not able to sample their products.  But my son has recently outgrown his egg and milk allergies (or so it seems – he eats lots of cheese and dairy products but I have yet to give him straight milk – a frightening idea!). So the nice people over at Vermont Nut Free Chocolates sent me some free samples of their great nut-free chocolates for my family to taste and review!

First, the most important thing all nut allergy parents are wondering about – here’s a link to Vermont Nut Free Chocolates’ Nut Free Statement. All of their products are produced and packaged in a nut-free facility, and all ingredients are from nut-free facilities as well. So nice to get such a definitive statement!

Here are the products we sampled:

Chocolate Skippers

These are candy covered chocolate pieces, just like that other brand, but with no risk of peanut or tree nut contamination. My little allergic guy was thrilled to have his own “M ‘n Ms”! Vermont Nut Free Chocolates packages these in fun holiday containers, such as these Easter bags and star-shaped ornaments for Christmas. I try to avoid artificial food coloring in our house, but can make an exception for holidays. (On a side note, we tried another brand’s allergy-friendly candy coated chocolates which do not have artificial food coloring, and my kids did not like them. I’ll have to write about that one later.)

Crispy Chick Milk Chocolate

My non-allergic son LOVED this. There are crispy bits on the back of the milk chocolate to give this some crunch. And as an aside, this child can eat anything and he found nothing bad to say about any of the products we sampled. The only thing different about Vermont Nut Free Chocolate products is that they are safe for nut allergies. That’s a big win!

Chocolate Lollipops

Who doesn’t love these? My kids loved the fun shapes these came in for the holiday. I saw that they had shaped lollipops for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and I’m betting they will have more for the rest of the year.

Chocolate Bunnies and Miniatures

Gotta have chocolate bunnies! These were super cute. We received dark chocolate samples and my kids tried to pretend that they like dark chocolate so that they could eat more. But let’s face it, dark chocolate is for grown-ups. The adults tried these and found them delicious.

Note on Other Food Allergies

These chocolates may not be right for people with allergies other than to peanuts and tree nuts, unfortunately. They process products on shared equipment, so there may be traces of milk, egg and gluten in their offerings. However, this Other Allergens statement on their website says that they label their products to indicate if they were made on equipment shared with other allergens, so be sure to check the ingredient lists. They also use soy lecithin, so I didn’t sample anything, as even tiny amounts of soy make me itchy. 🙁 But the rest of my family sure enjoyed it all! The products we received were very clearly labeled if there is the risk of cross-contamination from shared equipment, which is great.

Bottom Line

I love that Vermont Nut Free Chocolates provides goodies safe for kids with nut allergies, and that they have products for so many holidays! This is so important when you have little kids with allergies who feel left out when other kids get holiday goodies. My family loved these products, so I recommend you try them too!