Even More Dairy free, Gluten free and Allergy Friendly Chocolates

If you have a Diary allergy or are following a Dairy free diet you should have little trouble finding suitable chocolate to tame any cravings that might be gnawing away. Today’s post goes through even more Dairy free chocolates (For more options please see the folowing links: here; here, and here) – some dark, some replacing ‘milk chocolate’, some with soya, some without. There are Dairy free, Lactose free, Gluten Free, Wheat free, Corn free, Coconut free and Soya free options in today’s selection but some are for the straight and narrow food allergic and some are for the allergy warning gamblers! Note: Gambling on your food allergies is your own choice. I am not a dietician or a doctor, this blog contains only my personal opinions. Food allergies, and food allergy reactions are VERY personal and only you can decide if you want to gamble. I try to include as many allergies and perspectives as I can but I call it gambling to highlight that you are taking a chance. Personally I think that it should depend on the severity of your allergy, what your potential reactions might be (remembering that there can always be a wildcard) and most importantly what the warning actually says. A lot of products have recently included dubious warnings due to the new food law. I am completely grateful for the new warnings but also think that some products have worded their warnings to cover all angles out of fear. There are some products which I have eaten for years that never gave me a reaction but now contain ‘may contain’ warnings. Equally there are products, such as Bourbon Cream biscuits, which contain the same warnings but I have had too many once off reactions. I think a good rule of thumb (i.e: ONLY if your allergic reactions are not severe or anaphylactic) is say no to i.e: ‘made on a line which uses Diary, etc’ and proceed with caution, weighing up the pros and cons, if the warning reads i.e: ‘made in a factory that uses cow’s milk, etc’.

But don’t worry I will always highlight if a warning is present so you can make your own fully informed decisions!

Choices Choc ‘n’ Crispie Bar
The Irish owned Choices brand makes a lovely little chocolate. It’s smooth and tasty and is a good alternative to milk chocolate. The best Choices product I’ve tasted are the Caramels – they are AMAZINGly good so it is no surprise that the Choices Bars reside in yum-town too. I can usually find these and the Caramels in The Sweet Life (Georges Arcade) and Restore on Camden St.

- Dairy free / Milk free
- Lactose free
- Wheat free
- Gluten free
- Egg free
- Vegan
- Vegetarian

Web: The package states www.celticchocolates.eu as a website ut this link doesn't seem to work. COntact: info@celticchocolates.eu
Ingredients: Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Rice Powder (Rice Syrup, Rice starch, Rice Flour), Inulin, Crisped Rice (Rice flour, Sugar, Cocoa), Coconut Oil, Natural flavouring, Emulsifier (soya lecithin). Cocoa solids 36% minimum
Nutritional Information per 100g:
Energy 2343kJ/562kcal
Protein 2.2g
Carbohydrate 62.8g
Of which sugars 46.6g
Fat 34.0g
Of which saturates 21.0g
Fibre 2.3g
Sodium trace

Dairy free Rice Crackle
One of the older kids on the block. Dairy free Rice Crackle Bar and the Buttons, from the same brand, are some of the older ‘Milk Chocolate’ substitutes on the Irish market. You can definitely find them in Down to Earth (Georges St) and some larger Tesco stores. I like the Rice Crackle bar. F. doesn’t but the one that he tasted was a bit stale, which was unusual. They come at a good price and have a good size. I think that they are a great Dairy free alternative for children especially because there’s something about them that seems a bit main stream. I can’t really expand on that because it’s just feeling I get... must be something about the size, the wrapper and the milky flavour.

- Dairy free / Milk free
- Lactose free
- Gluten Free
- Egg free
- Corn free
- Coconut free
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Does not contain Nuts in the ingredient list & has no allergen warning referring to nuts
- Halal
- Kosher Pareve (K)

Web: www.dairy-free.co.uk
Ingredients: Cane Sugar, Cocoa Butter (19%), Soya Flour (19%), Cocoa Mass (10%), Crisped Rice (6%), Inulin, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin, E746), Natural Flavouring.
Nutritional Information per 100g:
Energy 2055kJ/492kcal
Protein 6.9g
Carbohydrate 48.9g
Of which sugars 40.1g
Of which lactose 0.0g
Fat 29.9g
Of which saturates 15.8g
Of which cholesterol <0.005g Fibre 7.9g Sodium <0.01g The next few chocolates are for those Food Allergy diets and dispositions which gamble on ‘may contain’ warnings...

Traidcraft Organic Dark Chocolate + Peppermint Crisp
I found this dark chocolate bar in the Dublin Food Co-op which is opened on Thursdays 2pm-8pm and Saturdays. It’s a high quality dark chocolate with a peppermint crispy difference. A 2nd texture and/or flavour is actually quite important to my full enjoyment of a food so the mint crisp along with the fair-trade and organic goodness makes it a good option especially for soya free diets. Hey, and even the packaging is fully recyclable! A pity about the may contain warnings though...

- Dairy free / Milk free (has a ‘may contain traces of nuts and milk’ warning)
- Lactose free
- Gluten free
- Wheat free
- Soya Free
- Coconut free
- Corn free
- Vegetarian
- Vegan (has a ‘may contain traces of nuts and milk warning’)
- Fair Trade
- Organic

Web: www.traidcraft.co.uk
Ingredients: Cocoa Mass, Whole Cane Sugar, Peppermint Crisp [10%]: Cane Sugar, Natural Flavour: Peppermint], Cocoa Butter. Contains cocoa solids 58% minimum
Nutritional Information per 100g:
Energy 2190kJ/515kcal
Protein 5.0g
Carbohydrate 56g
Of which sugars 47g
Fat 34g
Of which saturates 21g
Fibre 8g
Sodium 0.0g

Beech’s Coffee Creams
Dark chocolate with natural coffee flavour fondant cream centres. My Dairy free sister and her sweet-toothed manager bought these at Fallon & Byrne (there is a whole range of different flavours) and they scoffed them in one afternoon without leaving me even a bite! So all I have is the empty package and their reliable word that they tasted delicious! But if you want to hear it from me I can confim that the package did smell good!



- Dairy free / Milk free (note: contains warning that the ‘factory also manufactures milk chocolate and as a result this product may contain Cow’s Milk’)
- Lactose free (see above warning)
- Gluten Free (contains glucose syrup which is commonly derived from wheat in Europe but is still considered Gluten free – read more about that here
- Allergy warning present stating ‘Made in a factory that uses Nuts and Sesame Ingredients’
- Vegetarian

Web: www.beechsfinechocolates.com
Ingredients: Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butterm Flavourings; Flavouring: Natural Coffee; Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin; Invertase. Dark chocolate (35%) contains cocoa solids 55% minimum.
Nutritional Information per 90g:
Energy 1605kJ/389ckal
Protein 1.98g
Carbohydrates 71.8g
Of which sugars 67.3g
Fat 94g
Of which saturates 5.8g
Fibre 1.2g
Sodium 0.1g

Elizabeth Shaw Mint Crisp Dark Chocolate
A Christmas Tradition in our house! Yes, that is another empty package that I photographed but this time it was me who scoffed them all! Elizabeth Shaw come in two Dairy free flavours: Mint Crisp and Orange, and honestly both are the bee’s knees. I suppose if I was to choose a favourite I would go with the Mint but equally valid, my sister would go with the Orange!




- Dairy free / Milk free (note: may contain milk and nuts warning present)
- Lactose free (see warning above)
- Gluten Free
- Vegetarian
- Vegan (see warning above)

Ingredients: Sugar, Cocoa mass, Cocoa butter, Glucose syrup, invert sugar, emulsifier: Soya Lecithin, flavourings. Dark Chocolate contain: cocoa solids 45% minimum.
Nutritional Information per 100g:
Energy 2055kJ/490kcal
Protein 4.3g
Carbohydrates 62.5g
Of which sugars 56.9g
Fat 24.9g
Of which saturates 15.6g
Fibre 5.0g
Sodium trace