10 Gluten-Free Chocolate Bar Brands

Chocolate

Verywell / Alexandra Shytsman 

Most people love chocolate, as the vast selection of upscale and gourmet chocolate bars lining the candy aisle at any large grocery store will attest. And including chocolate—especially the dark varieties—in your diet may provide benefits, including antioxidants,polyphenols that boost heart health, and compounds that promote alertness and reduce stress. But are any of these luxurious confections, with ingredients such as lavender, sea salt, and even bacon, gluten-free?

Increasingly, the answer is yes. More and more these days, you can find gluten-free snacks like chocolate on the shelves of your favorite grocery store.

However, remember that not all options from these manufacturers are safe for people with celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Read on for which specific flavors you can choose when looking for a gourmet gluten-free chocolate bar.

Is All Chocolate Gluten Free?

Yes, pure unsweetened chocolate is gluten-free. Chocolate comes from roasted cacao beans, which do not have gluten proteins. But pure chocolate is very bitter and unpalatable to most people. When cacao is made into chocolate candy, it is combined with sweeteners and other ingredients to boost the flavor, texture, and sweetness.

Chocolate bars, therefore, typically contain multiple ingredients, and their ultimate gluten-free status will depend on those ingredients and how the manufacturing process is handled. Some more high-quality chocolate bar brands only contain liquified cacao beans, cocoa butter, and sugar, which are all gluten-free ingredients. However, it's vital that you know how and where your chocolate is processed before assuming you're safe, as chocolate processing is multi-step and can introduce contaminants.

For example, some chocolate bars are gluten-free down to 20 parts per million or even less, while others have no gluten ingredients but might be processed on equipment that also processes foods that contain gluten. Foods that are officially certified gluten-free are typically 10 parts per million. And, of course, some chocolate bars will have gluten ingredients, such as cookies, crackers, or malted rice.

While not all chocolate bars are gluten-free, several companies do offer gluten-free products, including:

Gluten-Free Chocolate Bar Brands

  • Alter Eco
  • Dagoba Chocolate
  • Dove Chocolate
  • Endangered Species
  • Enjoy Life
  • Hershey's
  • Nestlé
  • Scharffen Berger
  • Vosges Haut Chocolat
  • Wild Ophelia

Gluten-Free Chocolate Bars

To help you wade through the thicket of chocolate bar selections, here's a list of manufacturers and products with information on whether or not they're safe to consume on a gluten-free diet.

The manufacturers are grouped into two lists: the first includes chocolate bar manufacturers with products that are considered gluten-free to at least 20 parts per million. In contrast, the second list contains manufacturers with "no gluten ingredients"— chocolate bars that nonetheless have a risk of cross-contamination that the manufacturers say makes them unsafe.

Alter Eco

Based in San Francisco, Alter Eco is a fair trade company led by two French citizens. It offers organic cacao from Peru and Ecuador refined by master Swiss chocolatiers in varieties including Dark Salted Brown Butter, Dark Super Blackout, Deep Dark Quinoa Crunch, and Dark Salted Coconut Toffee.

Almost all flavors are gluten-free (Dark Salt & Malt contains wheat flour, and barley malt flour is an exception), and many flavors also are gluten-free certified by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization (GFCO), which tests products to make sure they contain fewer than 10 parts per million of gluten.

Check the label to ensure you're purchasing a gluten-free variety, as products and ingredients may change. Alter Eco also makes gluten-free truffles that echo the non-gluten-free Lindt Lindor truffles taste.

Dagoba Chocolate

This brand is a division of Hershey's, which has a policy of labeling any ingredients containing wheat, barley, rye, oats, or malt. Hershey's states on its website that all Dagoba Chocolate products are gluten-free at less than 20 parts per million. However, the company indicates that since ingredients can change, you should always check the labels' ingredients first.

Dove Chocolate

The ingredients in Dove Chocolate, a division of Mars Wrigley Confectionery, are gluten-free except for the Cookies & Creme flavor and the Dove Cinnamon Graham Cookies. However, you should always check labels since production timing might require the company to use an alternative processing facility with a cross-contamination risk.

Any potential gluten cross-contamination should be disclosed on the product's label.

Endangered Species Chocolate

Endangered Species Chocolate, which makes all-natural and organic chocolate bars with illustrations of endangered animal species, is certified gluten-free by the GFCO. This means its products contain less than ten parts per million of gluten.

According to Endangered Species' allergen statement, "all of our products are produced on shared equipment that processes products containing milk, peanuts, and tree nuts" (but not gluten). You can choose from various flavors of dark, milk, and oat milk chocolate, including dark chocolate raspberry, dark chocolate with espresso, and dark chocolate with cherries.

Enjoy Life

Enjoy Life—a well-known producer of allergen-free foods—makes three different chocolate bars: dark chocolate, rice milk (not regular milk, since it's allergen-free), and rice milk crunch. Enjoy Life products are made in a dedicated gluten-free facility and are free of 14 common allergens, including dairy, tree nuts, peanuts, eggs, soy, fish, and shellfish, and wheat and gluten.

Enjoy Life's products are certified by the GFCO, meaning they should contain less than 10 parts per million of gluten.

Hershey's Chocolate

Hershey's makes many different chocolate bars but only considers two of them to be gluten-free to 20 parts per million or less: its plain milk chocolate bar (only in the 1.55 oz. size) and its milk chocolate with almonds bar (only in the 1.45 oz. size. Some Hershey's Nuggets and Hershey's Kisses are also considered gluten-free.

According to the company's website, other Hershey's chocolate bars, including Hershey's premium Extra Dark chocolate bars (in all flavors), have a risk of gluten cross-contamination due to shared facilities or equipment. Hershey's will include any gluten ingredients on the label (including wheat, barley, rye, oats, or malt) so that it's easy to determine which specific products include those ingredients.

Nestlé

Nestlé makes a variety of products it considers gluten-free. Nestlé will label any gluten ingredients and any risk of gluten cross-contamination.

Scharffen Berger

All Scharffen Berger chocolate bars are gluten-free, containing less than 20 parts per million of gluten. The brand, which was acquired by Hershey's in 2005, specializes in dark chocolate (some of which contain cacao nibs) but also offers milk chocolate bars.

Vosges Haut-Chocolate

Chicago-based Vosges Haut-Chocolates, which makes some really interesting gourmet chocolate bars (try Dark Chocolate and Bacon, or maybe even a Red Fire dark chocolate bar with Mexican ancho and chipotle chilis, with Ceylon cinnamon and dark chocolate), will label its products gluten-free if they're below 20 parts per million of gluten. You can search for gluten-free products specifically on the brand's website.

Wild Ophelia

This brand of exclusively gluten-free chocolate bars is the "spirited younger sister" to Vosges Haut-Chocolate and was created to encourage, educate, and propel young female entrepreneurs. A portion of sales funds Wild Ophelia's grant program to support women entrepreneurs.

The brand's chocolate bars include interesting rotating flavors such as Confetti Cake & Sprinkles and Chocolate Dipped Raspberry. Wild Ophelia also makes Cold Brew chocolate coffee bites and select varieties of peanut butter cups.

Manufacturers to Avoid

These brands include chocolate products that aren't considered safe on the gluten-free diet, either because the candies contain gluten ingredients or because they're at risk for cross-contamination in manufacturing.

Ghirardelli

According to the company, Ghirardelli only produces one product that contains gluten (its Luxe Milk Crisp singles and bars, which contain barley malt). However, all its other chocolate bar products, including the Intense Dark, Luxe Milk, and Squares chocolates (the ones filled with flavors like caramel and raspberry) are made on the same production lines. The company does clean the lines between products, but doesn't call its non-gluten-containing products "gluten free."

Godiva

According to Godiva Chocolates, its chocolate bars and solid chocolate pieces may contain gluten. Though it sells three certified gluten-free products, its website states, "Any person with a gluten allergy should NOT consume ANY of our products."

Green & Black's Organic Chocolate

Green & Blacks does not explicitly label its products as gluten-free and has this statement on its website regarding food allergies: "When labeling products, we consider all possible sources of the eight major allergens recognized by the FDA. These are eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, milk, peanuts, soy, tree nuts, and wheat."

Lake Champlain Chocolates

Although Lake Champlain Chocolates has chocolate bars without gluten ingredients, it also manufactures gluten-containing products on the same equipment. As a result, the company "cannot guarantee that any of [its] products are entirely free of trace amounts" of gluten and other allergens, according to Lake Champlain's website.

Lindt

Although Lindt Excellence premium chocolate bars contain no gluten ingredients, the company states on its website that "gluten can be found in several premium chocolate products, either as a cereal ingredient or as a barley component."

The company also states that for consumers who are sensitive to gluten, it offers "certain premium chocolate products that are manufactured without cereal or barley malt, which may be suitable for consumers with such dietary restrictions." But since they are manufactured on the same lines as products that include barley malt (Lindt's famous Lindor truffles all contain barley malt), cross-contamination is still possible.

NewTree

The chocolate bars available for purchase on NewTree's website indicate they are gluten free but say they may contain traces of milk, nuts, and gluten.

Theo Chocolate

Theo Chocolate makes plain chocolate bars plus exciting flavors such as Coconut Curry and Fig. However; the company also makes gluten-containing flavors such as Bread and Chocolate on the same equipment.

According to a website statement regarding its facility, "Theo Chocolate is not a nut-free, dairy-free or gluten-free facility. Theo does take precautions by cleaning the equipment between batches and works to isolate nuts and other ingredients by good manufacturing practices."

Toblerone

Toblerone Chocolates doesn't manufacture any products that contain gluten. However, the company does not label its chocolate bar products "gluten-free," so you should use caution in eating them. All Toblerone flavors contain milk.

Vivani

Vivani premium organic chocolate maintains a list of chocolates on its website that it claims are "gluten-free," including dark and milk chocolate bar products. However, the company notes that "possible traces due to production processes cannot be ruled out," so you'll need to use your best judgment.

A Word From Verywell

While you might be disappointed to miss out on premium chocolates like Lindt and Godiva, you still have plenty of safe selections for people with celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

Options range from the readily-available Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar to the more exotic flavors available from Endangered Species and Wild Ophelia. And if you want candy that's not a gourmet chocolate bar, there's plenty of gluten-free candy and even some gluten-free candy gift boxes you can choose from.

4 Sources
Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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Additional Reading

By Jane Anderson
Jane Anderson is a medical journalist and an expert in celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, and the gluten-free diet.