Halloween is rapidly approaching and with the dancing skeletons, scary movies, and awesome decorations. But sometimes when it comes to the candy, which is a staple for kids, its a logistical nightmare for parents. With ever-increasing health epidemics of children, it can be hard to find as much joy in a bag of candy as you did when you were a kid. So which are the best organic & non-GMO candy brands to purchase and hand out to trick-or-treaters during Halloween? We’ve got that list! You’ve trusted Mamavation to bring you topics like safest cookware, best organic mattresses, and safest non-toxic hummus, now join us for tips on best organic & non-GMO candy to hand out for Halloween.

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. 

Halloween is an Opportunity to Practice Mindfulness & Balance

It’s important to understand that while Halloween does provide kids with a lot of bad candy, one night a year isn’t going to harm them. Once a season holidays are an opportunity for you to find a balance between emotional health and physical health. So long as this is an aberrant thing for your family and not a major source of sugar year-round, do I need to state the obvious?

Everything in moderation, right?

Clever Ways To Handle The Candy Situation Around Halloween

Making food into a forbidden act could backfire years later with eating disorders. Being mindful that the trick here is to find a happy balance between enjoyment and moderation, we’ve decided to share with you the variety of ways parents go about handling Halloween. Not every family has the same Halloween traditions, so we at Mamavation rounded up some clever ways to deal with Halloween Candy from our community. Some are more restrictive than others and your job is to choose whatever works for your family.

• Catastrophe Treats: Allow the kids to have whatever they want for two hours out of their candy stash – no restrictions – then it’s over. Then you can pack up the candy and put it in your catastrophe supplies.
• Donate Non-Favorites: Let the kids pick their favorite candies out and donate all the rest of the candy – some organizations can help to make sure that it gets shipped overseas to our soldiers. Do check with your local organization to determine what types of candy they will accept beforehand.
• Teal Pumpkins: Visit houses with teal pumpkins as these houses don’t usually give away candy.
• Ration The Amount: Allowing each child to to go crazy with trick or treating. Allow them to grab a container to put their favorites inside that they want to keep. Whatever was left can go to work or elsewhere.
• Sell The Candy for a Toy: You can set out candy and remove all allergen-inducing or forbidden items, allow each child to them pick five pieces of candy. The rest you can donate. Then allow the kids to pick out another type of toy at the store.
• Buy Them Organic Candy: Take your kid to an organic store after they have gotten their Halloween Haul to pick out organic candy. Then you can feel free to donate the rest.
• Hide The Candy: After your kid eats all the candy they want on October 31, dump the rest into a bin on a tall shelf in the pantry. Soon, they’ll all forget about it.
• Buy The Candy: Allow your child to  pick out their favorite candy and then buy the rest from them. We keep a stash of candy without dye and the other nasty stuff which we use.
• Ration The Candy: Allow your child to have their favorite candies from Halloween that night, then ration them out into a couple of pieces per day until it is gone.
• Pumpkin Fairy/Candy Witch: Allow your child to pick a few candies from their adventures and overnight the Pumpkin Fair/Candy Witch/Witch Switch who will take the rest of the candy and leave healthier items for each child.
• Reuse: Reuse the candy your children have obtained and use it to make baked goods with them.
• Separate For Yourself: Let your children separate the candy they received – then let the adults eat their favorites.
• Exchange their candy for a bagful of the goodies we’ll be talking about below. Put it in a beautiful bag, fill it past what they have and ask which they’d prefer!

What To Do With Your Leftover Candy?

There are plenty of organizations that have sprouted up over the years to deal with this American dilemma of excess candy around Halloween. Here are some of our suggestions of places you can donate.

•  Treats for Troops: Run by Soldier’s Angels, this program allows you to send your leftover sweets to soldiers. Kids can earn buyback prizes, and you can get a tax-deductible receipt for your donation.
• Operation Gratitude: Deployed troops and first responders will be touched that you sent them sweets while they are working hard, far away from home. Last year, they received and distributed a record-breaking 533,891 pounds of candy!
• Operation Stars and Stripes: Founded in 2001 in memory of a Vietnam War hero, this all-volunteer nonprofit supports service members at home and abroad with care packages and letters. Packages of unopened candy can be sent to the organization’s Georgia headquarters. Specific shipping info can be found on the website.
• Operation Shoebox: This organization is ready to receive your candy donations — they distribute candy on Halloween, Christmas, and Easter to troops that are missing the festivities while away from home.
• Operation Trick or Treating for the Troops: Run by Operation Stars and Stripes, you can sponsor a drive in your community to collect excess candy for our troops.
• Halloween Candy Buy Back: This group partners works with dentists offices and other businesses to exchange their candy for healthier items such as toothbrushes, hygiene kits, and coupons.
• Ronald McDonald House Charities: Call your local chapter of this life-saving company to determine the rules on bringing your unopened Halloween candy for severely sick children and their families to enjoy. While your kids are out trick-or-treating, these families will appreciate the taste of the holiday delivered to them while they are in need.

If you prefer to keep your donations local, you can contact your local food banks, first responders’ offices, nursing homes, or shelters.

Best Organic & Non-GMO Candies to Pass Out to Trick-or-Treaters During Halloween 

The great news today is there are so many organic and non-GMO options for Halloween candy, you don’t really need to purchase from the same giant food companies that are making Americans sick anymore. You could go to the store and purchase the same candy as everyone else OR you can pass out something entirely better to your community while at the same time supporting companies that mirror our ideals. Here are some of the brands we recommend.

Torie & Howard Organic Fruit Chews (tastes like Starburst!)

• Non-GMO, No Corn Syrup, Gluten Free, Soy Free, Casein Free, Vegan
• 100% DV Vitamin C Per Serving

 

Torie & Howard Organic Hard Candy

• Organic, gluten-free & Non-GMO
• Tastes exactly like what I remember from childhood

 

Nutiva Organic O’Coconut Classic Snacks

• A healthy and delicious treat, made with coconut oil.
• These treats are certified organic, Non-GMO Project verified, and if that weren’t enough for you, these delicious candies are also Fair Trade Certified.

Equal Exchange Organic Dark Chocolate Minis

• Organic, Fair Trade delicious dark chocolate treats. 
• Are not only delightfully tasty, they only contain 4.4 calories per chocolate mini!

Equal Exchange Organic Chocolates Cocoa 55%

• Organic bites of heaven that you can feel good about eating.
• These mini-chocolates are produced by small farms, include non-GMO ingredients, are vegan, and kosher.

YumEarth Organic Gummy Bears

Made with hypoallergenic, nonGMO ingredients, without artificial flavors, and without artificial dyes are delicious.

 

Lovely Organic Lollipops (individually wrapped)

• Available in a mixed bag of Mango, Grape, Strawberry & Pomegranate flavors that are vegan, gluten-free, nonGMO, and kosher.
• Additionally, Lovely Organic Lollipops are cruelty-free and free of high fructose corn syrup, soy, or artificial ingredients.

YumEarth Organic Lollipops

• Nut Free
• These dye free lollipops are made with simple ingredients and are proud to be USDA Organic, kosher, vegan, gluten free, Non-GMO Project Verified, dairy free and nut free.
• Our Organic lollipops are all flavored and colored with real fruit juice.

YumEarth Organic Fruit Snacks

• Nut free
• Packed with flavor and available in Original or Tropical flavors.
• These lollipops are free from the top allergens, are USDA Organic and Non-GMO Project Verified, flavored and colored with real fruit juice.

YumEarth Organic Candy Corn

• Nut free
• USDA Organic, non-GMO, gluten free, dairy free, soy free and nut free!
• They are free from most major allergens: no fish, no milk, no peanuts, no shellfish, no high fructose corn syrup, no artificial dyes,  no soy, no tree-nuts, no wheat.

SMASHMELLOWs

• Individually-wrapped mallows in four flavors: Cinnamon Churro, Mint Chocolate Chip, Strawberries & Cream, Cookie Dough.
• Only 25 calories per deliciously non-GMO and gluten-free puff, also gluten/soy/dairy free.

Black Forest Organic Halloween, Trick or Treat Candy Mix

• An assortment of USDA Certified Organic gummy Bears, gummy bats, sour heads, fruit chews and lollipops. 
• Plus, organic gummies are certified gluten-free!

YumEarth Organic Sour Beans

• USDA organic, vegan, gluten free, Non-GMO Project Verified and are free from top allergens: no eggs, fish, milk, peanuts, shellfish, soy, tree-nuts, or gluten, no artificial flavors or colors.
• Bag features Pomegranate Pucker, Perfectly Peach, Awesome Apple, Mango Tango

Enjoy Life Halloween Chocolate Candy Minis Variety Pack

• Nut-free, Verified Non-GMO, allergy-friendly, certified gluten-free, kosher, halal.
• Enjoy Life products are free from gluten and wheat, peanuts, dairy, tree nuts, soy, casein, sulfites, egg, lupin, sesame, fish, mustard, crustaceans, shellfish.

Izze Bursts Organic Fruit Snacks

• USDA Certified Organic, certified Kosher Pareve, and made with no artificial flavors and no colors from artificial sources.
• BUT FIRST, FRUIT JUICE: Clementine, Blackberry, and Mango flavors

Surf Sweets Organic Fruit Snacks by Wholesome

• Made with wholesome Fair Trade Organic cane sugar, no artificial colors or flavors
• USDA Organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, gluten-free, peanut-tree, tree nut-free, Fair Trade organic ingredients, vegan, and kosher.

Cocomels Coconut Milk Caramels With Coconut Sugar

• Organic candy, dairy-free, sugar-free, vegan, gluten-free, Non-GMO, no cane sugar, no high fructose corn syrup, kosher, plant-based, sustainably sourced
• Low-glycemic, organic coconut sugar blends with creamy coconut milk to make a mildly sweet caramel.

SB Organic Honey Sticks

• 100% organic honey, made by happy and much-beloved honeybees
• 100% pure and unprocessed with the original flavor, absolutely zero additives.

Non-Food Options For Parents Wanting to Support Children with Allergies–Teal Pumpkin Project

The Teal Pumpkin Project was created to be inclusive of children with allergies during Halloween. Children with allergies and their parents will recogize the teal pumpkin at your door and come for non-food related treats. To participate, we recommend picking up a pack of something non-food related to have for children with allergies. To mark your door, paint a pumpkin teal and put it at your front door OR purchase the official Teal Pumpkin to support research. And if you would like to be super supportive, you can also mark your front yard with this flag.

When it comes to non-food items, it gets more challenging. There are plenty of suggestions telling you to pick up lots of plastic junk. But we are recommending being more thoughtful. We avoided anything that seemed excessively junky or plastic placed in the mouth. We also focused on STEM type toys or something to encourage creativity in general. Here are some of the better selections we found.

• Full-Size Rubix Cubes for STEM students (10 pack)
• Play-Doh Party Dough Bags (15 packs) 
• Insect Bugs Activity Books made of recycled paper (12 pack) 
• Superhero Masks made from Felt & elastic (33 pack) 
• Mini Watercolor Artist Kit (24 pack)