What treats can / cannot go into the party bag of a coeliac child.

[AtheneNoctua]

We have one party guest sho can not have wheat / gluten. I don't know a whole lot about living wheat free. But, I always feel bad for this kid because everyone around her gets a treat and she has to have something else. So, I want to just pake the party bags gluten free so she can have the same thing everyone else is having.

So, could some wise MNers come tell me what I can put in the bag?

Thanks!

Plastic tat instead of sweets. Tesco do a whole range of packs of yoyos, parachute men, cones with balls to fire etc. Coloured pencils. Balloons. Party-blowers. Mini Crackers.

It's all tat and can/will all be chucked out, but then I always chuck out the sweets too!

I have a few not sweetie things to put in (pads of paper, pencils, etc.) but thought I'd pop in one or two small treats.

if you are specifically thinking sweets, then the dreaded Haribo are gluten free iirc

if you were wanting to make a cake that everyone can share (rather than getting a separate cake for the one child and singling them out) then Nigella's clementine cake is gluten free and very tasty.

if you want gluten free cakes, the Sainsbury's free from chocolate brownies are very tasty.

there is a whole range of fruit/cereal bars which could be ok - most coeliacs can eat oats, i believe (NB please double check, as my dd is not coeliac) and so the fruitus range is quite nice - sweet but slightly healthy too.

what sort of things were you after?

Goodness Direct and Dietary Needs Direct both have a facility to search by special diet, and both carry a good range of treats too

raisins/dried fruit?
carton of juice
babybel - can she have cheese?

Tesco's free from range is pretty good imo. They have cake mix there too so you could make some little cupcakes that all the kids could eat including her! You could ask her mum what she usually has as treats?

For DD's party I put Cadbury Chocolate Buttons and Cadbury Dairy Milk Mini bars into her coeliac friends party bag.

IIRC it says on the packaging "Suitable for Coeliacs" (or if not it was her Mum that told me they are OK for her)

This might help -Easter treats that are OK for Coeliacs

Quite a few sweets are actually suitable for coeliacs. Many of the Cadburys ones are. You can check on the individual manufacturers websites to be sure if it does not say on the packaging; most sites have good nutritional information now clearly showing which products are suitable for coeliacs.

she can eat rice and oats, just not wheat. But it seems it's in bloody everything -- even ketchup! I think cadbury buttons and cadburry mini cream eggs are gluten free (after much googling just now). So I might pop those in. Haribo is a good idea.

What about jelly beans? Are those gluten free?

Oh, I have coerced DH into making the cake. He'll be horrified if I ask him to make one that doesn't come in a box.

Is there any gluten-free cake mix that comes in a box?

Sorry, I started my post ages ago, and have crossed with several of you. I will check out Tesco on my way home tonight.

yes you can get gluten free cake mixes. waitrose have a couple in their free from section, Sainsbury's might too.

I did a chocolate one for dd2's birthday - think it might have been a dove's farm one.

I seem to recall feeding dd2 jelly Belly jelly beans, but I might just be hoping I didn't scoff them all myself

most websites list ingredients now, will have a quick google.

yep, apparently wheat free - the starch used is cornstarch, so they should be ok.

thank you

dietary specials choc cake mix is yummy and very easy to make

polos and fruit polos are GF, as are flumps, moam chews, haribos

as mum of a coeliac child who misses out a lot in this respect, thank you for making the effort!

Struck out at Tesco. All they had was a small pre made victoria sponge cake which didn't look very tasty. Where can I get this dietary specials choc cake mix? I am sending nanny to Waitrose or similar tomorrow.

Waitrose sell a Glebe Farm chocolate cake mix that is very nice. It'll be in the Free From section