Organic Candy Canes

In a mental lapse, I purchased "regular" candy canes at the grocery store for our son who has been asking for this seasonal treat.  Our son, who's body knows better than my mind, promptly vomited up the sweet treat he so desperately wanted -- as he does with all "junk" food.

My wife gave me the "I can't believe you would give that to him" look and I set out to find an organic candy cane -- or create one myself.

Fortunately I discovered some distributed by Tru Sweets that were available at our local health foods store (Harvest Health Foods) and were on sale for $2.99.  Another option would have been The Natural Candy Store.

I compared the ingredients in the two boxes of candy canes to discover this list of 11 ingredients in the first:

• Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Natural Flavor (Peppermint), FD&C Red 40, Vegetable Derived Glycerin, Soybean Oil, Calcium Carbonate, Carnauba Wax, Soy Lecithin, Modified Palm Oil, Petrolatum.

And this list of ingredients in the organic candy canes:

• Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Natural Peppermint Flavor, Red Beet Juice for Color.

Labels are important and in my rush of shopping I failed to read this one.  We all know and understand what is in the organic candy canes.  But there are at least two ingredients in the regular candy canes that are banned in other countries for having possible long-term side effects (Red 40 and Petrolatum).  I think it's worth the extra couple of dollars to get a quality product.

On a final note, in addition to being organic (and tasting great), the candy cane box indicates they are also Gluten Free, Vegan and Kosher.