More often than not, chocolate is gluten-free. Chocolate, if bought at a store, is usually going to have a combination of ingredients that include sugar, milk or milk powder, cacao, cocoa butter, soy lecithin and/or cocoa mass. None of these ingredients contain gluten.
However, if you are looking at chocolate that has cookie pieces, other candies, cookie crunch or another crunch factor, look again at the ingredients on the package.
And if there is no package with the chocolate (like if you’re at a party and the package was thrown away already), err on the side of caution before ingesting any chocolate that is not “pure” chocolate, whether milk, white or dark.
If you grab a regular chocolate bar off the shelf, chances are that this chocolate is 100% gluten-free. I love chocolate, and having been on a gluten-free diet for more than 15 years, I’ve never had a problem getting chocolate when I want some!
The hurdles are going to come when you’re faced with candy bars that have those additives I mentioned above. For example, candy bars that have chocolate but are not purely chocolate, like Milky Way, are not gluten-free. This is because the chewy center is made from malted barley, which is a gluten ingredient! Beware!
Additionally, chocolate candies like the ever-popular Ferrero Rocher chocolate treats contain wheat flour (gluten ingredient!) for their delicious candy crunch feature. Candies like these are NOT gluten-free, despite the fact that the chocolate alone used in them is likely gluten-free.
If you are highly allergic to gluten and cannot eat products made in the same manufacturing facility as gluten ingredients, check labels for the chocolate you’re about to eat, to see if the facility is safe for your needs.