ARE SKITTLES GLUTEN FREE?
For the longest time, sour skittles have been my favourite candy. However, that changed when I learned that they could potentially be non gluten free.
This has been a sort of taboo in the celiac/gluten free community but, you guys, it's still a taboo as Wrigley (a.k.a. the manufacturer) has failed to give a clear answer. As stated in their label, the ingredients in Skittles are: Sugar, Corn Syrup, Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil; less than 2% of: Citric Acid, Tapioca Dextrin, Modified Corn Starch, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Colors (Titanium Dioxide, Red 40 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Blue 2 Lake, Blue 1 Lake, Yellow 6, Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1), Sodium Citrate, Carnauba Wax.
Technically, gluten can't be found anywhere in that ingredient list. The confusion arises because Skittles' ingredients change from year to year: older versions used to contain gelatin, making it easier to list them as non gluten free, but the newer versions do not. As gelatin is not listed as an ingredient, many people assume that Skittles are gluten free.
Here's what Wrigley has to say on this: Skittles® contain wheat with detectable gluten and therefore are not considered gluten free. However, if you contact a Wrigley's customer service representative, you will most likely be told that all their products, with the exception of Altoids, are gluten free.
You can contact Wrigley at (800) 974-4539, but I recommend steering clear from these tiny and delicious colourful dots just in case.