Check Your Labels: Some Haribo Now Have May Contain Gluten/Wheat Warnings

EDIT: As of mid 2025 some other Haribo are also may contain gluten, not just Starmix, this includes some Tangfastics

Last week (Feb 2024) I was messaged by someone to say that Haribo Star Mix had a may contain warning for gluten, when they hadn't had one before, in the UK they were gluten free and safe for Coeliacs.

Initially I thought this was a factory change but after more digging that isn't actually correct and this is now a product you need to check the label....because there are TWO variations, one with a may contain and one without.

It turns out that Haribo are using multiple factories to supply the UK, one factory being UK based and the others are imported, primarily from a German factory. The products coming from the international factories carry the may contain warning for gluten and milk, the ones from the UK factory don't have the warning and are still fine for Coeliacs - Haribo say a small percent of the products are import but you will still need to check as every store is going to vary, so keep a close look for that may contain gluten warning printed on the back!

Stock will vary store to store and even day to day in the same store, so always check whether the packs you have got are safe.

Haribo state this about the two different packs on their FAQ

Do your products contain gluten

The majority of our products are manufactured in the UK, and we can confirm that these do not contain gluten. The only product produced in the UK that contains wheat are our "Pontefract Cakes". Here, wheat is shown on the packaging in bold.

At times, to meet increased demand, we source some of our products abroad, which state "may contain traces of gluten" as part of a potential risk of cross-contamination. Therefore, we cannot guarantee those imported products, which represent a tiny minority of products being sold in the UK, do not contain gluten. This is why we would like to stress the importance of checking back-of-pack labelling - even on HARIBO products which you regularly buy. Our packaging information contains all the relevant details, including allergens which are shown in bold.

It maybe worth noting they state the imports appear more when demand is high so be on higher alert around Halloween and Christmas.

Always check your packs, not just for Haribo either, there is every potential that this could happen with any product especially when multiple factories are involved (take Cadbury for instance, no Dairy Milk is safe except the chunks, same as Haribo this is due to different factories being used for production!)

Remember your labels always have the most up to date allergy advice, don't rely on apps to tell you if something is safe or not, what would it tell you in this instance when there are two variations of the same product?!