Skip to content

Product Ingredients, Nutrition Facts, etc.

Are the Caring Candies Hard Candies and Chocolates Kosher and Halaal?  | Are the Caring Candies Hard Candies and Chocolates Vegan friendly?Why do some people get a runny tummy from sugar-free products?  |  What is the difference between Total Carbohydrates, Glycaemic Carbohydrates, Available Carbohydrates, or Net Carbohydrates?  |  Are the Calories of Isomalt, Xylitol, Erythritol, or Maltitol the same as sugar?  |   Our Caring Candies Chocolate Ingredients and AllergensWhy are some chocolates labelled SUCROSE-FREE and some labelled SUGAR-FREE?  |  Help! My chocolate looks old and grey!  |  Our Caring Candies Hard Candy Ingredients and Allergens


Are the Caring Candies Hard Candies and Chocolates Kosher and Halaal?

Yes, all our hard candies and chocolates are both Kosher and Halaal. Our hard candies are Kosher Pareve. Our chocolates are Kosher Milchik.

Are the Caring Candies Hard Candies and Chocolates Vegan-friendly?

Yes, all our hard candies and our 70% Dark chocolates are Vegan-friendly. We have made a VEGAN collection and popped all the products, which are Vegan-friendly into them to make it really easy for you to find. It's here

Why do some people get a runny tummy from sugar-free products?

Natural Sugar substitutes work in the body like dietary fibre – in the same way that prunes, apricots, beans, and onions do. We therefore recommend you try and limit yourself to around 25g of sugar-free candy a day to avoid a possible laxative effect in the beginning. But don't worry - most people do get used to the extra fiber and eventually they build up a tolerance to it ;)

What is the difference between Total Carbohydrates, Glycaemic Carbohydrates, Available Carbohydrates, or Net Carbohydrates?

Total Carbohydrates consist of multiple nutrients, including dietary fibre, sugars, polyols, and starches. Some of these nutrients are not absorbed, digested, or metabolized in the body to yield Glucose.

Glycaemic Carbohydrates (also referred to as "available" or "net" carbohydrates) are those nutrients that ARE absorbed, digested or metabolized in the body to yield Glucose. In other words, a product like Xylitol, can have 99g of Total Carbohydrates per 100g, BUT, only 0.04g of those Total Carbohydrates are able to be absorbed, digested or metabolized, which would mean they would have 0 Glycaemic Carbohydrates.

Think of it like this: Imagine drinking a glass of water with some sand in it. The glass with the water and sand represents the Total Carbohydrate. The water represents the Glycaemic Carbohydrate – these can be absorbed / digested / metabolized in the body; however, the sand will basically go in and then go out of your body as extra fibre – no absorption, no digestion, and no being metabolized into Glucose.

In SA the Department of Health changed the Labelling Legislation in 2012 to reflect Glycaemic Carbohydrates instead of Total Carbohydrates for this very reason. To get a better indication of the Glycaemic Carbs instead of the Total Carbs of a product (if the label still lists Total Carbs) you would need to subtract the Fibre, Polyols, Sugar Alcohols, and Starches.

The calorific value of polyols/sugar alcohols like Isomalt, Xylitol, Erythritol, or Maltitol is lower than that of sugars because of the way they are digested...

Most polyols are primarily fermented in the large intestine, rather than absorbed in the small intestine, which has important consequences for their energy value.

If a carbohydrate (like sugar) is absorbed in the small intestine and not excreted via urine, it becomes fully available to the body as energy, whereas if a carbohydrate (like a Polyol) is fermented in the colon, only about half of it (50%) will be available as energy. When a polyol is ingested, a significant part of it (varying from 10% to 99% depending on the individual polyol) is not absorbed in the small intestine and therefore enters the large intestine.

The "real" energy value of a polyol is therefore dependent on the following three factors, which must all be considered when calculating a polyol’s energy value:

    1. the percentage of polyol that is absorbed in the small intestine as opposed to the percentage that is fermented in the large intestine
    2. the extent to which the body can use any energy from the polyol absorbed in the small intestine
  1. the part that ends up in the large intestine.

So, in summary, calories from Polyols, which are listed on food labels are not necessarily what the body is taking in.

Our Caring Candies Chocolate Ingredients and Allergens

Chocolate Ingredients

Our chocolates are made from real cocoa beans and not soya. We use only natural ingredients, which means No artificial sweeteners, No artificial flavourants, No artificial colourants, and No preservatives.

Instead of sugar we use a natural sugar substitute called Maltitol*, which is very similar to the better-known Xylitol. One of the many benefits of using Maltitol is that it gives our chocolate a lovely mouth-feel.

Another massive benefit of using Maltitol is that it is LOW IN GLYCAEMIC CARBS, which makes it ideal for Diabetics or those following the LCHF / Banting lifestyle.

*Please note that Maltitol comes in two variants - Maltitol syrup, which has a high GI, and Maltitol powder, which has a low GI. We naturally use the powdered Maltitol with the lowest GI.

Chocolate Allergens

Our Milk chocolates and White chocolates contain Cow's Milk.

Our 70% Dark chocolates contain NO ALLERGENS.

Please note, however, that some of the ingredients have been obtained from a supplier where there is a possibility of cross-contamination with Sugar, Hazelnuts, Macadamia & Soya Lecithin.

An ACP (Allergen Control Program) is, however, in place.

Why are some products labelled SUGARFREE and some are labelled as having NO ADDED SUGAR?

Simply put, the products labelled NO ADDED SUGARS most likely contain cow's milk. Dairy naturally contains a type of milk sugar called "Lactose". So it is for this reason, by law, we do not say those products are SUGAR-FREE, but rather we say they are SUCROSE-FREE or have NO ADDED SUGARS. An example of these would be our milk chocolates.

Another example would be jam. Jam should never be labelled SUGARFREE, but rather labelled as SUCROSE-FREE or NO ADDED SUGARS as fruit naturally contains a type of sugar called "Fructose".

Is it safe for a Diabetic or someone following a low carb, banting or keto lifestyle to have a NO ADDED SUGAR product?

Yes, absolutely, provided they are allowed to enjoy dairy (and fruit)

Help! My chocolate looks old and grey!

Does your chocolate have a greyish-white appearance? If so, don't worry, it's still perfectly safe to eat and is not "old" nor "expired". All that has happened is that the cocoa butter has separated and come to the surface. This happens when the chocolate has accidentally become warm (in a car or in the shop, etc.). Here is a little video explaining "chocolate bloom" which I found on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2hO7_vvcn4&feature=youtu.be

Our Caring Candies Hard Candy Ingredients and Allergens

Candy Ingredients

We use only natural or nature-identical ingredients, which means No artificial sweeteners, No artificial flavourants, No artificial colourants, and No preservatives. Instead of sugar we use a natural sugar substitute called Isomalt, which is derived from beets and is very similar to the better-known Xylitol.

One of the many benefits of using Isomalt is that it is not as sweet as Xylitol, which means that when we flavour our candies, they all taste different to one another instead of being overpoweringly sweet.

Another massive benefit of using Isomalt is that it has ZERO GLYCEMIC CARBS, which makes it ideal for Diabetics or those following the LCHF / Banting lifestyle. Isomalt is also tooth-friendly, which is why we have many Dentists recommending them to their patients - we even have a range of lollipops called Doc's Pops, specifically for handing out at the end of a consultation.

Our natural colourants are derived from plants, herbs, and spices! After finally sourcing a plant-based natural blue colour, we came up with the ingenious idea of simply mixing our natural red colouring (beetroot juice) with it and voila - a natural purple was born, making all our hard candy products completely Vegan friendly.

All of our hard candies, no matter what their shape, contain: Isomalt, Water, Natural Colourant, and Natural Flavourant. Some flavours contain Citric Acid and/or Malic Acid. Liquorice contains Aniseed.

Candy Allergens

Our hard candies contain NO ALLERGENS. Dairy chocolate is manufactured in a separate part of the factory on separate machinery. An Allergen Control Program is, however, in place.