Few people love to see how food is made more than the allergy community. Our guide features 29 allergy-friendly factories and provides the details we are hungry for, including if the entire facility is dedicated to being free of allergens and what kind of food samples you can expect. Move over Willy Wonka—we’ve got your golden ticket!
1. Joy Cone
Location: Flagstaff, Arizona & Hermitage, Pennsylvania
Ever wonder how ice cream cones are made? Book ahead to visit Joy Cone’s Pennsylvania factory from August to November or their Arizona factory in September to February to find out! Cones made at the Flagstaff location all contain wheat. Their gluten-free ice cream cones and cups are produced using a mixer that is dedicated to gluten-free batter and the batter lines to their ovens are thoroughly cleaned prior to each gluten-free production run. Their gluten-free cones are certified by the Gluten-Free Manufacturing Program.
Free Sample: Plain cones in the plant, a cone with DQ soft serve in the breakroom. The DQ ice cream is gluten-free and contains dairy. Gluten-free Joy Cones are available to eat with the ice cream or to take home.
Facility Dedicated Free From Peanut, Tree Nut
2. Dandelion Chocolate
Location: San Francisco, California
Dandelion Chocolate has a one-hour factory tour, as well as numerous informational and chocolate-making classes including classes based on children’s ages. The tour is free of the Top 8 allergens and on their site, all classes list what allergens are involved and note if the allergen can be substituted if you give them prior notice.
Free Sample: Taste cacao fruit and roasted cacao beans from different origins, taste warm melted chocolate as it is refining, and finished single origin dark chocolate bars. You’ll receive a hot chocolate gift card for the café.
Facility Dedicated Free From: Peanut, Tree Nut
3. Sriracha
Location: Irwindale, California
The free Ultimate Sriracha Tour lasts about an hour and gives you a behind-the-scenes look into how the “rooster sauce” is made. Visit the Rooster Room, the on-site shop for all things Sriracha! Sriracha
Free Sample: Small bottle of Sriracha
Facility Dedicated Free From: Top 8, Sesame and Mustard
4. Celestial Seasoning Tea
Location: Boulder, Colorado
The Celestial Seasonings factory tour takes you into the heart of their state-of-the-art facility to see how tea is made. This free 30-minute tour shows you how the entire process, from raw materials to the finished product. Children 5 and up are welcome. A few teas contain gluten or soy but no other Top 8 allergens are present in the teas.
Free Sample: 6 teas at the tea bar
Facility Dedicated Free From: None
5. PEZ
Location: Orange, Connecticut
The Pez Visitor Center boasts the largest, most comprehensive collection of PEZ memorabilia on public display in the world, a PEZ motorcycle, the world’s largest PEZ dispenser, and a self-guided tour through a viewing area into the production area, which operates on weekdays.
Free Sample: One pack of Pez
Facility Dedicated Free From: Peanut, Tree Nut, Soy, Gluten
6. World of Coca-Cola
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
The World of Coca-Cola isn’t exactly a factory tour, but it’s too iconic to miss. You can spend the day interacting with multiple exhibits, learning the history of the iconic beverage brand, and sampling more than 100 different beverages from around the world. There are also VIP guided tours available by reservation.
Free Sample: Try over 100+ Coca Cola beverages at the sampling bar. The majority of sodas are gluten-free.
Facility Dedicated Free From: None
7. Dole Plantation
Location: Wahiawa, Hawaii
Take a two-mile, 20-minute, fully narrated train ride through a real-life working plantation at the Dole Plantation on the Pineapple Express Train Ride. Along the route, you’ll learn about Hawaii’s most famous fruit crop and the history of the Dole company. Be sure to visit the Pineapple Garden Maze and the cafe for a Dole Whip! Pineapple is naturally Top-8 free, as is Pineapple Dole Whip.
Free Sample: A free pineapple sample. Li hing powder (a plum extract from plum seeds) is sprinkled on some, but not all samples.
Facility Dedicated Free From: None
8. Albanese Confectionery
Location: Merrillville, Indiana
Choose between a self-guided or guided tour of the Albanese candy factory to see how their gluten-free gummies and chocolate are made through viewing windows and videos. Note: tours are unavailable during the months of November-December and March-April.
Free Sample: A gummi and a chocolate
Facility Dedicated Free From: None
9. Bixby & Co
Location: Rockland, Maine
See how the delicious chocolate is made at Bixby & Co., a small working family chocolaterie. They offer a presentation and the ability to view the bean-to-bar production area kitchen through a window. Most offerings are gluten-free. Though made on shared machinery, their site clearly calls out which allergens the chocolate is free of and staff is allergy-aware.
Free Sample: Assorted chocolate, can change samples to meet allergen concerns
Facility Dedicated Free From: None
10. Taza Chocolate
Location: Somerville, Massachusetts
Join the factory for the Intro to Stone Ground Chocolate, a brief talk, and chocolate tasting tour. Families with children under 10 years old are encouraged to attend the Taza Cacao Scout Bingo or Chocolate Story Time on weekends. In a rush? You can even view the chocolate grinding and depositing rooms from their factory store.
Free Sample: Stone-ground chocolate
Facility Dedicated Free From: Dairy, Egg, Soy, Gluten
11. Cape Cod Chips
Location: Hyannis, Massachusetts
Find out how the famous Cape Cod Chips are made on this short self-guided tour and hit the shop on the way out for snacks to go! Cape Cod uses a blend of non-GMO oils, including canola oil and/or safflower and/or sunflower, and while not stated on their site, is known to be peanut- and tree-nut free.
Free Sample: Regular potato chips
Facility Dedicated Free From: Peanut, Tree Nut and Egg
12. Jiffy Mixes
Location: Chelsea, Michigan
Make reservations for the free, one-hour tour at the JIFFY Mix plant for an educational video presentation and a guided walk through their packaging plant.
Free Sample: Box of raspberry muffin mix
Facility Dedicated Free From: Peanut, Tree Nut
13. Kimmie Candy
Location: Reno, Nevada
Join a guided full tour or take a self-guided mini-tour of the Kimmie Candy factory to see how their delicious candy is made.
Free Sample: Assorted candy
Facility Dedicated Free From: Peanut, Gluten
14. Chocolatrium
Location: West Berlin, New Jersey
Tour the Chocolatrium to discover the history of chocolate on a private guided chocolate tour. Choose the perfect tour for you: lunch, dinner, birthday-themed or chocolate-making. The tours are full of chocolates and pastries and menus are available on their site.
Free Sample: Chocolate and pastries
Facility Dedicated Free From: Peanut, Soy
15. Raaka Chocolate
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Watch chocolate being made from bean to bar at the Raaka chocolate factory. Kids 8 and up are welcome with an adult. They also have several chocolate-making classes if you want to get more hands-on.
Free Sample: Assorted chocolate
Facility Dedicated Free From: Peanut, Tree Nut (except Coconut), Dairy, Soy, Gluten
16. Videri Chocolate Factory
Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
Take a free museum-style self-guided tour of the Videri Chocolate Factory to see how chocolate is made from bean to bar or take a more in-depth paid guided tour.
Free Sample: A bonbon and flight of chocolate bars
Facility Dedicated Free From: Peanut, Tree Nut, Egg, Soy, Gluten
17. Spangler Candy
Location: Bryan, Ohio
Watch a video presentation of how your favorite lollipops are made at the Spangler factory and ride the 30-minute Dum Dum Trolley Tour to see how they are wrapped and packed. The tour ends at the museum and shop which has all of the company’s brands for purchase.
Free Sample: Dum Dums
Facility Dedicated Free From: Peanut, Tree Nut, Dairy, Egg, Fish, Shellfish, Gluten
18. Bob’s Red Mill
Location: Milwaukie, Oregon
Join the Bob’s Red Mill tour to see how whole grains are stone-ground to become your favorite flour! The free tour is 75 minutes long and there is a cafe and shop one mile down the road for picking up the goods to bake your next creation.
Free Sample: Varies
Facility Dedicated Free From: Gluten
19. Franz Bakery
Location: Portland, Oregon
Book the half-hour Franz Family Bakery tour in advance to tour this family-owned facility and see how their delicious bread is made.
Free Sample: Bread, butter, and apple juice. A loaf of bread or a pack of cookies is given to each chaperone.
Facility Dedicated Free From: Peanut
20. Tillamook Cheese Tour
Location: Tillamook, Oregon
Take a free self-guided tour to get a bird’s-eye view of the cheese-making and packaging rooms at Tillamook Creamery. Enjoy cheese samples in the Food Hall. The cafe offers gluten-free bread and will prepare your meal separately on an allergen-free grill with fresh utensils at your request. The ice cream counter will use a fresh scoop and open a new carton for allergic customers. All Tillamook Cheese products (including shredded cheeses and Sauce Starters) are gluten-free.
Free Sample: Variety of cheeses
Facility Dedicated Free From: None
21. Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe, Inc.
Location: Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
The Golden Roll: Martin’s Visitor Center offers guests the chance to see the original garage bakery where the founders began baking their famous potato bread and rolls in the 1950s. Tour guides tailor each tour to the specific group and guests view a series of interactive touch screens with historical photos, videos of the bread baking process, and Martin’s current process flow and distribution footprint.
Free Sample: Loaf of swirl bread
Facility Dedicated Free From: Peanut, Tree Nut
22. Snyder’s Pretzels
Location: Hanover, Pennsylvania
Enjoy the smell of baking pretzels on the 30-minute Snyder’s of Hanover tour, which takes you from the raw ingredients to robotic packaging. Recommended for children 5 and up.
Free Sample: Bag of pretzels
Facility Dedicated Free From: Peanut and Tree Nut
23. Hershey’s
Location: Hershey, Pennsylvania
The free 30-minute immersive tour of the Hershey’s chocolate factory is part education, part ride! The factory is the headquarters for the sweet company and there are several other activities to indulge in, including a trolley tour of the town of Hershey. Hershey’s labels well for allergens. In instances where they have a concern about the possible crossover of an allergen, they take the added precaution of including an allergy information statement on the label.
Free Sample: Varies; ask an attendant for an alternative sample if the sample of the day doesn’t work for you
Facility Dedicated Free From: None
24. Herr’s
Location: Nottingham, Pennsylvania
Herr’s Snack Factory one-hour tour promises to be as educational as it is entertaining. The guided tour teaches everything from how they make a great potato chip to how their tortilla chips get seasoned. You’ll see several of their products made and the Customer Service department is happy to answer any allergen concerns with a quick call.
Free Sample: Crisp ‘N Tasty Chips or Ripples, hot out of the fryer with no seasoning. Herr’s does not use peanut oil.
Facility Dedicated Free From: None
25. Ben & Jerry’s
Location: Waterbury, Vermont
Take the 30-minute guided tour of the Ben & Jerry’s factory to see how your favorite flavors are made. Be sure to visit the on-site scoop shop and ask for a fresh scooper and carton from the back, visit the “flavor graveyard” behind the building afterward and check out the kid-approved playground to burn off all that sugar. Ben & Jerry’s has a very proactive approach to addressing allergies by working closely with ingredient suppliers to verify all ingredient components to ensure that this information is included on the product ingredient label. They have systems and policies in place to help protect against cross-contamination through strict sanitation procedures and processes.
Free Sample: Ice cream sample; flavor varies
Facility Dedicated Free From: None
26. Taylor Made Chocolate
Location: Chester, Virginia
This factory tour teaches how Taylor Made makes delicious chocolate from cocoa beans. Learn the differences between chocolate grown in different parts of the world and the history of chocolate as well as how farmers harvest, ferment, and dry cacao beans.
Free Sample: Tasting of chocolates produced from cocoa beans grown in different parts of the world and a bar of your choice to take home
Facility Dedicated Free From: Peanut, Tree Nut, Egg, Soy, Fish, Shellfish, Wheat
27. Jelly Belly
Location: Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin and Fairfield, California
Learn how jelly beans are made on the free Jelly Belly factory tour, which includes interactive games, exhibits and a train ride to see the factory in action at the WI location. The CA location makes all of the company’s famous beans and has a walkway to give you a bird’s eye view of the plant. Personal guided tours are also available for a cost with reservations.
Free Sample: 1 oz. bag of the 20-flavor variety jelly beans and a box of Bean Boozled jelly beans
Facility Dedicated Free From: WI: Peanut, Tree Nut (except for Coconut and Almond), Dairy, Gluten. CA: Peanut, Tree Nut (except for Coconut), Dairy, Gluten
28. Sprecher Brewing Company
Location: Glendale, Wisconsin
See a real working brewhouse, from the aging cellar to the bottling line and warehouse, guided by a friendly and knowledgeable tour guide. The tour ends in an indoor beer tent for sampling of beers and their caffeine- and gluten-free house-made sodas.
Free Sample: 4 samples of beer (adults 21 and older). Tour participants of all ages can sample all available sodas.
Facility Dedicated Free From: None
29. ChocXO
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
Contact ChocXO to make reservations for a unique tour of the chocolate-making process, including tastes of each step from bean to bar.
Free Sample: The longer tour includes samples of cacao pulp, cacao nibs, cacao liquor, and shots of warm liquid chocolate, all of which are naturally nut-free. At the end of the tour, you can select three tastes from the chocolate case. Many of these products contain nuts and gluten. They can swap these items for chocolate squares, which are nut-free and gluten-free. The dark chocolate does not contain dairy (except the caramel flavor) but is made on shared machinery.
Facility Dedicated Free From: None