Plain M&Ms - Do m&ms have peanuts

Plain M&M's should not have ground peanuts in them. Some PA people do not eat them though because they have on their list of ingredients "may contain peanuts". I think this is done because they are either made in the same plant or using the same machinery as peanut M&M's are. For liability reasons, the company puts the warning on the package. YOu will start to notice this warning a lot, especially on chocoate candy products. Some might say "made in the same facility as peanut products" ,etc.

I'm PA and had a reaction to plain M&M's when I was a child - didn't read the label before I ate them. Up until around 5 years ago plain M&M's DID contain peanuts and it was listed as an ingredient in the milk chocolate filling. They then changed and just had the may contain warning. I have eaten the crispy M&M's with just the warning on them and have gotten an itchy throat once or twice, but I do not believe that they actually put peanuts in anything but the peanut ones now. I do believe they have a pretty serious cross-contamination problem.
Rebekah

I called M&M/Mars a few days ago about this, they said the concern is that there is contamination due to peanut dust in the facility, plus even though they are careful to clean the peanut M&M equpiment, there is a "remote" chance that a peanut M&M may get in with the plain ones.There are no ground peanuts in the chocolate.
A gripe I have with the "may contain peanuts" statment is that sometimes it is easily missed by someone not used to checking labels. As parents we have learned to look around for the "may contain" statement, but when I tell other people to always check the label, I don't always think to tell them "look around the label and see if it says 'may contain peanuts' etc." Even my husband has missed the "may contain" statement on numerous occasions. I wish manufacturers would just list peanuts as the last ingredient on the label--that would cover their "butt" plus be a lot easier for us to identify.

Yes there is something used from the peanut to harden the shell. MY allergist told me this about m&m candy. My son always reacted to them until he had a magor PA reaction and the doctor told me what not to give him. They also told me no to black liqorice. I am not sure why on that. claire

We avoid M&M's like the plague. Any 'may contains' or 'made in the same facility with peanut processing' means they don't want out business. (like the new U.S. labeling on KitKat bars.) It is just not worth taking the chance for our PA daughters.
I buy peppermint patties instead.

Really? Which peppermint patties have you found to be safe? I'd be interested in letting him eat those...

I think they are called Peppermint Patties. They are the two to three inch round ones they keep at the supermarket checkout areas. They come in (I think I am right)a silver wrapper. I will double check this weekend and repost.
Please double check the integredients, but we have had good luck with them.

Those are the York Peppermint Patties. I was eyeing them at the check out line today after reading your post. My 4 yo has never had any candy except lollipops and I was thinking of buying him one sometime.

Lisa M / dettu
York Peppermint Pattie is correct. Our PA daughters love them. (my wife and I, too- they are low fat)
They are in the silver package with blue, red, and white markings.

yeah, m&ms are a no-go for me bc of the warning that they may contain peanuts. i stay away from them, but it's interesting about peppermint patties. i never knew that and now i'm craving one ;-)