Products · Sweets & candy · Torie & Howard
Torie & Howard Assorted Organic Hard Candy, 3.5 oz bag
Reader ratings
Organic sugar, organic rice syrup, citric acid and natural flavors, colored with red cabbage, carrot, blackcurrant and apple. 11 g of sugar in five pieces. Cheapest candy we list; no metals result found.
Best for Anyone who wants fruit-flavored hard candy colored from vegetables at a low price.
- Our rating
- Fair (3.2 of 5)
- Price range
- Budget
- Size
- 3.5 oz (99 g) bag, about 6 servings of 5 pieces
- Made in
- Made in Mexico, per the pack; a brand of the American Licorice Company, Indiana.
approx. $3.99 for a 3.5 oz bag
See it on Torie & Howard’s site → (opens in a new tab)We are not affiliated with Torie & Howard. This link goes to the maker’s own page, with no tracking code. How we're funded.
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Your review
Reviews are personal experiences, not research, and they never change our quality ratings. Every review is read by our team before it appears.
How we evaluated it
How it scores Our rating, metric by metric
- Ingredients 40% of the rating 4 of 5
Five lines with colors named from vegetables and fruit and no artificial anything; the flavors are unnamed natural flavors, the citric acid is not marked organic, and organic rice syrup is the second ingredient (our category prefers cane sugar, tapioca syrup or fruit; the pack does not say brown).
- Sugar 15% of the rating 2 of 5
11 g of added sugar in 5 pieces (16 g), 22% of the daily value, about 69% sugar.
- Independent testing 20% of the rating 2 of 5
We found no published metals or arsenic result for this candy.
- Trust 10% of the rating 3 of 5
No Prop 65 notice or recall names Torie & Howard; its parent American Licorice had 2012 lead recalls of black licorice, long closed.
- Value 15% of the rating 4 of 5
$3.99 for 3.5 oz at the maker's parent, about $1.14 an ounce, the lowest here.
The rating, 3.2 of 5, is the weighted average of these scores. See how we rank sweets & candy and our standard.
What’s in it Every ingredient, in label order
- Organic sugar
- Organic rice syrup
- Citric acid
- Natural flavors
- Colored with red cabbage, purple carrots, organic black carrot, organic blackcurrant, organic apple
Who tested it What each test found, and who paid for it
- Independent openFDA food enforcement and California Prop 65 search November 2026
Searches on 5 Nov 2026 found no recall or notice naming Torie & Howard. openFDA does list four 2012 Class II recalls by American Licorice, three over lead in Red Vines or Natural Vines black licorice, all terminated. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Who paid, and why it matters
- Independent The tester took no money from the maker for it: a consumer group, a journalist, a university or a regulator.
- Paid certification An outside lab or certifier tested or listed it, and the maker paid for that.
- Maker’s own test A lab report or certificate of analysis the maker commissioned and published.
A certification is a floor, not a verdict: it checks what its program checks and nothing else. We weigh tests by someone with no stake in the result most.
What people ask Worries raised online and elsewhere, and what we found
- Is the parent company's lead history relevant?
- In 2012 American Licorice recalled black licorice (opens in a new tab) after the California health department and its own sampling found elevated lead. These hard candies are a different product with no licorice or cocoa, and all of the recalls are closed. We found no lab result for this candy.
- Is it made in Mexico, and does that matter for lead?
- The pack says made in Mexico. The FDA's lead-in-candy review (opens in a new tab) found lead mostly in chili candies, and this one has no chili or tamarind. We found no test of it.
- Are the colors and flavors natural?
- The pack (opens in a new tab) and the maker's copy say no artificial flavors or colors; colors are named plant juices. The flavors are listed only as natural flavors.
- Is rice syrup a problem?
- It can be: Dartmouth researchers (opens in a new tab) found arsenic in some organic brown rice syrups. This candy lists organic rice syrup (the pack does not say brown rice syrup) and no result is published; we counted the syrup under ingredients.
Why we chose it What put it on our list
- Five-line label, colors from named vegetables and fruit, no artificial flavors, colors or sweeteners, per the pack.
- USDA organic, certified by Oregon Tilth on the pack.
- The lowest price per ounce of any candy we list.
Trade-offs What to weigh before you buy
- About 69% sugar by weight.
- Unnamed natural flavors; organic rice syrup may carry arsenic.
- No metals result found, and the parent has an old lead recall record on licorice.
- We could not confirm a second store at this price; third-party Walmart listings of the tins run many times the maker's price.
What to know Details worth knowing first
Plain fruit hard candy with colors from red cabbage, carrot, blackcurrant and apple, USDA organic, and the lowest price per ounce on our list.
It is still two-thirds sugar, and nobody publishes a metals or arsenic result for it. The candy is made in Mexico, but the FDA's lead concern there centers on chili candy, which this is not. Its parent had lead recalls on black licorice in 2012, all closed.
A fair budget pick for the occasional sweet.
What we checked Each claim, and how sure we are of it
| What we checked | What we found |
|---|---|
| No synthetic colors, sweeteners or titanium dioxide Verified | Colors from red cabbage, carrot, blackcurrant and apple; no sweetener beyond sugar and rice syrup. |
| Organic Maker’s claim | USDA organic seal and "Certified Organic by Oregon Tilth" on the pack; we did not open the certifier's record. |
| Sugar per serving stated Verified | 11 g added sugar per 5 pieces (16 g), from the back-of-pack image. |
| Metals result published Not verified | None found. |
What the labels mean
- Verified We opened an independent record that confirms it: a certifier’s listing, a regulator’s list or a lab report. It is linked under Sources.
- Maker’s claim The maker says so on its own page or label. We read it but found no independent record.
- Not verified We looked and could not confirm it, or the maker does not say. Treat it as unknown.
Sources Where our facts come from
- American Licorice Company shop: Torie & Howard Assorted Organic Hard Candy, 3.5oz. Maker’s page. Price $3.99 and description, read 5 Nov 2026; pack images read for the label. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- Torie & Howard: pack photo, variety bag. Maker’s page. Front of the bag. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- openFDA food enforcement reports, American Licorice. Certifier or regulator listing. 2012 lead recalls of black licorice, terminated. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- California Attorney General: Prop 65 notices matching Torie & Howard. Certifier or regulator listing. No notice names the brand, 5 Nov 2026. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- FDA: Supporting document for recommended maximum level for lead in candy. Certifier or regulator listing. November 2006; lead mostly from chili and wrappers. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- Jackson et al., Arsenic, organic foods, and brown rice syrup (Environ Health Perspect, 2012). Test report. PMID 22336149. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Alternatives Other options to compare
- YumEarth Organic Peppermint Hard Candy Three ingredients and no color, but one flavor and a higher price.