Is Chocolate a Safe Gift? Allergies, Sobriety, Diets and Faith: A Sender's Checklist for Clients and Staff

We sell a $35 logo mug gift box, printed, packed and shipped to each person's address. This guide covers the other options too.

Key facts

• Food allergies are common: "In 2021, 25.7% of adults had a seasonal allergy, 7.3% had eczema, and 6.2% had a food allergy," and 5.8% of children had a food allergy (CDC, NCHS Data Briefs 460 and 459, Jan 2023).
• Gluten: "experts estimate about 2 million people in the United States have celiac disease" (NIDDK, read Oct 29, 2026).
• Alcohol: 54% of US adults say they drink, "the lowest by one percentage point in Gallup's nearly 90-year trend" (Gallup, Aug 13, 2025; 1,002 adults, July 2025).
• What's in our box: LINDOR truffles contain milk, soy and barley malt (gluten); read the labels. For the Ghirardelli hot cocoa, read the label on the pack. There's no alcohol and no meat, and the assembled box is not kosher-certified (what's in the box).

The Four Checks Before You Send Food

The food question covers three of the four checks in one line. Alcohol is the one to settle on your own side: if you don't know someone drinks, don't send it.

When Food Gifts Go Wrong: What Senders and Recipients Report

These come from people who sent or received the gift, in their own words.

• Alcohol to a non-drinker. "As the wife of a 13 year sober man, we laugh when we get given booze/wine, but it's definitely a gift they should know their client enjoys" (r/smallbusiness, 2018). And: "I don't drink and many of my friends don't drink either. So, liquor as a gift is a waste for us" (r/marketing, 2024).
• Alcohol to a rehab center. business.com's poll of 1,547 professionals found "wine insensitively gifted to an addiction rehabilitation center" among the gifts quickly thrown away (business.com, Oct 2022).
• Meat to homes that don't eat it. A commenter whose company now sends wreaths instead: "We tried the meat and cheese bundles and ended up with one that sat on a porch for over a month, and a few others going to homes where they don't eat meat for religious reasons" (r/marketing, 2025).
• Nuts that a client's company refused. A commenter in r/sales recalled: "Once my company sent a gift basket of nuts and we got a letter back from them saying that is not allowed and they would donate them to a local charity" (they added it was about 20 years ago). A reply: "Have to be careful as many people are highly allergic to nuts. Others are vegetarian" (r/sales, 2024).
• The wrong food, or the wrong faith. business.com's respondents named "Bibles gifted to non-Christians" and "forbidden food sent to those with prohibitive allergies" among embarrassing oversights.

Senders who get it right say the same thing. A commenter in r/realtors who switched to a $35 fudge and candy assortment for clients: "I just check about food allergies first." Another, on closing gifts: "I don't want to inadvertently give alcohol to someone who may be in recovery (or someone else in their household is)" (r/realtors, 2025; r/realtors, 2026).

How to Ask Without Spoiling the Surprise

You're already asking for an address. Add one line. The client learns that something small is coming, not what it is.

For a client:

Hi [First name], we'd like to send you a small holiday thank-you with a sweet treat inside. What's the best address for it, and is there any food you can't have? We'll use your answers only for this gift. [Your name]

That's template 10 of our 12 templates for asking clients for their address.

For employees, put an optional line on the address form: "Anything we should know about food?" Answers like "allergies", "no chocolate, please" or a diet name come back before you order, and nobody has to explain why. The full form: how to collect employees' home addresses.

For a whole office or team, ask the one person who orders their lunches. They often know who can't have what.

Read the Label, Not the Brand

A brand name doesn't tell you what's in a pack. Three things to know before you trust any food gift:

• "Contains" and "may contain" are different lines. Someone with a severe allergy needs both checked.
• The pack in hand is the one that counts. A recipe can differ from one product, and one country, to the next, so read the label on the pack you're sending, not a listing.
• Loose treats carry no label. Truffles that come out of a larger bag have no ingredient list on each wrapper, so the recipient can't check. Our LINDOR truffles are packed this way too, and our card carries only your message: tell people what's inside, or ask first.

Here is our own box, against the four checks:

Name the Treats on the Card

A single truffle wrapper carries no ingredient list, so the card is where the treats get named. A Personalized Gifts Delivered order prints one message on every card, greeting each person by first name, and the card lies on the lid, so it's read before the box opens. One line covers the whole list:

Hi {first name}, a small thank-you for this year. Inside: Ghirardelli hot cocoa and Lindt LINDOR milk chocolate truffles. Happy holidays from all of us.

The line names the treats; it doesn't list allergens, so the food question in the address email still comes first. You see every person's card before you pay.

The Sender's Checklist

Before any food gift goes to a client or employee list:

1. Ask about food in the address email or form (one line, optional).
2. Leave alcohol out unless you know the person drinks.
3. Read the "contains" and "may contain" lines on every food in the gift.
4. Name the treats in the card message, since a loose truffle carries no label.
5. Keep the card's greeting inclusive ("Happy holidays", not a faith's greeting, unless you know); our guide to Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays has the wording.
6. For anyone who said no to the food, choose a different gift before you order, not after.
7. If the gift is for a shared office, tell the contact what's in it so they can share it fairly.

What to Send Someone Who Can't Have the Treats

• A handwritten card. It costs $0.82 to mail (USPS Notice 123).
• A donation in their name. The Emily Post Institute calls charitable gifts "a win-win solution" (Emily Post); business.com suggests letting the recipient pick the cause.
• A non-food gift. A quality tumbler, a blanket or a book, chosen with the same care.
• A certified food gift. If your client keeps kosher, choose a kosher-certified gift whose package carries the certification you need.

Each row on a Personalized Gifts Delivered address list is its own box, with its own card, so the list holds exactly the people you choose and nobody else's gift changes.

What to know before you order

• Allergens. LINDOR truffles contain milk, soy and barley malt (gluten); read the labels. Every box holds the same treats, so the food question in your address email sorts the list before you order.
• A recipient who keeps kosher. The assembled box is not kosher-certified. It has no alcohol and no meat.
• What's in every box. A 1.5 oz packet of Ghirardelli premium hot cocoa and 4 Lindt LINDOR milk chocolate truffles; there's no treat-free version.
• Where we ship. We ship from New York to the lower 48 states and Washington, DC, except Texas for now. P.O. boxes are fine; no Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, other US territories, APO/FPO or international. The order page flags any row we can't ship to, so you can fix it or take it out.

The full client plan, from who gets a gift to when it should arrive: client holiday gifts 2026.

Where Personalized Gifts Delivered Fits a List With Allergies on It

A food gift for a long list goes well when the sender knows what's in it, asks first, and sends it only to the people who said yes. Personalized Gifts Delivered is set up for that order of work:

• What's inside, stated up front: Ghirardelli premium hot cocoa and 4 Lindt LINDOR milk chocolate truffles, with no alcohol and no meat. LINDOR truffles contain milk, soy and barley malt (gluten); read the labels.
• One box per person, at their own address: each box goes to the person on its row, the one you asked, not to a shared basket on a front desk.
• One card message for the whole list: it greets each person by first name, can name the treats, and lies on the lid. You see every card before you pay.
• One price, no minimum: $35 per box, delivered, whether you send 1 or 50; one box is a complete order.

For the people who said yes: a logo mug gift box with Ghirardelli cocoa, Lindt truffles and a personal card, $35 delivered to each address.