Did you know that 5.6 million children in the US have food allergies? That’s 1 in 13 children. Maybe your child is one of the 5.6 million. If not, it’s likely that you know someone who has a food allergy. It can be extremely stressful for parents to navigate finding safe options for their child if they have a food allergy.
But what about Halloween? Can you imagine trying to navigate trick or treating when your child has a food allergy? This fun holiday can easily turn very scary, and not the spooky kind of scary, but the life-threatening kind of scary.
Children with food allergies have to be extra careful when trick or treating and sometimes they just avoid the Halloween fun altogether, which is unfortunate. But you can help make Halloween safer and more inclusive for all children, including those with food allergies by providing allergen friendly halloween treats.
This post will discuss common food allergens, how you can help make Halloween inclusive for all children, and provide you with examples of allergen-friendly Halloween treats.
Table of Contents
Common Food Allergens
The United States recognizes the nine most common food allergens on nutrition labels as peanuts, tree nuts, egg, dairy, wheat, soy, shellfish, fish, and sesame which was recently just added to the list.
Although these nine food allergens are the most common, children and adults can also have a food allergy to a more uncommon food such as strawberries, cinnamon, garlic, and many more. Sometimes children have multiple food allergies, which can make navigating what to eat even more complicated.
Because there are so many possible food allergies, no food is technically considered allergen free, that’s why you will see me use the language “allergen-friendly,” referring to being free of the top nine food allergens.
Although I discuss allergen friendly Halloween treats in this post, please remember that may not include other ingredients that individuals may avoid, such as gluten or food dyes. If you have questions about foods that contain these ingredients, always double-check the ingredient list.
For more information on identifying if a food is gluten-free, check out www.celiac.org.
Teal Pumpkin Project
Have you ever seen a teal pumpkin on someone’s doorstep and wondered what it was for? Maybe they just like the color teal, but it’s likely that they’re participating in the Teal Pumpkin Project and using their teal pumpkin to identify their house as having allergen friendly Halloween treats.
The Teal Pumpkin Project is an easy way to help make Halloween for the 1 in 13 children with food allergies fun, inclusive, and safe. It’s very simple to do and requires very little effort.
What you can do:
- Place a teal pumpkin or sign on your doorstep
- Add your house to the Teal Pumpkin Project map
- Purchase non food trinkets and toys
I also like to use a teal bucket to help identify allergen friendly Halloween treats when handing out to trick-or-treaters.
Some people think you can’t hand out candy that contains common allergens, or candy at all. This is not true. You can hand out candy with allergens, trinkets and toys, and allergen-friendly Halloween candy. It’s just best to separate them if you’re choosing to offer multiple options.
Allergy-Safe Tips for Trick or Treating
If your child has a food allergy it is possible for them to still go trick or treating, but you will need to have an abundance of caution.
What you can do:
- Spread the word about the Teal Pumpkin Project to help make Halloween more inclusive for your child and others with food allergies.
- Talk to your child prior to trick or treating and enforce a “no eating while trick or treating” rule until you’ve gone through all the candy.
- Make sure to have allergen friendly Halloween treats as a backup so they can still enjoy something once the trick-or-treating is over.
- Look up Teal Pumpkin Project houses to visit near you.
Check out the FARE website for more tips and resources.
A few things to remember:
- Fun-sized candies or different sizes, in general, may have different ingredients than the original size. Always double-check ingredient labels prior to letting your child consume any food.
- If a food was safe last year, it’s possible that it may not be this year due to changes in facilities or sourcing of ingredients. Always double-check ingredient labels prior to letting your child consume any food.
- Some foods, particularly individually wrapped candies, do not have nutrition labels on the wrapper. If it doesn’t have an ingredient list, it’s not worth the risk.
- Also remember to vet candy for any possible choking hazards for children under four – hard, round, and sticky candies.
Allergen Friendly Halloween Treats
The great thing about candy and other Halloween treats is that there are tons of them, including some allergen friendly Halloween treats too!
Below is a list of allergen friendly Halloween treats, but always remember to double-check the ingredients before eating to make sure it is safe. These treats do not contain any of the top nine allergens in their ingredient list, however, it is possible that they may be processed in a plant that may contain other allergens.
Yes, these options do contain plenty of added sugar, but that’s not the concern here. The concern is a food allergy or ingredient that can cause harm to a child. Therefore, the concern about added sugar takes a backseat. Anyways, it’s Halloween, and enjoying sweets and treats is a part of the fun and tradition.
If you’re concerned about your child having a healthy relationship with sweets, treats, desserts, and other novelty foods, read more here on how to set them up for long term success.
You’ll notice that most of the suggestions within this post tend to be the ‘gummy’ treats. This is because it’s challenging to find allergen free chocolates. The great thing about food science and technology is that there are many more options available than there ever were.
Dum Dums
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat or gluten. Ingredient list does not identify the additional common allergens either (soy or sesame). Does contain food dyes
Skittles
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Also free of gluten. Does contain food dyes
Ring Pops
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Also free of gluten. Does contain food dyes
Smarties
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Also free of gluten. Does contain food dyes.
Yum Earth Giggles
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Also vegan, organic, non-GMO, no high fructose corn syrup or artificial dyes and gluten free.
Yum Earth Fruit Gummies
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Also vegan, organic, non-GMO, no high fructose corn syrup or artificial dyes and gluten free.
Dots
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Also gluten free. Does contain food dyes.
Sour Patch Kids
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Also gluten free. Does contain food dyes.
Mike and Ike
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Also gluten free. Does contain food dyes.
Swedish Fish
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Also gluten free. Does contain food dyes.
Welch’s Fruit Snacks
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Also gluten free. Does contain food dyes. Also contains vitamins and minerals.
No Whey Foods Choco No No’s
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Also vegan, gluten free and free of dyes.
No Whey Foods Milkless Minis
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Also vegan, gluten free and free of dyes.
No Whey Foods Chocolate Sprinkled Covered Pretzels
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Also vegan, gluten free and free of dyes.
Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Candy
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Also gluten free and free of dyes.
Madegood Granola Bars
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Also gluten free and free of dyes.
Skinny Pop Popcorn
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Also gluten free and free of dyes.
Partake Cookies
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Also vegan, gluten free and free of dyes.
Applesauce Pouches
Free from: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, and sesame. Also vegan, gluten free and free of dyes.
Halloween trinkets and toys
Another great option for allergen friendly Halloween treats are trinkets and toys. Kids get so much candy, that the occasional toy is often pretty exciting for them, at least the younger kids.
The great thing about trinkets and toys is that whatever is leftover, you can save and use for the following year. While it may seem like just more ‘stuff,’ it’s a safe option for children with food allergies.
Target and the dollar store are great places to find allergen friendly halloween toys. You can also find a wide variety of options on Amazon too. Great options include: glow sticks, squishy toys, necklaces, stamps, slinkies, bracelets, poppers, rings, bubbles, assorted toys, and pencils.
Don’t Forget
1 in 13 children live with a food allergy and providing an allergen friendly halloween treat option can help make Halloween fun, inclusive and safe for those children.
You can easily find and purchase allergen friendly Halloween treats in my Amazon shop here.
If your child has a food allergy, please keep in mind these allergy-safe tips for trick or treating:
- Spread the word about the Teal Pumpkin Project to help make Halloween more inclusive for your child and many more.
- Talk to your child prior to trick or treating and enforce a “no eating while trick or treating” rule until you’ve gone through all the candy.
- Make sure to have safe options as backup so they can still enjoy something once the trick or treating is over.
- Look up Teal Pumpkin Project houses to visit near you.
For more information on food allergies, visit the FARE website for researched based information and support.
