8 tips for ensuring a safe halloween for your food allergy child

Oct 29

Make it stand out

Halloween is just a few days away and can feel more scary than sweet for families managing food allergies. So many treats contain allergens that can pose a serious risk for those with food allergies. But with a few precautions, your child can enjoy the magic of the season safely!

HALLOWEEN TIPS

1. Prepare safe treat bags

To keep things fun and inclusive, consider assembling small bags with allergy-friendly treats or toys. Share these with close neighbors ahead of time, so they’ll have safe options for your child.

2. Practice trick-or-treating

Role-play trick-or-treating at home to help your child build confidence. Set up “safe" and “unsafe” treat stations to help them understand when to say “no thank you” if something is unsafe or unlabeled.

3. Wait to eat treats

Encourage your child to collect candy but wait until they get home to eat it. This lets you review labels together and double check safety.

4. Switch Witch or trade-in options

Swap out unsafe treats at home by setting up a “Switch Witch” or “Halloween Fairy” tradition. You can trade candy for small toys, glow sticks, or other safe items.

5. Check ingredient labels twice

Even familiar treats may have different ingredients or come from facilities with cross-contamination risks. If there is no label, it’s safest to avoid it.

6. Stay prepared with epinephrine and visibility tools

Keep your child’s emergency medication (epinephrine) and any other medications close by. Also, add light-up necklaces or glow sticks to their costume for easy visibility in the dark.

7. Consider Treats for Troops. Extra candy can be donated to organizations like Treats for Troops, which sends treats to service members. Some dentist offices also have candy trade-in programs. You can do an online search for local organizations that collect in your community .

8. Look for houses with a TEAL PUMPKIN. The Teal Pumpkin Project is a world-wide initiative to promote inclusion for those with food allergies on Halloween. A teal pumpkin means that the home has non-food treats available for those with allergies or intolerances. You can add your house to the map and look for others to collect safe treats! Easy non-food treats include glow sticks, slime, pencils, small toys.