All children look forward to Halloween every year. They spend weeks planning their costumes and dreaming of all the candy they will receive. But for families that deal with food allergies, Halloween is approached cautiously. Many candies are off-limits for kids with food allergies, whether it contains or comes into contact with their food allergens.

We recently visited with Dr. Melissa Graham of Advanced Allergy & Asthma and she shared the following tips and tricks to make sure Halloween is just as much fun for all kids, regardless of allergies.

● Stock up on safe treats or toys that can be traded for any unsafe candies a child might receive while trick-or-treating. Make sure to use this opportunity to teach kids the importance of reading labels to look for their food allergens.

● Deliver safe “goody bags” for neighbors to give to children before Trick-or-Treating begins.

● Enforce a “no eating while trick-or-treating” rule, so you can review all of their candy.

● Keep the emphasis on fun, rather than candy.

● Avoid anything without a label.

● Never make assumptions about ingredients. These are always changing so always read labels.

● Always carry multiple epinephrine auto-injectors and use immediately if needed.

If you aren’t comfortable with Trick-or-Treating with Food Allergies you can also choose another fun (and safe) activity from below:

● Throw a Halloween Party with safe and festive foods and games.

● Have a scavenger hunt style trick-or-treat search at your home.

● Take part in a Halloween costume contest.

● Throw a Halloween movie night for family and friends.

● Carve and decorate pumpkins.

Speaking of decorating pumpkins, you can put a teal pumpkin in front of your home to participate in FARE’s Teal Pumpkin Project, indicating that you have non-food treats available if you are participating in trick-or-treating. Non-food treats can be pencils, spider rings, vampire teeth, and other spooky treats.

We wish you a happy and safe Halloween!