My kid’s daycare truly loves Halloween. They throw a giant Halloween party each year, complete with a two story, three slide, two bouncy house blow up area, a dance floor with DJ, food, candy, and let the kids run wild. They even close the daycare early the Friday before to set up. It is quite the spectacle. This year we came home with a bag of treats for each kid. Unfortunately, not one of the treats was allergen free.
I let my toddler unpack it and then told her I was going to switch out the candy for safe candy (the “switch witch”). She seemed fine with this solution, but it’s just a bummer that food allergies have such a profound effect on Halloween.
Anyways, it's that time of year again, so here's last year's post about Tealoween!
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Halloween is pretty low on my list of favorite holidays. The stress of deciding on a costume takes away most of the joy. What you choose says a lot about you, you know? Do you go with a tried and true classic that everyone will know? Do you pick something obscure that you love that nobody else has ever heard of? I mean it'll make you happy but then you'll have to explain it to everybody which ruins the whole deal. It just seems so silly to buy a costume to wear for a few hours and then never wear again. Plus, these days, I don’t just have to worry about what I wear, now I have two kids to outfit. *sigh* Call me when it’s November 1st.
The only redeeming part of Halloween is the candy. And I’m not talking about the lame fruit candy. I’m talking about the good chocolate stuff. Snickers and Milky Way and Reese’s and KitKat and I’ll even take just a plain Hersey’s milk chocolate bar. The bigger, the better. Creamy, chocolatey goodness.
Now my kid’s allergies have taken away even that.
Let’s look at the "Top 10 Halloween Candies" (in the US… and I say Top10 supposedly) and see what kind of allergens they have:
10. Candy Corn: egg
So disgusting, how did they make the top 10?
9. Tootsie Pops: milk and soy
If I’m going to have anaphylaxis from milk, a tootsie pop is definitely not worth it
8. Snickers: peanut, milk, egg, soy
So many allergens. So delicious.
7. Hersey kisses: milk and soy
The best thing about Hershey Kisses? A serving size is NINE. That’s the serving size I want of all chocolate candy.
6. Sour Patch Kids: NONE!
My kids LOVE these things. I looked everywhere at the grocery store for Halloween packs to give out and couldn’t find them.
5. Hot Tamales: NONE!
No allergens! But, what’s the point? I can’t think of a worse candy experience than getting blasted by cinnamon. At least sour things make your face turn inside out. Hot tamales just sear off some taste buds.
4. Starburst: NONE!
The name “starburst” definitely sets up your expectations for some delicious explosion of flavor. Mostly they are chewy. But I guess you can only do so much without the top 9 allergens.
3. M&Ms: milk and soy (may contain peanuts)
Though you know the best kind of M&Ms definitely contain peanuts.
2. Skittles: NONE!
The fact that a fruit candy beat all of these chocolate candies is a farce. There are so many other things I’d rather taste than the rainbow.
1. Reese’s Cups: peanut, milk, soy
You knew it was coming. It’s 100% the best and 100% never going to happen in this household.
So, what’s the pattern? All of the delicious chocolate candies have at least milk in them, if not soy and eggs and nuts and peanuts and even wheat. All the crappy fruit candies are ok allergy wise but just bluck you know? (Here's a rundown of more candies, including some completely allergen friendly kinds like sunbutter cups!)
Because of the problems with Halloween for people with food allergies, Kids With Food Allergies is trying to spread the word about #tealoween. They are encouraging people to have treats that aren’t candy (WHAT?! Treats that you can’t eat?!??! That is NONSENSE) and then to paint a pumpkin teal to let other families know it’s a safe house with some treat alternatives.
Well, we got ours all painted last week and my son and I picked out the only bag of Halloween candy that didn’t have allergens in it (Skittles) from the store, as well as some non food treats (glow bracelets!). Other ideas for non anaphylaxis inducing treats?
- stickers
- bouncy balls
- tiny cars
- crayons
- stamps
- yo-yos
- pencil erasers
- bubbles
So, if you want to attract some poor folks with food allergies in your neighborhood, get some teal paint and buy some non edible treats… worst case scenario nobody wants to come to your house because you only have the crappy candy and bouncy balls. That's ok, it'll save until next year!
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