Halloween is a spooky time for kids, but if you have a child with food allergies those fun scares can become a real life-threatening danger from unsafe candy. Follow these tips to avoid getting tricked this Halloween and safely celebrate the holiday with your family.How to Have a Safe Scare on Halloween with Food Allergies!
1. Read Before You Eat
This is good advice for any day, but especially Halloween! Always read the ingredient label on any Halloween candy your child receives when they trick-or-treat. Many popular candies contain common allergens, like peanuts, tree nuts, milk, soy, and wheat. Also, pay close attention to sweets your child may safely eat already, since miniature or “fun size” candies may be produced on different equipment than their full-size counterparts. A good rule of thumb to follow is when in doubt, throw it out.
2. Trade Unsafe Treats
If you allow your child to trick-or-treat freely, make sure you have a supply of safe treats at home to trade for the unsafe treats your child picks up on their adventure. Spokin has a guide to allergy-friendly Halloween candy, and you can also offer non-edible goodies for some healthy food-free fun. Some wonderful non-food treats include glow sticks, Halloween-themed pencils or stickers, silly putty or slime, spider rings, vampire fangs, or other trinkets.
3. Alternative Ways to Celebrate Halloween
Instead of going out trick-or-treating, here are some creative ways to have an allergy-free Halloween!
- Host your own party
- Have a scary movie marathon
- Carve some jack-o-lanterns
- Hold a costume parade or scavenger hunt and enter our Halloween social media contest!
- Decorate allergy-friendly cookies or cupcakes
4. Keep things COVID safe!
COVID is still a concern, especially when engaging with strangers or unvaccinated children, so keep this in mind when planning your Halloween activities. Wear a mask when trick-or-treating, make sure to wash hands before eating anything, and if bringing people into your home, mask up indoors since there may be a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated children. Outdoor activities are safest, so consider holding your celebration outside if weather permits.
5. Enter Our Instagram Halloween Costume Contest!
Don’t forget to enter our Instagram contest to show us how you’re celebrating this year! This year, we are hosting an Instagram costume contest for our followers! Winners will receive exclusive SCFAI swag. Head over to our Instagram to read all about our rules and updates.