Spooktacular Food Allergy Halloween

🎃 Spooktacular Food-Allergy Halloween!

As a long-time food allergy mom, our best tips for costumes, parties, safe treats and eats – your complete plan for a Safer Halloween!

☠️ DANGER! As a food-allergy parent, Halloween is a top stressor – no way to sugar-coat it.

And unfortunately, we are not alone. 1 in 13 kids in the US have a food-allergy.

According to Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE),

every 3 minutes a food-allergy reaction sends someone to the ER.”

So, on this Holiday where potential allergens are everywhere, a Plan for a Not Scary Halloween!

Check out our Instagram & Facebook Food Allergy Travel & Life Group for this year’s popular Halloween treats, make ahead dinners & more – Your Easy Halloween Food Allergy-Friendly Guide!

Spooktacular Food-Allergy Halloween: 36 Food-Allergy Friendly Costumes

Food-Allergy friendly costumes that will help keep kids safer and that they will actually be excited to wear! As a parent of two kids with food allergies, it can be super scary taking them trick-or-treating collecting peanut/nut/allergen candy.

So, 1st line of defense: gloves.

😊 Here are 36 costume ideas where gloves can easily be incorporated:

• Superhero
• Princess/Prince/Bride or Groom
• Doctor/Nurse (medical bags – great for extra Epi-pens!)
• Indiana Jones
• Almost any sports costume: Snowboarder/Skier/Soccer/Baseball/Hockey/Football/Biker/Scuba Diver/Snorkeler
• EMT/Firefighter/Police
• Pirates
• Hiker/Western/Cowboy or Cowgirl/Square Dancers
• Animals: Kitty/Puppy/Lion/Dino
• Typical Halloween costumes: Clowns/Witches/Angels/Mummy/Zombie etc…

Don’t fret if your child chooses a character outside this list. Always adapt and creatively add gloves, long sleeve shirts & pants (to lessen touch allergies).

NOT Scary Food-Allergy Halloween – Trick-or-Treating

Additionally, helpful for trick-or-treating: pack a food allergy emergency kit (extra Epi-pens/inhaler/Benadryl), headlamps or flashlights, wipes and a safe snack kept separately.

Remember, hand sanitizer does NOT remove allergen proteins.

🍬 Also, helpful to have safe #foodallergyfriendly snacks with you.

Many popular Halloween candies contain nuts, milk, egg, soy or wheat – some of the most common allergens in children and adults. And many miniature or fun-size versions of candy treats contain different ingredients than their full-size counterparts; some may not have labels, so it’s hard for parents to know which items are safe for their child with food allergies.

Spooktacular Food Allergy Halloween: Easy, Food Allergy Recipes! 

Halloween Parties with Food Allergies

A Spooktacular Food-Allergy Halloween is absolutely possible! Halloween parties with food allergies are a bit different than other get-togethers. As we know, food allergens are everywhere. However, there are super helpful ideas that can be incorporated for Halloween from our Food-Allergy Parties Guide.

For school/daycare/after school Halloween parties, speak to the nurse/food allergy advocate/class room parent to understand festivities.

Also, can you volunteer at the party? We have never been turned away volunteering.

👻 Just be aware that others who do not understand the potential severity of food allergies can be insensitive or even mean.

Always eat well before, bring safe foods/snacks for your family and even bring extra to share.

Some #yummy food allergy friendly treat ideas:

• Enjoy Life – Cookies, Candies, Brownies, etc…
• BetterBatterFlour Cupcake & Cake Mix – SO YUMMY. Use our affiliate link AnEasyJourney for a discount & order ahead.
• Vermont Nut-free – 20 years of allergy-friendly candies, pretzels & Holiday treats
• Hungry Harry’s – Free from Top 14 Food Allergens – Bake at home
• MadeGood – Organic, Free from Top 8 Allergens, Vegan
• YUM EARTH – Free from Top 9 Allergens, GMO’s, Artificial Dyes
• free2b – Free from Top 9 Allergens, small bath but OH-SO-GOOD!
• Homemade, no bake Halloween Mummy’s: 3 ingredients using MadeGood marshmallow bars. Ready in less than 30 minutes & Delish!
• See more Halloween & Fall Recipes:  Yummy Fall Food-Allergy Recipes • World Recipes • An Easy Journey.

Spooktacular Food-Allergy Halloween Tips

My Halloween mantra is: “Be Brave Even if You Don’t Feel It”.

As I am sure you know, our kids feel our vibes.

So, I always try and be positive and not make them any more concerned, anxious or fearful than they may already feel. If they are older, they may remember an anaphylactic or food allergy reaction. If not, they may understand that certain foods can make them very, very sick.

Regardless, our #1 goal as parents is to keep our kids safe/less stressed.

After 20 years of #livingwithfoodallergies here are our top Spooktacular Food-Allergy Halloween Tips:

• Make ahead safe meals & treats for Halloween & following days (we make fun, Top-9 allergen free & only 3 ingredient slow-cooker Stuffed Peppers!)
• Look for Teal Pumpkins/Food Allergy yard signs
• Talk to your kids about not eating anything until you get home and go thru candy
• At home, make a game out of collecting unsafe candy (“Switch Witch”!) – trade unsafe candy for safe candy or nonfood toys like glow in dark necklaces, coloring books, markers, etc… in place of the allergic candy/foods
• Put all allergy candy in a zip lock bag, out of reach and donate to shelters/veterans’ homes/local charities
• Be mindful of next few days’ school lunches/on bus/after school activities – pack a special safe lunch. No one wants to feel left out or different

🍫 Great suggestion from a fellow #foodallergymom

“If your child cannot read yet, pick a special symbol you can draw and teach your child to look on packages to see that parent has evaluated foods and deemed safe. We draw a heart with a circle around it as it’s easy to draw and unique. Teachers and lunchroom personnel are also grateful for this assistance.

See, a Spooktacular Food-Allergy Halloween is in the bag!

Have some Spooktacular Food Allergy Halloween tips?

🌟 🌟🌟 Head over to our Private Facebook Group, Food Allergy Travels And Life to get in on the conversation or show us your Spooktacular Food Allergy Halloween on our Instagram – tag us! 🌟🌟🌟

The food allergy community is so wonderful at helping each other!

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