 Among the sea of bloody-faced zombies and warted witches that will be out and about this Halloween, there’s an even scarier villain for some lurking in the sweetest of places: the candy bowl. “For food allergic young people, it’s not the ghouls and goblins that are the scariest part of the trick-or-treating, the treats are,” says Mireille Schwartz, the founder and CEO of the Bay Area Allergy Advisory Board and a Board of Directors member of FAAN, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. Schwartz’s 11-year-old daughter, Charlotte Jude, is just one of the about 12 million Americans - roughly 4 percent of the population - who suffer from food allergies. That number is even higher among children: According to a recent study in the journal Pediatrics, approximately 8 percent of children under 18 in the United States have at least one food allergy. But with some strategic planning, Schwartz says food allergies, like her daughter’s nut aversion, shouldn’t get in the way of the frightfully fun festivities. “It’s also a good time to check to see if your medication is up-to-date before leaving the house,” adds Schwartz, as auto-injectors typically expire within one year. However, carrying an auto-injector is planning for the worst-case scenario - a scenario that can easily be avoided by paying attention, says Schwartz. “Checking labels becomes very pivotal because during the holidays, including Halloween, when the manufacturers make those mini small-sized candies and they’re often mass-produced on shared equipment,” says Schwartz. “Candy that’s safe other times of the year might not be safe during Halloween.” Erin Steed and her 7-year-old daughter with a severe nut allergy, Sydney, will carry an auto-injector this Halloween as well. Sydney is not allowed to eat out of her bucket while walking down the street in the dark, as most kids do. “We have to check every candy and look up every label, since many bite-sized candies don't include a full ingredient label. We stuff our pockets with a few treats we buy ahead of time so when her brothers start digging in to their treats, she can eat something we all know is okay,” says Steed. To keep trick-or-treaters from digging in while they’re roaming the neighborhood, the Food and Drug Administration even suggests giving them a light meal or snack beforehand. Depending on the severity of the allergy, cross-contamination is another concern as many of food allergies have small threshold levels, meaning they require only a tiny amount of the allergen to trigger an allergic reaction. Steed has to read food labels very carefully, including on their dog and hamster foods, so she doesn’t expose Sydney through cross-contamination. For friends and neighbors who are empathetic and aware to your child’s situation, Schwartz offers the following tips to avoid such cross-contamination:
Corey Colwell-Lipson whose 10- and 7-year old daughters both have food allergies, went so far as to create a “Halloween Fairy” character. “She comes to our home - always while the girls are brushing their teeth - and takes all of the leftover candy left outside for her in a basket that the girls can't eat. In exchange, she leaves the girls a gift - or two.” At the end of the day, for the three mothers, it’s all about inclusion: The FDA recommends checking candy as it is, despite allergy concerns, for tampering. “You don’t want to bring up the larger, darker side of things. You just want to say you’re going to check the candy to make sure it’s safe,” says Schwartz. |
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Yes be afraid! I bought a $9.99 bag of fun sized brand name chocolate candy at Sam’s club. When I left the store I noticed the bag had a hole where; as I thought the top seam had given away. Some one had repaired the hole with a piece of scotch tape. When I decided the candy was ready to try it seemed like I had been duped into buying last years candy. The M&M wrappers weren’t shinny and they just seemed to be a bit stail.
When I dumped the candy in a dish a few loose M&Ms fell into the bowl. That made me wonder where they came from. I enjoyed the Twix bars and the Snickers. When I went to refill the candy dish I was shocked and appalled to see an M&M bag that had been chewed into. Oh My God. What kind of a Wholesale Club would recycle last year’s candy and select the bags that hadn’t been gnawed into? Or maybe someone was paid to sort through and tape the bags that were opened.
Someone Please Find Out.
My children have life threatening food allergies and they never missed a single Trick or Treat night. I didn't ask neighbors to have special candy nor would I have ever dreamed of doing so. My children grew up knowing they could not eat any of the candy they got while out. As soon as they returned home they traded their Trick or Treat bag for a new one that was filled with all of the candy they could safely eat. It was no big deal. They did this from the time they were one and two and we never had any problems. My children's allergies are not anyone else's problem. My children were raised to be responsible for themselves and they were taught to live in a peanut world. I wonder if too many children are being given a false sense of safety by relying too much on others.
As a parent of allergic children it is *my* responsibility to look out for, and educate my children, not my neighbors, not the guy 2 blocks down. Mine.
I worry about the children growing up in these parent insisted bubbles, where everyone must shield precious Jr. rather than teaching Jr. how to shield himself. What is Jr. going to do when he's confronted with the dreaded allergen in the company cafeteria/kitchen?
OMG. As a parent to a all-nuts-allergic kid, I would never EXPECT my neighbours to hand out allergen-free candy. Give me a break! Yes, where I live, our schools ban nuts. Our after-school activity providers ban nuts. Our daycares and our churches ban nuts. That's because they don't want the liability of dealing with a kid having a reaction. Would YOU want to deal with a kid who can't breath, who's lips are turning blue, and you've already shot him with his epi-pen, and the ambulance hasn't arrived yet?! No, you wouldn't – so, you ban the allergen to reduce the risk. I GET that.
As a PARENT, I take responsiblity for my kid's allergy, and now that he is 9 years old, SO DOES HE. He will NOT eat anything out of his bag while he's still trick-or-treating. He will not "dig in" without reading labels, and asking if he is unsure. As a PARENT, I have a stash of nut-free chocolate bars and candy that he will substitute his candy with. I will take his nutty candy to work and eat it there, myself. :)
I would never expect the community to shield him or take responsiblity for his allergy. I expect HIM to take responsiblity, and I accept that it is MY responsiblity to teach him to do so. Making sure he understands his risks and learns how to stay safe and reaction-free is part of my job. I would never create some imaginary fairy that 'rescues' him from his allergy; I teach him, "You can't eat that."
Thank you for being a responsible parent and teaching your child that he needs to learn how to watch out for himself, and not expect everyone in the world to always be prepared for every single scenario. This is the kind of response I hear from most parents of kids who have allergies. The people who are making a big fuss about it are usually bored people sitting at home who can't even relate.
You're welcome. :) As an allergic child myself (I outgrew my allergy in my late teens), I am well aware of the risks and as a teen, I experienced several serious exposures because I didn't take my allergy seriously. My son has had two accidental exposures himself but with both, we didn't need to administer his epipen (such trace amounts were ingested, he didn't have a severe reaction, just vomiting and hives). I find the parents who insist on others taking the responsiblity for protecting their children are the ones who haven't been exposed to the personal experience(s) that I have and often, they have had only one reaction and/or they were just told their kid is allergic after routine allergy testing and they have not educated themselves on the real risks. So they end up terrified. My son is blood-tested yearly to see where his numbers are and I know exactly how serious his reaction may be (he carries an epipen). Sadly, he will not be one of the lucky ones like me who outgrew his allergy – his is staying steady and not changing at all. But at least he will grow up with the knowledge and understanding that it is nobody's responsiblity but his own to take charge of what he puts in his mouth.
Good for you!! There are too many differnt allergies to cover them all. parents need to take responsibility for their kids, and kids need to learn their limits early in life.
Allergy people have already banned us from bringing peanut butter to school. When you come to MY house, you get peanut butter candy, or nothing.
I'll bet nobody ever comes to your dump, anyway.
It's your choice what candy you give out, not the stranger who happens to have a kid with allergies.
I love the idea of a Halloween fairy who exchanges for gifts. How creative.
Our church used to collect excess candy and distribute it with Christmas donations. All they asked was for non halloween identified candies – no eyeballs or black cat type candies, any small snack sizes were fine. We used to let our kids collect, select a few candies for themselves and donate anything else. They got a kick out of helping kids who otherwise wouldn't see candy and they didn't eat all the candy.
That is a great idea!
Not having kids, I don't have the slightest idea which allergies (aside from peanuts) are the biggies. But, I don't like peanut candy anyway, so I guess I'm pretty well covered there.
Almost 30% of people who answered the poll said they were only providing allergen free candy. What are you handing them? Thin air? People have allergies to just about everything, and I've never even heard of an "allergen free" candy. I'm allergic to red and yellow food coloring, but my mom actually did her job as a parent and made sure none of it made it's way into my mouth. I'm sick of these articles asking everyone to parent an allergic kid. It's like asking everyone to provide a wheelchair ramp into their house just in case their kid has a friend in a wheel chair. It's impractical.
Parents, please be responsible and check your kids' candy if their allergy is that bad. Please don't expect anyone else to help you do this, it is your kid, your responsibility. Sure its nice if people have the options or take time to help you, but please don't go around thinking everyone should have peanut free candy just because your kid can't touch them.
Why waste time scanning labels and inspecting it for razor blades, needles, etc? If parents are usure of what their kids bring home from trick or treating, just dump the candy out and replace with something you buy for your kids that's regular or allergen-free. Carry the child's injector at all times as well, not just on Halloween. It's really not that hard people!
Good for all those parents that are finding ways to deal with their childrens allergies without expecting the rest of the world to adapt. You are taking responsibility and plus, you are not relying on everyone else to be responsible for your child. Just think of all the allergy issues, food colorings, peanuts, chocolate, wheat, etc. That would require many bowls for candy.
And another thing – would it really kill you to take the extra 20 seconds to dump the Skittles into one bowl and the Snickers into another?
Yes, but what about the kids that are also allergic to skittles (food coloring/gluten) so then another bowl for their Hershey Kisses. Oh don't forget the kids with milk allergies so make sure you also have some twizzlers for them. And hope nobody with a combination of allergies comes a knocking. Also, many of those candies are bagged together to begin with so if the allergy is that sensitive that a cross-contamination reaction could occur thru two sealed bags then maybe the child should stick to a UNICEF Halloween. After all the person who sorted the candy in to the separate bowls might have eating a PB&J sandwich ;-)
Would it kill you to be a parent to your children with allergies instead of asking the world to do it for you?
Kudos to LumiyaKhai. Hear, hear!
And another thing! ;) How do I know what your kid is allergic to? You're a$$uming when you say "allergy," everyone will know what that means. Could be peanut, could be red dye, could be milk, could be chalk dust for all I know (had a teacher with that one). Take all the guess work out of it and be a parent to your children. As the song says, "teach ... your children well ... "
Excuse me?? When I'm handing out candy to kids it's on MY terms! If your kid is that allergic keep him/her home on Halloween. We can't have every revolve their lives around a small handful of people.
You're excused, Binky! While you're at it why bother with wheelchair ramps? THEY want to get some banking done and grocery shop to eat food?? I mean it's only a small amount of people so keep 'em home, according to vous. Part of living in a civilized society is making small and large accommodations for those around you. Which they make for you as well. Duh! Ever heard of helping?
Bazinga! And YOU'RE outta here! Learn to compare apples to apples and thanks for playing!
So, you really do expect every single household to have a wheelchair ramp just in case?? How about using sign language every time you talk just in case there happens to be a deaf person in the room?
When I'm handing out candy and GIVING something for FREE I shouldn't be expected to make extra special exceptions for one or two kids. That's ridiculous.
I understand your point however you forgot to mention the bilingual trick-or-treat greeting and Department of Health certification for the candy in addition to the equal opportunity disclaimer should this become necessary. Warning signs in your front yard advising of darkness could forestall pontential lawsuits.
Cameron carries an inhaler in his bookbag and has a backup stored in his classroom. http://bit.ly/tLoZ6b
Try having a kid with an allergy to artificial colors. Lucky for us she understands the rules and doesn't try to eat the candy before we check it out. Hopefully she'll grow out of it like her dad eventually did.
All 3 of my kids have nut allergies. We buy safe candy & stash it. They go out & trick or treat & then we swap them the candy people gave them for ours & pass out the ones they got at the door. Have been doing this for years & they don't seem to mind. It's the idea of trick-or-treating that they like which is especially great since most of our neighborhood gives out candy bars.
My favorite candy store for allergen-free candy is Indie Candy. You can order from them online at http://indiecandy.com. (I usually get a few truffles as a treat for myself, too! :)
Thank you for the website info. I am definitely going to purchase some of this candy for my daughter next Halloween! I'll have her special basket all ready with all these cute allergy free treats!
My 8 year old son is allergic to peanuts. I still let him go trick or treating. He knows not to eat anything until I go through it. I usually have to remove the majority of it but in return I do a buy back bag of treats and small trinket toys. This gives him the fun of going door to door without missing out on anything. I get lots of candy bars!
I agree that parents ought to be the responsible ones, but I think MOST people should know that the level of children with allergies is steadily rising. I work with kids and every year I get more and more with peanut and other allergies. It might be a good idea to just stock up on allergen-free candies to begin with. And honestly, usually sticking with starburst or skittles makes the issue null-in-void.
You mean null and void? Null in void makes no sense.
I be a crack baby, gimmie dat candy.
Best, most well tthought out comment on this page...
We have an allergic child, and take full responsibility for checking his candy and swapping out treats he is allergic to for ones he can have. It is NOT the neighbors' jobs! Plus I get all his mini-Snickers!
I am the same way, but for red dye! I love all the chewy goodness of fake cherry flavored candy. My son never felt slighted and I never dreamed of asking people to make special considerations for him. He just knew that red dye would make him swell up and make it hard to breath. Great life lesson for him... It is what it is and we deal with it on our own. He is in his upper teens now and I see no lasting scars from not eating what everybody else ate.
I have lots of friends with food allergies, and even some whose kids have food allergies, but I (and many of these same friends) find it ridiculous to have to separate candies for trick-or-treating. It shouldn't be the neighborhood or schools' responsibility to accommodate these individuals. It's up to the parents and the individual, once they are of age, to take care of themselves. Maybe because society is coddling kids so long that today's youth expect everything to be handed to them.
It's not ridiculous to seperate the candies. Some have allergies so sensitive that even a minute amount could kill them. No, it isn't your responsibility, but it would be considerate and respectful. Who doesn't want to be that?
It isn't considerate and respectful to do that just as it isn't INconsiderate and DISrespectful NOT to do that. Implying such, which you seem to do, is why people without loved ones with food allergies think we are asking alot because those statements ask them to accomodate us or be considered uncaring otherwise. I'd be righlty mad to if that was implied of me for whatever reason! As one who had allergies to artificial food coloring as a kid and has a brother with peanut allergies (I can only imagine what is in store for my children) I don't think it is ridiculous to sort the candies, but I do think it is a bit much to expect others to do that. I grew up when these things weren't widely known and we were okay, because my parents made sure to look and do a lot of research in days before the internet to know ingredients and how it would affect my siblings and I. They never asked others to do that, they just sorted our candy and distributed it evenly, because in the end, the amount of peanut-riddled candies in bite sized packaging is just the same as artifically colored ones and both amounts are less than the amount you get by spending 3 bucks or so on a bag of candy your kid isn't allergic to. 3$ and your child gets more candy and you get peace of mind. Sorted bowls are nice to have but a lot of people who don't have kids with allergies or know them just don't think of it, and that's not rude, that's okay.
I agree for standard trick or treat bowls it's a bit much to ask for sorting. However, I do not think it is too much to ask about childrens allergies if one if providing treats for a class or party. I grew up with a girl allergic to chocolate – not nuts the actual chocolate, cake, candy it didn't matter. My mom took the time to ask about allergies and made a special effort to send in both chocolate and non-chocolate cup cakes for parties – none of the other parents did and her mom always thanked my mom for her consideration. It made my friend not self conscious and able to participate. I did the same with my kids. I ran across strawberry allergies but never a nut allergy.
"You Are Out Of Your Focking Mind." You come to my house, sick your children on me with their heart-melting costumes and their big puppy eyes to beg for candy and expect me to be concerned about your child's allergies? NFW. Responsible parents, like the ones mentioned in the article, check the contents of the candy.
OhthankGoodness the manifesto-bots were working this weekend ...