We’ve added some new favorites to our growing list this year. Trick or treat! – Allergic Living Staff

New Raves

Organic Lollipops from YummyEarth are free of gluten, dairy, soy, peanuts and tree nuts; the unique flavors like Hot Chili and Soup Apple appeal to goblins of all ages. Visit YummyEarth (U.S.) or Yummy Earth (Canada).

Spooky Spiders from Surf Sweets are 90% organic with no artificial colors or sweeteners and will have the monsters howling. No top allergens. Check out their website for great allergy friendly Halloween recipe ideas. Mummy Gummys, anyone?

The Spider Web from Ange Gardien. Get back at scary Mrs. Spider by taking a nice big bite of chocolatey goodness. No nuts, peanuts, dairy or egg.


Happy Halloween Lollies (right) from Amanda’s Own Confections are so good it’s scary! The chocolate lollipops are dairy-, tree nut-, peanut-, egg- and gluten-free.

Vermont Nut Free has beautiful peanut- and nut-free chocolates to ease sweet cravings this Halloween. Three-inch by three-inch Crispy Jack O’Lanterns would be a perfect way to show that the Great Pumpkin has visited. Individual Witch (and Ghost and Scarecrow) Shapes are a considerable 1.2 oz. and always popular.

Not everyone has a sweet tooth. Just say “No” to the candy hangover and give out fun, no-eat treats!

Hasbro’s individual Play-Doh Pots in Halloween colors (photo, right) are sure to amuse. Do contain wheat. Find in U.S.: Walmart, Target, Toys “R” Us, Amazon.com.

Non-food ideas at Costco: Disney-themed Playing Cards or 50 Puzzle Erasers. Note: small parts; not suitable for young children.

Among Our Faves

Always read labels to make sure ingredients haven’t changed.

Amanda’s Own – See above, plus Happy Halloween Bag.
Free of: tree nuts, peanuts, eggs, gluten, dairy, sesame – click here

Ange Gardien Foods – Awesome chocolate bars and candies, with Halloween special treats.
Free of: tree nuts, peanuts, dairy and eggs – click here

Divvies – Delicious gourmet chocolate ghosts, bats and gorgeous Halloween jellybeans.
Free of: tree nuts, peanuts, eggs and dairy – click here

Gimbal’s Fine Candies – delicious gourmet jelly beans.
Free of: the top 8 allergens and no high-fructose corn syrup – click here

Hershey’s Twizzlers – A variety of great licorice products.
Free of: peanuts, tree nuts – click here

Indie Candy – The naturally gourmet sweets makers have a ghoulishly tasty product line. Ghost and bat lollipops and more.
Free of: Dairy, nuts, peanuts. No artificial colors or preservatives – click here

Nestlé Fav*Rites (Canada only) – Smarties, Kit Kat, Aero, Coffee Crisp and Kit Kat (snack sizes), peanut-free facility..
Free of: peanuts and tree nuts – click here

Pure Fun – Halloween lollipops, 6 flavors.
Free of: gluten and all top allergens – click here

Smarties (in U.S.; known as Rockets in Canada) – These melt-in-your-mouth candies are a Halloween tradition.
Free of: gluten, tree nuts, peanuts, eggs and dairy – click here

Next: Yet more safe candies!

As a parent of a food-allergic son, however, I quickly realized that celebrating Halloween could pose a serious health risk. Still, I didn’t want him to miss out on the same thrills and giggles from the beloved autumn night. So over the years, I’ve come up with a few tricky tips to keep the fun in Halloween for children with food allergies.

Have a nice dinner first. On a full stomach, there will be less temptation to sneak a piece of candy.

Stash a few pieces of safe candy in your pocket. When the other kids inevitably indulge along their route, your child will have something safe to enjoy and won’t feel left out.

Keep the essentials with you. Don’t leave home without a cell phone, flashlight, wet wipes and, of course, the epin- ephrine auto-injector.

Consider supplying a few neighbors with pre-filled sealed treat bags. When your child rings the doorbell, the neighbor can pass out the safe loot and you’ll be certain that he’ll get to keep some of what he has collected.

Choose costumes with gloves if your child is extremely contact-sensitive.

At home, pass out toys. I usually hand out low-cost toys or trinkets. If I do buy candy, I choose something like Smarties, which is safe for multiple allergens. (Keep in mind, though, that Halloween-sized candy sometimes contains different ingredients than its full-size counterpart, so read the labels even on familiar brands.)

And what about my favorite part of the evening: coming home and dumping the candy stash onto the kitchen table? Here’s how to handle it:

0-2 year-olds: Forget the candy. An adorable costume, a juice box and a few safe cookies will do the trick. At this age, it’s a treat just to answer the door and pass out trinkets – as long as the trick-or-treaters aren’t scary monsters.

2-4 year-olds: Most kids this young can be fooled by one of my favorite tactics: the “Bait and Switch.” Give your child a plastic pumpkin for trick-or-treating. When you return home and while your child is busy washing his hands, swap the plastic pumpkin with an identical pumpkin that you filled ahead of time with safe treats.

Next Page: Ages 5 and up

A Halloween party with no food at all. And what’s more, this is a big hit with the kids.

Here are a few things to consider if you’re thinking of throwing your own food-free (and therefore much less scary!) Halloween party.

Venue

If your home is large enough to accommodate the group, perfect. But if you are arranging a larger party, then inquire at the local school board about community use of schools. Schools often rent out space such as gymnasiums to the community. My experience has been that they won’t rent space for private parties, but they will rent space for peer meetings, and if you’re getting a support group together and there’s no food, you can definitely argue that your gathering is indeed a meeting.

Decorations

A true allergy-aware party will be latex-free, so forget the balloons and head to the local dollar store. There you will find tons of inexpensive decorations, from wall clings that give you a dungeon atmosphere to tree silhouettes that can be the inspiration for a cemetery theme. Paint cardboard boxes to look like tombstones. (Think of your guests, though – nothing too spooky for the 6 and under crowd!)

Refreshments

We opt to serve nothing but water since members of our large group have allergies to all priority allergens and many others. Large containers of water are less expensive and more environmentally friendly than smaller containers. Be sure to have markers on hand to label everyone’s cup.

Activities

For small children, cover a table with craft paper and lay out an assortment of craft items such as stickers, foam shapes, pom-poms, markers, crayons and glue sticks. This gives the little ones something to do while they check out each other’s costumes and EpiPen belts.

Older kids might like to watch a scary movie, dance or play games.

We’ve had great success with games such as:

Zombie Tag: One person is the zombie and as s/he claims more victims, they too become zombies. This continues until there is only one human left.

Eyeball and Spoon Race: In the weeks leading up to Halloween, it’s easy to find small balls that look like eyeballs. Or, you can color ping-pong balls to look like eyes.

Wrap A Mummy (or Daddy): Participants in groups wrap willing adults in toilet paper. The ‘mummies’ then race to the finish line and depending on how difficult you want to make it, they can be asked to create something at the finish line, such as to build a skeleton out of paper bones or construct a jack-o-lantern.

Next: Halloween Wands and Loot Bags

New Raves

Organic Lollipops from YummyEarth are free of gluten, dairy, soy, peanuts and tree nuts; the unique flavors like Hot Chili and Soup Apple appeal to goblins of all ages. Visit YummyEarth (U.S.) or Yummy Earth (Canada).

Spooky Spiders from Surf Sweets are 90% organic with no artificial colors or sweeteners and will have the monsters howling. No top allergens. Check out their website for great allergy friendly Halloween recipe ideas. Mummy Gummys, anyone?

The Spider Web from Ange Gardien. Get back at scary Mrs. Spider by taking a nice big bite of chocolatey goodness. No nuts, peanuts, dairy or egg.

 
Happy Halloween Lollies (right) from Amanda’s Own Confections are so good it’s scary! The chocolate lollipops are dairy-, tree nut-, peanut-, egg- and gluten-free.

Vermont Nut Free has beautiful peanut- and nut-free chocolates to ease sweet cravings this Halloween. Three-inch by three-inch Crispy Jack O’Lanterns would be a perfect way to show that the Great Pumpkin has visited. Individual Witch (and Ghost and Scarecrow) Shapes are a considerable 1.2 oz. and always popular.

Not everyone has a sweet tooth. Just say “No” to the candy hangover and give out fun, no-eat treats!

Hasbro’s individual Play-Doh Pots in Halloween colors (photo, right) are sure to amuse. Do contain wheat. Find in U.S.: Walmart, Target, Toys “R” Us, Amazon.com.

Non-food ideas at Costco: Disney-themed Playing Cards or 50 Puzzle Erasers. Note: contains very small parts; not suitable for young children. Package the erasers in Halloween themed bags.

See our new 2012 list for more of our favorite treats.

Remember to check the label, as a brand’s ingredients can change. Small portion treats may have different ingredients than the regular versions.