Want to be sure you’re buying allergy friendly Halloween candy? Need allergy friendly Halloween treats for school? Here are the lists you need!
This is a guest post from Sonya North, is a local mom of three who has two children with food allergies.
by Sonya North
So you signed up to bring treats for your child’s Halloween party–and then you get a message from the teacher to asking to make them allergy friendly.
Wait, what?
And oh by the way, the allergies are peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, milk and gluten.
Piece of cake, right?
Finding Allergy Friendly Halloween Treats Is Difficult
As an allergy mom of 12 years, I’ve learned one thing: People want to include kids with allergies, they just don’t know how.
If you’re not directly affected by allergies, it can be hard to find safe treats. Spending hours pouring over food labels probably isn’t on your bucket list.
So I’m sharing ten candies and ten snacks that are allergy friendly (free from the top eight allergens) to help you plan your party.
Quick note: I am an advocate of healthy snacking for sure. But four years ago, my daughter had an allergic reaction to fresh fruit provided by a class parent. The fruit came in contact with nuts during preparation, likely from a knife or cutting board used to prepare PB&Js. Not all schools allow food prepared in home as an option, which is why most of the snacks on our lists are prepackaged.
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Allergy Friendly Halloween Candy
First, let’s start with the good stuff: candy. These are my top ten allergy friendly candies that you can find at nationwide stores like Costco, Target, Walmart, Whole Foods, and Amazon.
All of these candies are free from the top eight allergens including peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, eggs, soy, and gluten. Some of these brands probably look familiar, some may not.
No worries, I am linking to places where you buy them directly. (Some of them contain affiliate links, which means at no additional expense to you, I earn a commission if you decide to purchase.)
1 – YumEarth Organic Pops | 2 – Swedish Fish/Sour Patch Kids | 3 – Surf Sweets Spooky Shapes | 4 – Skittles/Starburst| 5 – Dum Dums* | 6 – Enjoy Life Chocolate Minis | 7 – Free2B Bag O’ Treats | 8 – No Whey! Fear Not Treats | 9 – Smarties| 10 – Ring Pops
*Dum Dums’ note about soy: Our products may contain trace amounts of soy oil, a processing aid in making candy. The soy oil has been refined, bleached and deodorized, a process that removes the protein that can cause an allergic reaction. Because individual sensitivities vary, however, we have chosen to list the soy oil.
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Allergy Friendly Halloween Treats For Class Parties
I used to stress myself out baking allergy friendly cookies and fruit skewers for every class party. Nowadays, most schools only allow store-bought treats in the classroom. Thus, my new philosophy is to find another excuse to go to Costco or Target save my energy and buy everything.
Here is my allergy friendly snack guide for your next party.
All of these snacks are free from the top eight allergens, many are available at your local grocery store, Costco, Target, Whole Foods, Walmart, or Amazon. To learn more about each snack or to order it online, I’m including links below.
11 – Enjoy Life Cookies | 12 – Stretch Island Fruit Leather | 13 – Made Good Vanilla Crispy Squares | 14 – Annie’s Bunny Fruit Snacks | 15 – Gogo Squeezes | 16 – Skinny Pop Original Popcorn | 17 – Hippeas Vegan White Cheddar Puffs | 18 – Pop Chips Sea Salt Flavor | 19 – Lays Classic Chips | 20 – Sensible Portions Veggie Straws
I recommend that you share your snack selections with the teacher, school nurse, or allergy parents for their review and feedback.
Sonya North is a mom of 3, engineer, and food allergy advocate. Two of her kids are among the six million children living with food allergies.
Top photo by rawpixel on Unsplash
