By Jiya
It’s that time of year again, the holiday which candy becomes a surplus in homes all over world! For people with food allergies, this means that they must purchase sweets of their own and make sure that they don’t come into contact with any treats that may have their allergen inside. This task can be difficult if someone has an air-borne or touch sensitive allergy.
Personally, before I underwent Oral Immunotherapy, my mom used to take my brother and I trick or treating only to the houses of people that knew about our allergies and could offer us some allergy-free treats. It was frustrating at times seeing kids my age grab a handful of candy from a bucket, unravel the wrapper, and eat it as they walked along to the next house to grab some more. I would wonder to myself, how these kids didn’t have to worry about reading a label, or fear of a reaction from cross-contamination of other people’s hands smothering the bowl. But, it would make me feel better right away when at home, we would buy so many allergy-free sweets to enjoy afterward. On the bright side, eating wrapped candy from a new box at home is much more cleaner than taking it from a bowl outside!
With that being said here are some of my favorite tips to have a safe and enjoyable Halloween for people with food allergies (these would be utilized if the pandemic wasn’t present of course)
- READ every ingredient on the labels of candies before eating them because sometimes the candies that you would least expect to contain your allergen, in fact do!
- WASH your hands after trick or treating just in case any remnant of your allergen may be present on your hands from touching the candies in the bowls
- DO NOT make yourself feel left out from one of the most lively nights of the year: make allergy friendly Halloween desserts or even share your allergy friendly candies with your friends!
The point is, to not let your allergies stop you from having an outstanding time on this fun-filled day!