While many children can look forward to a sack full of sweet treats this Halloween, some kids have food allergies that prevent them from enjoying many popular brands of candy. While dentists have their concerns about the amount of sugar consumed during the Halloween season, it’s also important to make this spooky holiday fun and accessible for all the kids in the neighborhood. Here’s a brief guide to how the Teal Pumpkin Project is helping children with food allergies enjoy trick-or-treating and how you can help.
What Are Food Allergies?
A food allergy is a harmful immune response to a certain protein in a normally edible item. While people can be allergic to many foods such as milk, eggs, wheat, soybeans, sesame, and shellfish, tree nut and peanut allergies are of particular concern during the Halloween season since they and their derivatives are commonly used as ingredients in candy. If a person consumes a food to which they are allergic, their immune system may dangerously overreact, resulting in a potentially life-threatening condition called anaphylaxis.
Since so many popular candies contain allergens, many parents of kids with food allergies don’t feel comfortable taking their kids trick-or-treating. The Teal Pumpkin Project was founded to help these families enjoy some spooky Halloween fun.
What Is the Teal Pumpkin Project?
The Teal Pumpkin Project is a movement dedicated to making Halloween safer for kids with food allergies, and it works based on a simple concept. All a participating household has to do is offer non-food treats instead of or in addition to candy and place a teal pumpkin on their porch to let parents know that their house is allergy-friendly. This makes Halloween fun for all kids and ensures that no one in a trick-or-treating party gets left out when the sweets are distributed.
What Are Some Great Non-Food Treats for Halloween?
There are a wide variety of gags, small toys, trinkets, and novelties you can hand out to trick-or-treaters. A few of these include:
- Glow sticks, necklaces, or bracelets
- Art supplies like pencils, pens, crayons, or markers
- Bubbles
- Halloween-themed erasers
- Small toys like slinkies or bouncy balls
- Finger puppets
- Spooky accessories like spider rings or vampire fangs
- Playing cards
- Stickers
- Stencils
While the FDA requires that all major allergens a food contains are listed on its label, handing out non-food items can take a lot of stress out of the Halloween season for families of kids with food allergies. By participating in the Teal Pumpkin Project, you can be prepared to hand out spooky joy to all the trick-or-treaters in your neighborhood.
About the Practice
Dentists at Orenco for Kids provides top-notch oral care to the children of Hillsboro. Led by Drs. Andrea Beltzner and Michael C. Royse, the staff delivers effective and kid-friendly dental treatments in a comforting and welcoming environment. Areas of expertise include pediatric general, restorative, and emergency dentistry. To learn more about celebrating Halloween in a health-conscious manner, contact the office online or dial (503) 640-6565.