Halloween and food allergy

Halloween and trick or treating is becoming more popular in Australia, with many neighbourhoods using it as a time to come together and have fun.

Trick or treating can be safe for children with food allergy BUT parents or a trusted carer need to be involved.

You can also choose to dress up with your children and hand out treats at your house to visitors who are trick or treating, rather than going out and collecting treats from others.

Some ideas to reduce risk when trick or treating:

Plan before you go:

• Some families pre-arrange with trusted neighbours to drop off safe treats, labelled with your child’s name.
• Some children are happy just to dress up and go house to house with their friends without receiving treats while others are not. Have a chat with your child to see what they would like to do – give them some options.
• Have a discussion with your child BEFORE you head off trick or treating about what the arrangement will be so that the child with food allergy won’t be tempted to eat what they are given. Show them that you have treats that they love at home, or even take their treats with you to swap with your child when you are out and about.
• Have something to eat before trick or treating to avoid the temptation of snacking on something that hasn’t been checked by Mum or Dad.

While you’re trick or treating:

• Trick or treat WITH your child with food allergy.
• Take your child’s emergency medical kit containing their adrenaline (epinephrine) injector (such as Anapen®, EpiPen®) and ASCIA Action Plan for Anaphylaxis WITH you and your child.
• Have a “no eating when trick or treating” rule. Don’t eat until you get home and sort out the treats.

When you get home:

• When you get home, sort treats into a ‘can have’ and ‘cannot have’ pile. Have some tempting safe treats you can swap for the ‘cannot have’ pile.
• Allow the child to swap their filled treat bag for a visit to a local supermarket or store to pick what safe products they would like instead (this can be done before or after the trick or treating).
• Wash hands before eating the ‘can have’ treats.
• Don’t eat anything that doesn’t have a full ingredient listing on it. Remember that some foods, which look similar in packaging to the one you usually buy, can have different ingredients.
• Keep packets with ingredient labels or take photos of them so you can refer to them if necessary.

A&AA has developed three posters that you can use at your house to indicate that you give allergy friendly non-food treats. Please feel free to print and place on your letterbox or other prominent spot in the lead up to Halloween and on 31 October.