Allergy-Friendly and Non-Food Treats for Halloween

There are so many different kinds of candy, and so many different allergies that there is no way I could do a universal list of what is safe and what isn't. It is specific to each child. 

Your safest bet is to find candy that does NOT contain the top 8 allergens:

1. Peanut

2. Wheat 

3. Dairy

4. Egg

5. Soy

6. Tree-nut

7. Fish

8. Shellfish 

(the last two shouldn't be a problem in candy... but you never know!)

Here are the steps I take to determine if a certain type of candy is safe...

Flip over the bag... look at the nutrition information on the back. Skip down to the ingredients list... most food nowadays has a warning right under the long list of ingredients. It will say IN BOLD what allergens that product contains.

for example, it might say CONTAINS: Wheat and Dairy or CONTAINS: Soy

if you don't see a bolded allergy warning, that USUALLY means the candy doesn't have any of the top 8 allergens... (but read through the ingredients just in case, since some companies don't list the allergens so clearly... beats me as to why)

Here are some examples of candy that I consider Allergy-Friendly (don't contain the top 8 allergens)

*Always check the ingredients list, as ingredients may change

Skittles

Smarties

Mott's Medleys Fruit Snacks (these also don't contain artificial coloring)

Haribo Gold Bears 

Mike N Ike

Hot Tamales

Swedish Fish

Sour Patch Kids

Dots

Welch's Fruit Snacks

Starburst

Spree

Bottle Caps
Dum Dums
Ring Pops
Starbursts

If you want more reading... here is a great list of pretty much every candy and the allergy information associated with it. 

It is also nice to provide a non-food treat alternative for those kids with less-common allergies. 

*Please offer non-food treats to ALL kids so no one is singled out.

A great place to find non-food treats is in the Halloween Party Favors or in the General Party Favors section of your favorite store. There you will find bags of stuff in bulk for pretty reasonable prices.

Here are some of my favorite non-food treats for trick-or-treaters

Halloween Pencils (I picked up 12/ $1 at the dollar section of Target)

Halloween mini notebooks

Spider rings

Glow Sticks

Temporary Tattoos (Halloween themed or Not)

Stickers (Halloween themed or Not)

Crayons

Bubbles

Fake Bugs

Whistles

Halloween Erasers

Markers

Bouncy Balls

Anything glow-in-the-dark

Sticky Hands/Webs

Spooky Necklaces

Plastic Fangs

Loose Change

Krazy Straws

Noise Makers

and the list goes on and on!


Remember to head to THIS post to learn more about why allergy-friendly and non-food treats are so important, tips for how to keep your child with allergies safe this Halloween, and to grab your FREE PRINTABLE to put on your door!