Reviewed by Faith Huang, M.D.
If your child has food allergies, a teal pumpkin at the doorstep can be a welcome treat. This Halloween, teal pumpkins at the doorstep inform the trick-or-treater that non-food treats are available!
These pumpkins don’t come from a strange patch, but from a new national campaign called The Teal Pumpkin Project that’s promotin
g food-allergy awareness this Halloween.
Although for many kids Halloween is a time of treats in the form of candy, not all trick-or-treaters are able to enjoy the treats most people hand out. According to a study, 1 in 13 kids in the United States has a food allergy that can be life threatening. Often, the candies that are handed out contain or are cross contaminated with food allergens such as milk, peanuts, tree nuts and sesame.
The great news is that any household can participate. All you need to do is paint a pumpkin teal and display it, then provide non-food treats to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. You could offer festive trinkets or toys. Be mindful that some non-food toys such as Play-Doh contain wheat.
For more information on the Teal Pumpkin project, please visit this link to the Food Allergy Research and Education website: https://www.foodallergy.org/teal-pumpkin-project
Have a safe and Halloween!
