Mom Works to Make Halloween a Treat for Kids with Food Allergies

Editor's note: Inspired by this post, Patch Local Voices blogger and Plainfield mom Holli Carey Long came up with some suggestions for allergy friendly Halloween treats. Click here for some great ideas and options for trick-or-treaters with allergies.

One local mom wants to make sure even kids who can’t indulge in sweet treats have a happy Halloween.

“I was reading that kids with allergies don't enjoy Halloween as much because it is not really fun to trick-or-treat for candy you can't even eat,” Rebecca Gundersen said.

For kids with issues like peanut allergies, it can be tricky determining which treats are OK to eat — even if they don’t contain nuts, since some candies are made or packaged in facilities where they may come into contact with nuts.

“Even fun-size M&Ms, the smaller sizes are different from the regular sizes,” she said, explaining the fun-size version has a peanut allergy warning on the label. “So you have to check that out.”

This year, Gundersen said she plans to offer options for kids who have allergies or diabetes — and she came up with a way to help other Plainfield-area residents do the same.

Gundersen created a sign to let kids know that her home is offering allergy-friendly trick-or-treating. (Click the photo attached to this article to print a copy of the sign)

“I have extra toys from my son’s birthday party, so I was going to put them in a bucket” to pass out to trick-or-treaters, Gundersen said.

She said she hopes other residents will look for ways to offer allergy-friendly or even non-food treats.

“This way, even kids with diabetes can go trick-or-treating,” Gundersen said. “It opens up the door for kids to have other options.”