Halloween is one of the most difficult holidays for children with food allergies and their families. Most candy has at least one of the top eight allergens (wheat, milk, egg, soy, shellfish, peanuts, treenuts, and fish), all of which can cause life-threatening reactions in children with food allergies. This means that children managing food allergies receive a lot of candy that they can’t even eat or enjoy, which is the reason behind The Teal Pumpkin Project.
The Project was created to make Halloween an inclusive holiday for children with food allergies by asking houses to offer non-food treats in addition to candy.
Food allergies currently affect 1 in 13 U.S. Families, so it’s no surprise that the Teal Pumpkin Project is growing in popularity every year.
Even major retailers like Target are catching on with special Teal Pumpkin Project displays containing plastic teal pumpkins and non-food trinkets. You don’t need to be a food allergy parent to participate in the Project, but your efforts will surely be appreciated by many children and their families.
If you would like to participate in the Teal Pumpkin Project, simply follow these three easy steps:
- Buy a teal pumpkin or paint one teal and place it on your front porch where it is visible to trick-or-treaters.
- Purchase non-food treats, such as stickers, glowsticks, or temporary tattoos to hand out to trick-or-treaters. (This can be instead of or in addition to candy.)
- Register your house at https://www.foodallergy.org/education-awareness/teal-pumpkin-project/get-started so families managing food allergies can plan and map out which houses will be offering safe treats.
For more information on the Teal Pumpkin Projects, here are additional posts on the topic from some of our sister sites:
https://knoxville.citymomsblog.com/whats-teal-pumpkins/?fbclid=IwAR0PP4uNuBw3Me4S-pIcUJX4Gg29YderTpbmuZ3cCoNAAMXMiu8rqUKd6SQ
Teal is the New Orange and Black This Halloween :: Allergy Awareness
Teal is the New Orange – Pumpkins Raise Awareness for Food Allergies
