Trick-or-treating for everybody

Every year, children around the U.S. count down the days until they can throw on their costume and go door to door, asking for candy. However, for some kids, Halloween is a little less exciting.

According to the Center for Disease Control, about 1-in-13 children in the U.S. have food allergies. With the most common food allergies for kids being eggs, milk and peanuts, many Halloween candies are out of bounds. Even if the candy doesn’t contain the allergen, many are made in a factory with these allergens around, making them unsafe.

This is where people like Creston’s Lisa Sawtelle come in. Gluten- and dairy-free herself, Sawtelle provides both allergen-friendly and non-food treats for trick-or-treaters.

“I am providing fruit snacks, gummy bears and skittles that are from a brand called Yum Earth, and they’re free of the top nine allergens. I also picked up some fruit strips that are called Better Goods and some other fruit snacks from the brand Chum,” Sawtelle said. “I also have some boxes of crayons that I picked up for a non-food treat.”

While she has always had allergen-friendly options, this year Sawtelle said she’s going all out. Earlier this year, a friend’s son went dye-free, gluten-free and dairy-free. His mother was worried how this would affect her son during the holidays.

“I was like, I’ll provide for him! I’ve asked a couple of my neighbors as well,” Sawtelle said.

One such neighbor is Creston teacher Margo Fuller. With a student-athlete son in the house, Fuller didn’t usually give out candy, but juice pouches instead. This year she’ll have extra goodies to give out.

“She sent some ideas to the groups, many of which I had in my cupboard,” Fuller said. “I told her to count me in.”

The bevy of allergen-friendly treats can be found on West Devoe Street, south of Greater Regional Health.

In 2014, the non-profit Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) helped expand the Teal Pumpkin Project, a national program to provide non-food treats for trick-or-treaters. Through this program, people can sign their house up on a nation-wide map of allergen-free trick-or-treating locations.

As of print, no one in Creston has signed up on the map. However, a teal pumpkin on a porch will often mean allergen-free treats, whether officially part of the program or not. Sawtelle is following this model, posting a teal pumpkin in her window and providing a card for her friend’s son.

“A teal pumpkin is the universal sign for an allergen-friendly Halloween,” Sawtelle said. “I printed off and laminated a little card for him to show to the people when he trick-or-treats so that they know, he doesn’t even have to say anything, he just has to show that and they can give him the allergen-friendly treats.”

Every year, more and more children are in need of these specialty treats. According to FARE, food allergies in children have been increasing for decades. Allergies are “up by 50% between 1997 and 2011, and again up by 50% between 2007 and 2021.” While there are options, it isn’t always easy to stick to these diets.

“I know as an adult how hard it is for me to navigate a space with food allergies,” Sawtelle said. “I can’t imagine being a kid and wanting to be involved and wanting to have normalcy and wanting to be involved, so I just want to be able to provide that for those kids.”

Along with West Devoe Street, more allergen-friendly treats will be available in a Trunk or Treating event at R Beauty, located at 500 W. Union St. in Creston.

Those providing allergen-friendly and non-food treats can register their house for the Teal Pumpkin Project online here.