For allergic trick-or-treaters, teal pumpkin to signify special goodies

For Jean Kintisch of Wayne, Halloween can be a scary time of year - and not in an exciting, haunted-house kind of way. That's because her youngest daughter has nut allergies that make trick-or-treating a potentially life-threatening activity.

This year, though, Kintisch may feel a little less frightened, thanks to a campaign called the Teal Pumpkin Project that invites people to display a teal-painted pumpkin or a printable flier to notify trick-or-treaters that nonfood treats such as stickers or crayons are available.

The campaign was conceived by a food-allergy support group in Tennessee last October, and the advocacy group Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) took it national last week by posting it on Facebook (teal is the color of food-allergy awareness). It's already been shared more than 36,000 times and reached 3.2 million people. Families across the region are joining in.

Kintisch, who runs a support group called Food and Environmental Allergy Support Team (FEAST) of the Main Line, said her inbox has been flooded with information on the campaign since last week.

"It's brought great awareness to how simple it can be to make everyone feel included," she said.

She plans to post FARE's flier, which she considers an elegant solution to a sometimes-awkward interaction.

"When we're trick-or-treating, we don't announce at the door that she has food allergies. . . . I don't want anyone to feel badly," she added. "But if someone had a teal pumpkin then we could say, 'Oh, can we have a nonfood treat?' And that's why this is so exciting, because it identifies the houses that are on board, and it makes it less awkward."

The initiative could replace any number of complicated maneuvers parents have come up with to deal with Halloween: Candy-swapping parties, buyback programs, and the conjuring of a Tooth Fairy-like specter called the Switch Witch who appears overnight to swap candy for a prize. Some also opt for specially designed silicone bracelets or temporary tattoos that announce kids' allergies.

It also could ease the process of sifting through the Halloween haul to identify what's safe for kids to consume, reading labels, and calling manufacturers for detailed information about their facilities.

Glenmoore's Jenine Lawton, who runs a support group in Chester County called Parents Having Allergic Children Team, said that, between her son's allergies and her daughter's, she has to watch out for eggs, wheat, nuts, barley, and milk.

Lawton has learned more about the candy industry than she ever cared to know - that full-size Laffy Taffy, for example, typically contains eggs, while the small size often does not.

"We do know that ingredients can change at any time, and sometimes a candy that had been safe in the past might not be safe at this time," she said.

Those who just can't see the fun in a sugar-free Halloween can minimize the risk by giving out sweets that don't contain the top eight allergens, which together account for about 90 percent of reactions (those include milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, and wheat).

It's an imperfect system, though.

"Is there any food that's safe for every person? No, there is not," said Terri Brown-Whitehorn, an allergy specialist at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Food allergies affect an estimated one in 13 children in the U.S.

"CHOP sees, on average, a child who has anaphylaxis or a terrible allergic reaction to a food once a day or once every other day," she said. "We do see kids after Halloween who ate 'X,' which they've never been exposed to."

The American Academy of Pediatrics and other organizations have likewise been promoting the idea of nonfood parties at school, since it's not just kids with food allergies, but also those managing diabetes or weight problems, who could benefit from events focused less on food.

John Cohn, an allergist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, pointed out that a couple of decades ago, "the issue people worried about was people putting razor blades in food, so we transitioned to prepackaged foods and got rid of the homemade treats."

But these days, he said, many people aren't aware of what goes into the candy they're giving out. Often, miniature bars don't include labels.

"People shouldn't give anything out that they don't know what the contents are, and they should be able to answer questions about what they're giving out," he said.

Avoiding the top eight allergens won't help parents like Katie Pietrak, of Telford, who has become an avid label-reader due to her daughter Penelope's allergies, which include rare ones like pineapple and kiwi. She and Penelope have already painted a pumpkin in support of the campaign.

Her support group, Food Allergy Families of Montgomery and Bucks, is planning its own nonfood Halloween event: a "trunk-or-treat" event in the parking lot of the Indian Valley Public Library in Telford.

About 30 families have signed up to decorate the trunks of their cars and pass out nonedible treats such as glow necklaces, stickers, temporary tattoos, crayons, erasers or chalk.

"You want the kids not to feel excluded, not to feel different just because they have a food allergy," she said. "They're just like any other kid."

Learn more about the Teal Pumpkin Project and download a flier by visiting www.foodallergy.orgEndText

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@samanthamelamed