I grew up celebrating Halloween like millions of other kids in America. I enjoyed it. Probably for no good reason other than it was fun to dress up and I like candy. Is that a good reason to perpetuate the Holiday? I don’t know but frankly I’m not ready to morally question Halloween yet. I like it and for now that is enough. Rather than a moral dilemma, I have had a bigger concern with how to allow my daughter to participate in Halloween without being bombarded with artificial dyes and flavors that turn her into a raving lunatic as well as peanut containing products which could send her to the Hospital in anaphylactic shock.
I was VERY happy to have stumbled upon Yummy Earth candies. We purchased their 5lb bag of Organic Assorted Lollipops at a 50% discount since we are Feingold members. We received the suckers within days and let me just tell you these things are DELICIOUS! They taste way better than any store-bought suckers not to mention they are all natural. The flavors in the assorted bag are delectable – pomegranate, watermelon, tango mango & lemon. They are literally the best suckers I have ever had.
So for those of you also concerned with how to get your artificial dye sensitive child some safe candy you can purchase lots of different varieties online. We just plan on letting her Trick-or-Treat like normal and at the end we will exchange all of her candy for the “safe” candy. If I had more time and felt like it I would just pre-visit my neighbors and ask them to reserve the safe candy for her.
Here is a list of all natural and dye free candy:
You may also have good luck finding dye free and natural candies at places like Trader Joe’s & Whole Foods.
Journey To Here 
I was wondering if all of these Candy sites, that are published for all dye free candy.. Do you know if any of the other candy for sale also has Milk in anything? My son is HUGE allergies for all Dye Colors, every one of them plus he has a HUGE milk allergy, SO he is never allowed any candy or any foods that contain, Milk, Whey ect. My sister came across all of these candy sites, and im just trying to make sure there is no milk and no colors that would set him off. Thanks!
Off hand I don’t know. I’m sure there is candy that is milk free. You’ll need to contact the companies directly to confirm the ingredients and to avoid cross contamination, etc.
Wanted to update and say that I just bought my daughters Halloween candy for this year at Squirrels Nest they have such a neat assortment of homemade candies. They also have an awesome sampler (which we got) for only $13.95.
If you’re going to order make sure you hurry!
Here is the link to their Halloween candy:
http://www.squirrels-nest.com/index.cfm?action=cat.catalog&categoryID=35
Many parents have found that their children are able to tolerate dye for awhile and then *poof* something happens. When you think about true IgE mediated allergies the same holds true, people don’t typically become allergic to something upon initial exposure because their body needs time to build the IgE response. Sometimes people become allergic to foods they’ve eaten for years or even the surge we are seeing in adult onset seasonal allergies. My own daughter had been exposed to yoplait yogurt for about six months prior to her extreme reaction.
My suggestion would be to peruse the internet and local shops and stock up on candy and treats that are dye free, artificial flavor free (make sure you also avoid vanillin which is not the same as vanilla) and I’d also avoid high fructose corn syrup and regular corn syrup if possible.
Once you are stocked up then I’d pull all of these dyes, etc out of his diet for a month and take notes of his behavior. If he is all ready writing also take a sample of his handwriting before going dye free and after. Amazingly many parents find a big difference.
Plan ahead for parties, family functions, etc. Bring acceptable candies, etc. This is going to be a bit more of a challenge with an older child but completely worth trying. There are support groups online on yahoogroups and you can also join Feingold if you are interested.
Personally I don’t think these things are good for anyone but it obviously effects some people more than others. I have tried to be very observant to my own body when I consume artificial dyes and honestly I haven’t noticed anything within my own body yet.
It is also possible that since you have gone GFCF that since his body is healing from that he will be even more sensitive to things he probably was sensitive to before but were masked over by gluten and dairy – but that is a complete guess, I have no idea.
They even make soda that is ok. Hanes soda is a natural soda and almost all of the flavors use cane sugar instead of corn syrup. It doesn’t make it healthy for you by any means but better than the soda that is full of chemical junk.
Feel free to email me if you need help navigating through this…
journeytocrunchville@gmail.com
We have been observing a strict GFCF diet for our 6 year old for the last 7 months. Things were going really great but lately we have hit a skid. I am wondering if the dyes are to blame. He has previously had really bad GI reactions to blue dye but since we were taking so much away from him, we allowed him to have his favorite skittles and starburst. I’m trying to figure out what is 6 yr old boy, what is beyond that and if it is beyond, what is pushing his buttons that he was previously able to handle. Any thoughts are greatly apprecaited.
This is so awesome. My 2yr old has gone into anaphylactic shock on 3 occasions. We thought it was just nuts. We recently found that it was red dye as well.My older son was diaganosed with sensory proccessing disorder at age 5. Now I am thinking he may be sensitive to dye as well and may not have a learning disability at all. It is refreshing to know there are other moms going through the same thing I am. I don’t feel so alone. I am truly sickened by the stress and pain that the chemicals have caused our babies and no one cares to change it. If these people would put their energy and money into the packaging and not the chemicals our children would be alot happier and healthier.How sick has this made all of us even as adults? There are some many products out there containing this red dye, that are not even red. Why?
CrunchChristian,
Feingold is a foundation that created a diet that eliminates artificial colors/dye, flavors, salicylates, etc in order to improve behavior, learning and health. Their website is at http://www.feingold.org. They have some great support groups and information. All though we don’t necessarily follow the Feingold diet it has been very instumental in getting my daughter’s sensitivities under control and they have a wealth of information on the issue.
YC chocolate has all sugar free chocolate. It is the last link in the group of candy stores.
Is any of the candy you found also sugar-free? Though I avoid artificial stuff, I’m also a big advocate of no sugar! I don’t know what to give out on Halloween.
What a great post, thanks for the information!
What is Feingold? Is it like Frontier?