The time is here for you to start preparing for Halloween and you couldn’t be more excited to pick out a costume and enjoy some spooky treats. However, you also have to be ready for the equally spooky intolerances that may go along with them, as well as the alarming spooky sweet allergies. When you are looking at preparing for this season’s Halloween, make sure that you are accommodating intolerances or allergies if possible. This will allow you to keep this all too exciting holiday exciting for, well, everyone.
Are you allergic to Halloween?
Part of being ready to take on possible reactions is to understand the common symptoms of a sugar allergy. While rare, a sugar allergy can be present, and it can range from mild to severe. Peanut allergies are more common in the sweet allergies, but both have a role in Halloween treats, even the store-bought ones. Common symptoms to look for are:
- Stomach cramps and vomiting: If eating sugar or another popular Halloween ingredient (such as food dye or peanuts) causes moderate to severe stomach cramps or even vomiting, it could be a sign that you are struggling with an allergy.
- Anaphylaxis symptoms: From shortness of breath or wheezing to the swelling of the throat, lips or tongue, anaphylactic shock can occur with an allergy to sugar, just like it would occur to those who have other food allergies.
Living with sweet allergies means that your immune system perceives sugar or peanuts as a threat and will cause a reaction upon ingesting it. The reaction is often fast, intense, and can change from instance to instance. That’s why proper allergy testing is important when your child or loved one is trying to determine what is causing the reactions. One reaction doesn’t guarantee that they won’t have another, more severe one later on.
Allergy vs intolerance
While sugar allergies are not common, sugar intolerances are more common than you might think. If you feel like sugar is an issue but an allergy doesn’t feel quite right, you may want to consider that it may be an intolerance instead. For more information on the difference between allergies and intolerances, click here.
Watch the ingredients list on your treats for sweet allergies:
Even though a lot of companies know to produce peanut-free sweets, you will want to make sure that you are being careful to check the ingredients list for other common allergies. You can also consider making your home an allergy-safe zone by getting on the blue pumpkin wagon. This is a movement that offers up allergen-free Halloween treats so that kids with intolerances and allergies can still have all of the fun that they are looking for on this special kid-centred holiday.
Spooky intolerances and scary sweet allergies don’t have to be the end of Halloween for you or your loved ones. You just need to make sure that you are ready to take on the ingredients list and the changes that it may mean for your Halloween celebration in particular. It doesn’t mean the end, it just means a shift to make it enjoyable for everyone and their dietary requirements.
