Have You Heard Of The Teal Pumpkin Project?

While ghost and goblins are what scare many on Halloween, its what’s inside the candy that frightens those with food allergies the most.

This year, Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) wants to change that. FARE encourages communities to get behind the Teal Pumpkin Project - a movement which asks neighbors to provide non-food treats for trick-or-treaters who don’t want to take the risk of bitting into something they shouldn’t eat.

The idea is to place a teal pumpkin outside your door so trick-or-treaters know there are non-food items available.

On their website, FARE lists a number of low-cost items that could replace candy such as:

• Glow sticks, bracelets, or necklaces
• Pencils, pens, crayons or markers
• Bubbles
• Halloween erasers or pencil toppers
• Mini Slinkies
• Whistles, kazoos, or noisemakers
• Bouncy balls
• Finger puppets or novelty toys

• Coins
• Spider rings
• Vampire fangs
• Mini notepads
• Playing cards
• Bookmarks
• Stickers
• Stencils

For those who can’t pass up tradition, a separate bowl of allergy-free candy will also do the trick.

According to CNN, the Teal Pumpkin Project reached over 2.7 million people within the first 72 hours of its announcement online.

For more tips and ideas, visit the FARE website here.