Halloween ghouls not as scary as trick-or-treat gluten

Trick-or-treating on Halloween can be scary. A young child going door-to-door dressed as a wholesome fairy princess or plucky Bob the Builder can be intimidated by the gruesomeness of an older, blade-wielding Jason or Freddie. Many parents still harbor the improbable fear that some maniac has stuck a razor blade in an apple or poison in a candy bar.

But for the millions of trick-or-treaters with food allergies, a treat doesn't have to be tainted to be scary or even deadly. Any goody that so much as comes in contact with nuts, dairy, wheat, corn or even food additives such as dyes can be catastrophic for children with allergies.

"Gosh, there are so many children these days who can't take advantage of what the whole trick-or-treat experience is all about," says Maria Milik, a Lake Barrington mom whose sons Leo, 6, and Joey, 3, need score cards to keep track of all the foods (from potatoes to olives) to which they are allergic. "Leo's allergic to gluten, dairy, soy and corn, which pretty much cuts out Halloween candy."

Even something as innocuous as dried cranberries made Leo sick for four days because the berries had been dusted with a minuscule amount of gluten to keep them from sticking, Milik says, adding that the amount was too small to be listed among the ingredients.

"He doesn't want to be sick. He reads labels himself," Milik says of her older boy. "He'll go, 'Look, Mom, there's no gluten or dairy.'"

While gluttony, not gluten, remains the culprit for many trick-or-treaters who get sick the old-fashioned way from gorging on a Halloween booty of Snickers bars and Peanut M&Ms, kids with allergies don't have that luxury.

But thanks to a cooperative effort by volunteers with the Barrington Area Special Voices, an advocacy group for children with a variety of special needs, this year's Halloween will be different. From 5-7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, twelve homes in the Fox Point neighborhood of Barrington will host an allergy-free Halloween with safe foods, toys and other goodies.

"I can't be the only one with a kid who can't enjoy just opening up a pillow case and diving in," thought Jennifer Bulandr, vice president of the BASV (www.baspecialvoices.org) and Barrington Hills mother of three, including 7-year-old Joshua, who has dietary restrictions. "How could we do a safe trick-or-treating event?"

Uniting families with allergy issues, Bulandr's spark of an idea quickly ignited into a roaring alternative Halloween. In addition to an entire neighborhood agreeing to pass out safe eats and nonedible treats, businesses have also stepped up to donate the goodies.

"All those companies have been so generous," Bulandr says of the Barrington Bistro and Pair Chocolate in Barrington, Trader Joe's and All Ways Healthy in Lake Zurich, Chipotle in Lake in the Hills, Surf Sweets in Prospect Heights, and even a rock candy donation she found online from Squirrels Nest in Delaware.

One in 25 children has some sort of food allergy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those numbers are increasing, and some groups say the real number of kids with such allergies is much higher.

Kids who can't eat candy might feel left out at Halloween, even if they go trick-or-treating. Milik says she normally makes her boys "fork over all their stuff."

"This time, they get to enjoy something they can actually keep, which is pretty cool," Milik says. "It makes them feel they aren't so out of the loop of what the mainstream is doing."

Even in that mainstream, some parents fret about obesity fears or the sugar buzz that accompanies the holiday. But trick-or-treaters, even some with allergies, stockpile candy.

A tradition at the Bulandr house lets her kids put their candy outside the front door with the understanding that the Great Pumpkin will visit during the night and replace the sweets with a DVD, small toy or some other nonedible goody. Lots of families let kids trade candy for something better, or at least, healthier.

What happens to all that candy?

Well, it should be noted that some parents are not on a restrictive diet.