Food Allergies and Halloween: It's OK If There is No Teal Pumpkin

My children are too old to trick-or-treat now. They are teenagers. When they were young enough to trick-or-treat, there was no such thing as the Teal Pumpkin. I quickly discovered that swapping out the candy for something sweet at home wasn't enough for my younger son. Just touching the packages of candy while trick-or-treating caused him to get hives. Not full body hives, just several on his face. After that year, gloves became a routine part of his Halloween costume. Just because he couldn't eat the candy collected and couldn't touch the packages with his bare hands without a reaction of some kind, didn't mean we would miss out on that fun! These were all tiny manageable challenges. 

I can't tell you how much time was spent on costumes!! There were several years when he was quite a Buzz Lightyear fanatic. One year, I even found inflatable Buzz Lightyear wings to add to his already awesome Buzz Lightyear costume. It was all about the costume. His allergies were peanut and tree nut allergies, so I would buy candy from Tootsie and also Vermont Nut Free Chocolate and have it ready at home. We would make plans with friends and go to the neighbor's Halloween party, and the kids had a blast. Food allergies played NO role whatsoever. They were not part of the equation because we really did not focus on the candy collected. We did, however, enjoy being with our friends and neighbors, and they LOVED playing flashlight tag in costume in the dark. Isn't fun what it is all about?!

The Teal Pumpkin is a great addition to Halloween for those who really want to enjoy a treat collected while trick-or-treating. Many people are still figuring out just what the Teal Pumpkin means. We food allergy folks need to be patient and give people time to hear about and find out what it is. I even saw a letter to the editor written by a food allergy mom with all kinds of inaccurate information. Her heart was in the right place; she was trying to educate her community. But she has some incorrect info--she wrote that FARE has a "safe list (nut free)" and also "Items that are considered “safe” candies are listed below, but just note that at times items change so parents of allergic children should always check labeling before children eat any items....The following items are among those listed as safe: Divvies (anything made by Divvies), Haribo Gummy Candy, Skittles, Peeps, Swedish Fish, Altoids, Mike and Ike, Hershey plain chocolate bars and Kisses (personal size only), Laffy Taffy, Runts, Tootsie Rolls, Junior Mints, Lifesaver Gummies, Smarties, Sour Patch Kids, Whoppers, Sweet Tarts, Bottle Caps, Pop Rocks, Hot Tamales, Red Vines, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Kraft Marshmallows, Trader Joe’s milk and semi-sweet chocolate chips."

If you visit FARE’s page about the Teal Pumpkin Project, you won’t find a safe candy list and certainly not a nut free list. The Teal Pumpkin Project is intended to help make children with ALL food allergies feel included. While the well-meaning food allergy mom shared inaccurate info, we have to give her credit for going the extra mile and trying to educate her community! Kudos to her for trying! That is more than many of us do; I know I haven't written any letters to the editor. Maybe I should start! Kids with Food Allergies does have an Allergy-Friendly Halloween Candy Guide, listing candies which are top-8 allergen free. Perhaps the well-meaning mom was thinking of that list?

So….what to do if there are no Teal Pumpkins near you?

·    Feel angry or frustrated at your neighbors? I hope not! It’s really unreasonable to expect people to know about something for a disability that isn’t on their radar and doesn’t affect them personally. The Teal Pumpkin Project is still new! Be patient and give it time. Maybe next year you can write a letter to the editor to your local paper explaining what the Teal Pumpkin means.

·   Avoid trick-or-treating? Heck no! Kids LOVE getting in costume, and then seeing neighbors’ reactions at their costumes when they open their front doors. Have something safe for Halloween ready for your kids at home afterwards, and just briefly explain to your child that safe goodies (maybe a surprise!) are at waiting home and that mom or dad will take the unsafe goodies to work for other folks to enjoy. Or maybe you’ll donate the candies! Don’t miss trick-or-treating. Let your kids be kids. They really don’t need to be able to eat what they collect or get a safe treat from neighbors. You can easily handle that part at home yourself.

·    Be the first house with a Teal Pumpkin in your neighborhood! Publicize it in your local paper. Be the change you want to see!

Wishing all food allergy friends a happy and safe Halloween!

Food Allergy Consumer: Considering Mylan and Kaleo

First things first. Let me begin by stating that I am a huge fan of the Auvi-Q epinephrine autoinjector. Provided it functions as well as the competition or better, I do not think you can beat its discrete size and shape, and its user-friendliness. It's fantastic and we were thrilled when Kaleo put it back on the market in the U.S.

Having observed many things food allergy related for more than a decade now, however, I am concerned by Kaleo's recent initiatives and campaigns. I am getting flashbacks to Mylan's intiatives and campaigns. I remember how enthusiastically bloggers and the non-profit food allergy organizations collaborated with Mylan. I know disease awareness campaigns by pharmaceutical companies are nothing new, and often do provide benefits to patients, but in light of the highly publicized price-gouging by Mylan, one would hope the food allergy community is taking note of Kaleo's similar marketing via awareness campaigns.

While many patients have received Auvi-Q--delightedly--for $0 thanks to Kaleo's amazing Affordability program, countless publications have reported that the list price for Auvi-Q and its starting price for health insurance companies is $4500. Does anyone really think that Kaleo will eternally charge patients $0 for Auvi-Q? How could that be possible? Modernhealthcare.com states "It's been widely reported that the actual list price for Auvi-Q is $4,500, which will be the starting point for insurers to negotiate discounts and rebates. It appears Kaleo will foot the bill for patients with commercial insurers that choose not to cover Auvi-Q." For many of us, health insurance already has astronomical costs, what will happen down the road as a result of the high bill for insurance companies that do cover Auvi-Qs? It all seems too good to be true, and unfortunately, that usually means it is. At some point, something is going to change, but what? We will wait and see.

Now some hail the latest awareness campaign, this time anti-food allergy bullying in collaboration with national food allergy non-profits. I believe I read that 1000 parents of children with food allergies were surveyed. We have about 15 million people with food allergies, with a large percentage of them being children, so 1000 parents is an extremely small sample! And how was this tiny sample of parents recruited and selected?  It just doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy about Auvi-Q. The actual device itself really is impressive all on its own. These campaigns, in my opinion, diminish Kaleo and make it resemble its competitor Mylan; not a good thing. 

I know the Edwards "get" food allergies and I appreciate that. It is noteworthy. And I do love Auvi-Q! But I haven't forgotten how a few years ago, Mylan strategically ingratiated itself with food allergy bloggers, non-profit organizations, and the overall food allergy community with its awareness campaigns and initiatives, as it jacked up the price of its life-saving medicine. So, what is the difference between Mylan's awareness initiatives and campaigns and Kaleo's? And then what is the difference between Mylan and Kaleo as companies? I also have to wonder about the non-profit organizations too--why the silence about Auvi-Q's high starting price for insurance companies, and the silence over the years while the price of Epi-pens rose? I don't have answers to these questions, but they are certainly worth considering. A little consumer skepticism is warranted following the infamous activities of Mylan.