Dye FREE Halloween

Before kids-circa 2004. 

I grew up celebrating Halloween like many of you.  And I enjoyed it. Probably for no good reason other than it was fun to dress up and pretend you were someone else.  And I LOVE candy. Is that a good reason to perpetuate the so called "holiday"? I don’t know but frankly we have gone back and forth on it for a few years now.  And this year we decided to allow the boys to enjoy the fun of it all.  Morally questioning Halloween is not what this post is all about. 

Halloween 2007

Rather than a moral dilemma, I have had a bigger concern.  That is how to allow the boys to participate in Halloween without being bombarded with artificial dyes and flavors that will turn one into a raving lunatic.  To some, eating the traditional Halloween colored candy is all FUN.  For others it is enough to make you scream.  YOU, the parent, doing the screaming!!!  If you have a child who is sensitive to dyes you know exactly what I am talking about.

Halloween 2008

At first when we decided to go ahead with this whole Halloween thing I totally forgot about the candy.  Seriously, it was all about dressing up, buying the costumes and planning for the night.  Then after giving in a few weeks back and buying candy corn (which has dye) we noticed that cRaZy kid coming out again. 

Well GREAT!  There goes our Halloween plans!  I knew that instant I had to come up with a plan B.   

Let me back up and give a little info on some things I have learned about the dyes in the foods we all love to eat. 

We started watching all foods closely months ago.  Anything with dyes we passed up or allowed and just "prepared ourselves". We prepare for what is to come.  That may sound funny, but we have seen first hand what these nasty dyes can do to our child.  The fact that he can exhibit exactly what is wrong with the crap in our “food” within mere minutes, and sometimes for a couple days after, turned out to be a good thing.  It made me realize this behavior was not totally his doing.  And it made me pay special attention to what really is in all the food we buy.  Or rather did not buy anymore.  We noticed the changes when he ate anything with dyes....specifically RED 40 and Yellow 5!  It was sad to say it felt like we were doing a science experiment on our son. 

RED 40-reactions may include temper tantrums, hyperactivity, aggressive behavior, uncontrollable crying, screaming and kicking (what we call crazy fits), nervousness, dizziness, inability to concentrate and sit still among other findings.  Seriously!!  Often when Red 40 is eliminated from your child's diet a remarkable change is noticed--almost immediately!!!

YELLOW 5-reactions may include hyperactivity and loss of concentration. 

This stuff isn’t good for anyone, even if they don’t turn into Jeckyll and Hyde! 
They are made in a lab with chemicals derived from petroleum, a crude oil product, which also happens to be used in gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt, and tar.

NPR.org: “Artificial food dyes are made from petroleum and approved for use by the FDA to enhance the color of processed foods.”

 

So now you can see why I was a little SCARED about this whole Halloween thing!  That is until I did my research and considered thinking outside the normal Halloween jack-o-latern box. 

 

Fret not my friends!  You can actually provide your child with a dye FREE Halloween!  Yes, it takes a little more effort than running in a store and tossing bags of candy in the cart.  You will have to shop around, look carefully at every label, maybe purchase online and buy other things besides candy. 

We will attend a church carnival on Wednesday night and then trick or treating to a few houses on Halloween.  While at the carnival and trick or treating chocolate is a free candy.  Meaning they are allowed to EAT UP!!  All other candies they will hang onto until we get home.  At that point we'll do the swap. 

So here are a few ideas for you if you are looking for a Dye FREE Halloween for your little ghosts and goblins.  Or Ninjas.

Twix bars, Yummy Earth lollipops and gummy worms, chocolate covered banana chips,
temporary tattoos and glow necklaces.

To be honest this is MORE than enough, but I know my parents will drop by with a little something more.  And Halloween night we plan to trick or treat early and come home to make kettle corn.  I am not the least bit concerned about it not being all candy. But I am concerned and realizing I will probably be staying up late with two little boys that will be bouncing off the walls from SUGAR OVERLOAD!

OK, so I know you are probably saying, "Chocolate is yummy, but where is all the good candy?"
The gummy worms and lollipops are there.  And they are gooooood.

 

Yummy Earth is a favorite of ours.  We have been a fan of the organic pops for a few months now.  I recently discovered that many Walgreen stores now carry some of their candy.  I was so excited!!  Yesterday I picked up a couple of bags for this week.

 

Mango Tango is my fav!

Back to the chocolate.  I have good luck with finding many different chocolates/candy bars that do not have dyes in them.  But I do look closely.  Too bad M&Ms are not one we can have.  BUT there is a brand out there that does a knock off M&Ms. 

UNREAL Candy offers REAL candy.  Not junk!  I have found the candy coated chocolates (M&Ms) and peanut butter cups (Reese's PB cups) at CVS.    

 

Other ideas I think most kids would LOVE: Fruit Rope , Fruit Snacks , Nutella and GO! snack packs , silly string, fake fangs and any kind of glow stick, bracelet or necklace.  It doesn't all have to be candy.  Think outside the box!

 

I hope I have provided you with a few ideas to have a Dye FREE Halloween.  Be safe, have FUN and take a ton of pictures!  For us it's going to be a night of treasured memories without all the nasty dye. 

 

Do you worry about the food dyes in Halloween candy?