More Treats and Safe Candy Corn!

Again at Target (I shop there a lot), I found another healthy, peanut-safe trick-or-treat option.  Different Target this time though which explains why I didn't see them at my last visit.  An entire post could be devoted on the frustrations that occur when stores within the same chain don't carry the same products.  I run into the same issue with my grocery store and with Wal-Mart, but I regress.  There are 80 packs of fruit snacks in a box for $4.99.  Right on the very front of the box is a picture of a peanut with a red line slashed across it, and on the back a label stating that the snacks are made in a nut free facility.  The snacks from Florida's Naturals are made with real fruit and there were no artificial colors listed in the ingredients.  I bought 2 boxes and hope there are some left over to pack in the kids' lunch boxes.

Another good find this week was safe candy corn.  Not necessarily healthy, but peanut safe.  If was the first candy corn that Abigail has ever eaten, and she was hooked.  I find them too sweet, but Abigail loves sweet treats, and you can't get much sweeter than candy corn.  I found the bag at Dollar Tree.  The candy corn is manufactured in Mexico for Sunrise Confections.  It does contain egg and soy, but made in a peanut/tree-nut facility.

Kids were in too much of a hurry to try them to let me take a picture before opening the bag!

Jelly Belly also makes a Halloween mix of candy corn flavored jelly beans that is safe for peanut and tree nut allergies.  Other than online, I've only seen the product at Marshalls/HomeGoods.  It was $5.99 for a 9 oz. bag.  Personally, I liked the price of the bag at Dollar Tree where, yes, everything there is a dollar.

Allergy Friendly Halloween Treats

It's that time of year again.  The time when the aisles are stocked with every type of candy imaginable, most of which aren't safe for our peanut allergic children.  I did find a couple of non-candy options this year that I wanted to share.

While shopping at Target, I came upon 3 products that are good trick-or-treat options for peanut and tree nut allergies.  The first product is Angie's Kettle Corn.  It was priced at $6.99 for a bag of 24 snack packs. Here is the allergen statement from their website:

Angie's Kettle Corn is certified gluten-free by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization and is produced in an nut-free environment. Ingredients used in the production of all our kettle corn products are free all of the regulated food allergens. We do not allow nuts of any kind in our production facility.

A plus for me is that they also have a non-GMO statement although I'm a little confused about their corn oil and will be contacting them for clarification.

Another find is Pirate's Booty.  It's gluten-free, and according to the website, "Pirate Brands’ products are made in a nut-free facility, therefore are peanut and tree-nut free."  The Pirate Brands' products are natural, but are not GMO free.  Our family has switched to the Trader Joe's brand for this reason, but for the purpose of Halloween, these small packs are perfect.  I believe that this box of 20 packs was also $6.99.

I selected the Utz Halloween Pretzels to give out at our house.  Printed right on the bag are the words "manufactured in a peanut and tree-nut free facility."  That makes me happy.  That and the fact that there are minimal ingredients, and it was just $3.99 a bag for 35 individual bags of bat and pumpkin shaped pretzels.  Here's a link to Utz's nut allergy information.

They have a very lengthy statement about using GMO ingredients and have several products that are GMO-free.  Unfortunately, the pretzels were not on that list. As I was searching their website for information for this post, I read this statement, "A vast amount of food biotechnology information has been carefully evaluated over the last ten years and found to pose very little risk to society.  The consumer issues involved here are ideological and emotional, and not scientific."  I must admit, I took offense to that statement.  Might just put me up on my soapbox and prevent me from willingly purchasing their products again.

With kids collecting so much candy on Halloween night, I like to provide an alternative.  I'll also purchase Halloween-themed pencils, erasers or other treats and hand those out as well.  There are a ton of kids in our new neighborhood.  I have a feeling I need to be well-stocked.

Changes at Duke

I must admit, I'm anxious. Dr. Burks has accepted the position of Chair of UNC Department of Pediatrics, Physician-in-Chief of N.C. Children's Hospital and is leaving Duke University Hospital.

We received an e-mail from our doctor in charge of the Peanut Sublingual Clinical Trial assuring us that, for the time being, it was business as usual. We can expect to see changes. The trials are to move to UNC sometime next spring. So, yes, I'm anxious.

Abigail's next appointment is in January for blood work. I assume we'll drive to Durham. Her big food challenge to see if she can tolerate up to 15 peanuts is scheduled for June. That should take place in Chapel Hill. I don't mind the change in location, I just want re-assurance that there are no changes planned for the studies.

Here is the article announcing his new position.

Moved!

Yeah! We're in! Not settled, but in! Can't find a thing. Boxes are everywhere, but we are moved!