Safety Tips for Handling Your Child's Halloween Candy Haul In

LongIsland.com

This Friday is Halloween which means it's time for lots and lots of candy! Keep your kids safe with these Halloween candy safety tips.

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We are in the last week of October which means we are well in the midst of Halloween season! All of the local Long Island haunted houses, corn mazes, and spook walks are currently going into operational overdrive and this Friday night marks the big night itself, All Hallows’ Eve. All Hallows’ Eve, the one night of the year you get to dress up in creative and creepy costumes, go trick-or-treating door-to-door and come home with a huge haul of Halloween candy!

This year, before the kids take to the streets for various tricks and treats, make sure you set up some ground rules for candy safety. Although over the years there have been few reports of candy tampering, most experts still recommend that parents check their kid’s Halloween candy before letting them eat it. Create a policy with your children where they cannot eat the candy until they’ve brought home for you to inspection. For children who suffer from different allergies, like peanut allergies, be sure to take out any and all candy that might contain peanuts. It’s also important, for younger children, to take out any candy that may become a choking hazard, such as gum and hard candies.

With that being said, here are some simple steps & tips for checking your 2014 Halloween candy rake-in:

  • Check wrappers for any weird discoloration or unusual appearance features
  • Look out for tiny pinholes or tears in the wrappers
  • Toss any and all unwrapped items into the trash
  • Discard home baked goods
  • Discard food items packaged and secured with twist ties
  • If you’re ever in doubt, just throw it out - the kids are going to have tons of candy leftover to pick from, throwing out a few questionable pieces won’t hurt

Another good tip, more for warding off future tummy aches than actual Halloween candy safety, is to apportion all of the collected candies and treats for the next few days, or weeks depending on how big the rake-in was. This will not only make the candy stash last longer, it will lessen the chances of any future sugar crashes.

Photo by Tomas Fritz via Free Images