Dr. Ruchi Gupta: Allergy-safe Halloween

October 28, 2025

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Dra. Ruchi Gupta: Un Halloween seguro para los niños con alergias

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Some of the most popular Halloween candies include common allergens, such as peanuts, tree nuts, milk, soy, or eggs. How can caregivers keep children with allergies safe? On October 28, 2025, SciLine interviewed Dr. Ruchi Gupta, a professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University, and the founding director of the Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research.

Declared interests: Dr. Gupta receives research support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), Sunshine Charitable Foundation, Genentech, Novartis, and Abbott Laboratories. She serves as a medical consultant/advisor for Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), Genentech, Novartis, OWYN, Kaléo, Bryn Pharma, Kenvue, ARS Pharmaceuticals, Oracle Life Sciences, and Alpina Biotechnology. Dr. Gupta has ownership interest in Yobee Care, Inc. She is currently employed by Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and is a Professor of Pediatrics & Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

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Soundbite (SOT)
VOSOT script (can be used as-is or modified)
Raw, full-length interview video & log with timecodes (upon request via form below)

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Soundbite (SOT) and pronouncer

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ANCHOR
FOR KIDS WITH FOOD ALLLERGIES, HALLOWEEN CAN FEEL LIKE MORE OF A TRICK THAN A TREAT.

VO
MANY OF THE CANDIES IN KIDS’ BUCKETS CONTAIN COMMON ALLERGENS LIKE PEANUTS, MILK, OR SOY.
DOCTOR RUCHI GUPTA (ROO-chee GUHP-tah)… A PROFESSOR AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY… HAS BEEN STUDYING ALLERGIES FOR 20 YEARS… AND HAS A DAUGHTER WITH FOOD ALLERGIES. SHE SAYS YOU CAN USE A SPECIAL PUMPKIN… TO SHOW KIDS WITH ALLERGIES… THAT YOUR TREATS ARE SAFE FOR THEM.

SOT
Duration:0:48
Super: Dr. Ruchi Gupta – Pediatrics Professor, Northwestern University:
“The Teal Pumpkin Project is an incredible initiative to help kids with food allergies be safe on Halloween. And basically there are teal pumpkins. So instead of the orange pumpkin, it’s teal, and I have one of the buckets here. So it’s a teal bucket you can go trick-or-treating with, or pass candy out with, or pass safe other treats that we’ll talk about. But the goal of this was to help kids feel safe on Halloween if they have a food allergy. And one of the big initiatives is to give away things that are fun for kids, but not necessarily food related. So things like glow sticks, bubbles, you know, stickers, other fun items that you can give away that are definitely safe for kids with food allergies.”

VO
DOCTOR GUPTA SAYS ONE IN 13 KIDS… AND ONE IN 10 ADULTS… HAS A FOOD ALLERGY. SHE SAYS NEW GUIDANCE… TO PREVENT ALLERGIES… BY GIVING BABIES SMALL AMOUNTS OF PEANUT BUTTER OR OTHER COMMON ALLERGENS… COULD TURN THE TIDE ON THE FOOD ALLERGY EPIDEMIC.

Raw, full-length interview covers:

Tips for parents of children with allergies, on how to prepare for trick-or-treating;
Effective ways to talk to children about their food allergies;
The Teal Pumpkin Project, which encourages households to offer non-food treats to provide options for trick-or-treaters with food allergies, intolerances, or other medical conditions;
Ideas on how to help children with allergies have a safe and fun Halloween, by identifying safe treats, reading labels, and using fun games;
What to do if your child may have eaten something they are allergic to;
Information about new needle-free alternative to epinephrine autoinjectors and new treatments; and
Research on the rising prevalence of food allergies in recent years.