With Halloween quickly approaching, many are looking for the proper vacation deal with at hand out to trick-or-treaters. Although the temptation to give away candied apples or marshmallow squares could also be robust, Lester Schonberger, affiliate Extension specialist within the Department of Food Science and Technology at Virginia Tech, urges individuals to stick with store-bought treats to cut back food safety dangers.
“When you buy candy or treats from the store, there are multiple quality and safety checks by the company,” Schonberger mentioned. “So, they know they are producing a safe, high-quality treat. These manufacturers are also inspected to ensure they are complying with the relevant food processing regulations.”
Schonberger identified that with homemade treats, shoppers cannot know for sure what they’re getting, whether or not it was produced in a food protected surroundings, or what allergens it would comprise.
“When someone is making a homemade treat to give away, these checks don’t exist,” he mentioned. “So, eating them can be riskier than eating a treat from a regulated food manufacturer.”
This recommendation is doubly true for trick-or-treaters who cope with food allergy symptoms or sensitivities. “Treat manufacturers are held to high standards to ensure proper allergen labeling, and that measures are taken to decrease the risk of cross contact that home treat makers are not subject to,” he mentioned.
For these with dietary restrictions, receiving homemade treats for Halloween is an total scary thought.
“Ultimately, with a homemade treat the person making it could be using unsafe ingredients or handling it in a riskier way, and you wouldn’t know just by looking at it,” Schonberger mentioned. “The safest approach I can recommend is that if someone is offering a homemade treat for Halloween, you might choose to accept it to avoid an awkward moment but then choose not to eat it and throw it away later. Parents can work with their children to make sure they wait until they get home to dig into the night’s loot so that they can go through the candy to make sure there isn’t anything harmful.”
Although the quantity of dangers that Halloween can include could appear scary, Schonberger mentioned that mother and father can preserve dangers to a minimal with the next sources through the spooky season:
About Schonberger
Lester Schonberger is an affiliate extension specialist in Virginia Tech’s Department of Food Science and Technology. His analysis and extension work focuses on food safety because it pertains to all individuals accessing protected, high quality, and culturally acceptable food.
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