The teal Halloween craze has kicked off. Kids and parents across the state are posting pictures of themselves with paintbrushes and teal pumpkins across social media sites. The teal craze is an attempt to save kids with allergies across the state from falling prey to dangerous food allergies in their candy. Chocolate can be harmful if you are allergic to milk, candy bars with nuts can be dangerous if your child is allergic to nuts and soy and wheat allergies can manifest themselves this Halloween.

The Teal Pumkin Project encourages parents to place a teal painted pumpkin outside their door if they are offering non food treats. These treats include small toys, crayons and stickers.

The teal pumpkin project has reached millions of people since it was started. The Food Allergy Research & Education's initial Facebook post on the teal project reached 2.7 million people in just 72 hours. Elsewhere, posts about the teal pumpkin project have been shared an impressive 31,000 times across social media sites. The idea is being promoted for the first time on a national scale.

For the parents who are purchasing food items, the food Allergy Research & Education organization encourages them to separate their candy in terms of their ingredients. It is helpful to separate allergy-free and non allergy-free candy. The separation would help the parents not to trigger an allergic reaction to kids who have food allergies.

"Checking labels becomes very pivotal because during the holidays, including Halloween, when the manufacturers make those mini small-sized candies and they're often mass-produced on shared equipment," says Mireille Schwartz who is the founder and the CEO of the bay Area Allergy Advisory Board. Candy that may be safe during other times of the year may not be safe during Halloween.

It is also best to ensure the kids do not enjoy the Halloween treats until after they have been inspected by their parents.