‘It's all mine!' Girl who's lived with food allergies can now eat Halloween candy

For most kids, the best part of Halloween is the candy haul. For 9-year-old Maddie of Stoneham, Massachusetts, it has always been the part she had to hand back.

Maddie has lived with severe food allergies most of her life. Her family first learned of them when she ate peanut butter and her face swelled as she struggled to breathe.

She was allergic to pineapple, almonds, eggs and milk, which ruled out nearly everything in a trick-or-treat bag.

“I was like, ‘Trick or treat!’ and it was like all stuff I was allergic to,” Maddie said.

“Since she was 1 year old, we’ve been walking around with anxiety, just this constant anxiety,” said her mother, Gretchen Webber.

This Halloween, that changes.

For the first time, Maddie can eat candy made with dairy and eggs.

“If someone offers it to me again, I don’t have to be like, ‘So I can’t eat that, because I have food allergies,'” she said.

For nearly a year, Maddie has worked with Amy Rose, a board-certified nutrition and health coach and CEO of Allergy Release Technique (ART), a holistic program Rose created to treat food allergies.

“She has a bucket that’s overflowing — it’s her immune system, first and foremost,” Rose said. “We spend time really emptying that overflowing bucket, and really teaching her immune system how to reset and rebound.”

The program uses weekly half-hour appointments. Rose said it focuses first on gut health, using a probiotic, then on calming the fear of a reaction with tools based on emotional freedom technique.

Foods are then reintroduced slowly and in stages. Maddie described the early steps: A tiny piece of food on her lip one week, then swallowing that small piece the next.

It took six to eight months to build up to dairy and eggs. Now, Maddie eats both without restriction.

“This year, she can eat Hershey Kisses and KitKats, and I think she was excited to eat Twix,” Rose said.

Tree nuts are still off the list. Rose said Maddie is working on sesame next and could be eating peanut butter cups by next Halloween.

For Maddie’s parents, the change is already clear.

“We’ve enjoyed all our Halloweens, but to not have that anxiety, and to not have her be held back in the way she’s had to be before, it’s just really wonderful,” Gretchen explained.

A year ago, Halloween night meant sorting the candy pile for what was safe. This year, Maddie has a simpler plan for her bag.

“It’s all mine!” she said.

Rose said the program serves people of all ages, from toddlers to adults. More information is available at allergyart.com.