Halloween is just around the corner and one of the scariest things may be that parents are ignoring warnings about allergic reactions to food.

Even though the incidence of food allergies doubled over the last 10 years, fewer parents are heeding warnings, the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network reports.

With so many allergic kids running around, food makers slapped more warnings on goods. But, the deluge of notices apparently numbed many parents to the risk, with fewer listening to those messages than a few years ago, according to a study cited by FAAN.

"Because these warnings have become so common, consumers have begun to ignore them in the belief that they're not serious, which puts them at increased risk for a reaction," the Virginia-based group said in a news release sent out today.

The allergic-food problem is bigger than I remember in my day, when I knew maybe one kid with a food allergy. Today, 12 million U.S. citizens are allergic to food, with 90 percent allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts, wheat, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, fish or soy, according to the interest group.

Another problem is that scientists don't know why more people are having allergic reactions to food.

"One theory holds that, because children in our culture are exposed to fewer germs than our bodies are used to dealing with, the immune system, deprived of its customary full-time germ-fighting job, misidentifies certain foods as harmful," the FAAN website states.

Remember parents, read those labels before your kids eat the candy. You can also join FAAN's Trick or Treat for Food Allergy campaign, when kids collect money for research on allergies instead of mini Milky Ways.

I'm not sure how well the substitute will play at my house...