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5 Worst Halloween Candies
Candy Bars to Avoid
My kids remind me every day that Halloween is fast approaching. They’re excited about dressing up and trick-or-treating, but, of course, they’re mostly excited about an excuse to eat candy.
I love candy too. And I’m certainly not about to suggest that they read the nutrition labels before they eat candy. But it couldn’t hurt to take note of which candy is worse than others.
I’m not going to ban any brand of candy, but we might try to generally steer clear of the 5 Worst Halloween Candies.
So who decides which candies are the worst? In this case, David Zinczenko, the “Eat This, Not That” guy from Men’s Health. Here’s his list…
5 Worst Halloween Candies
1. Worst “Fun Size” Candy Bar: Butterfinger Bar – As Zinczenko says, “there’s no quicker way to swallow 100 calories.”
100 calories
4 g fat (2 g saturated)
10 g sugars
2. Worst Fruity Candy: Brach’s Airheads (3 pieces) – They’re made of sugar, artificial flavors and colors, fillers, and trans fat. Yum!
140 calories
1.5 g fat (1 g saturated)
19 g sugars
3. Worst Miniature Candy Bars: Twix Miniatures (3 pieces) – Just one of these candies has 10% of the saturated fat recommended for an entire day
150 calories
8 g fat (6 g saturated)
15 g sugars
4. Worst Chewy Candy: Brach’s Milk Maid Caramels (4 pieces) – It’s mostly saturated fat and they’re impossible to get out of your teeth!
160 calories
4.5 g fat (3.5 g saturated)
16 g sugars
5. Worst Novelty Candy: Reese’s Pumpkin – Has nearly 2/3 more calories than a standard Reese’s peanut butter cup. So stick to the classic!
170 calories
10 g fat (3 g saturated)
16 g sugars
I recently wrote about 5 Tips for a Green Halloween and a commenter asked, “Can’t we just have fun?” My response? Is fun all about buying a store bought costume? You can have fun AND be conscious of the environment.
If the same question was posed in response to this post, I’d say that you can have fun AND be conscious of what you’re putting in your body.
What candy do you love the most and which one will you avoid? Me? I love Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, but I can’t stand Airheads.
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17 Comments
[...] Babble (blog) [...]
5 Worst Halloween Candies – Babble (blog) commented on Oct 13 10 at 2:17 pmbaconsmom commented on Oct 13 10 at 11:18 amOh, please. IT’S CANDY. None of it is good for you. I’m with that commenter from your other piece: Let us just have fun!
paulabernstein commented on Oct 13 10 at 11:41 amBaconsmom, it seems that some candy actually is better for you than others. Also, we complain about the childhood obesity epidemic and global warming and then say making an effort to change things will just put a damper on fun. Isn’t it possible to have fun and be healthy and good for the environment? And believe me, my kids and I will be indulging in candy for Halloween. I’m not a total buzz kill!
Gretchen Powers commented on Oct 13 10 at 11:57 amI think the best idea is to eat a couple pieces of whatever candy you want for one day (or on occasion) but don’t eat candy regularly. (This is for my 3-yo, maybe a bigger kid could have a little more.) These are kids, not 35 year old moms with waning metabolisms. They’ll probably run it all off if they’re let out and encouraged to play. Still, its interesting to compare. My health-conscious husband choose 3 Musketeeers on the rare occasions he has a candy bar because they are lower in fat and calories than others…
BlackOrchid commented on Oct 13 10 at 12:48 pmCandy corn. WORST CANDY EVER.
paulabernstein commented on Oct 13 10 at 12:54 pmLuckily, I can’t stand candy corn. Does anyone like it? Also, I favor dark chocolate, which is good for you, right? Plus, at least Reese’s Peanut Butter cups have protein in them!
Marilyn commented on Oct 13 10 at 12:58 pmThis Halloween, we’ve decided to hand out small Snyder’s pretzel bags. They’re 1/2 oz, have no fat, no cholesterol, 50 calories and are healthier than the usual chocolate which the kids will get enough of. Actually, my personal favorite is the small Dove dark chocolate wrapped in the red foil. (I allow myself two a day – they say dark chocolate is good for you.) I also love the sayings that are inside the wrappers.
JEssica commented on Oct 13 10 at 1:00 pmI want those pumpkin shaped peanut butter cups!
Clairewear commented on Oct 13 10 at 1:26 pmComments I Love candy corn, but your right I think I’m the only person in Brooklyn who does.
PlumbLucky commented on Oct 13 10 at 1:38 pmWe’re going to hope that my husby does NOT get wind of the pumpkins…because they’ll be all over the house. I don’t keep Reese’s in my house because though I know how crummy it is for me…no willpower for them. They’re too good!
Treespeed commented on Oct 13 10 at 2:02 pmI love how for some folks this is a candies to avoid article, and for others it’s “pumpkin shaped reeses, what a great idea!”
jenny tries too hard commented on Oct 13 10 at 2:09 pmWhen it comes to the kids, the only candy I really try to keep away is the sticky kind, things like Airheads and caramels, because they really are hell on teeth. The other stuff? Pffft, they’re kids, and I dole it out a little at a time anyway. They can go a little nuts on Halloween night itself, then the rest of the candy gets put up til another S day and they lose interest after a while.
The Reese’s pumpkins are also highly addictive. It’s the same story with the Reese’s eggs at Easter. I consider myself to have done well if I don’t actually purchase Reese’s holiday stuff; if it comes into my house some other way it’s pretty well understood that I cannot resist it.
Linda commented on Oct 13 10 at 4:15 pmI LOVE those Reese’s pumpkins (and their peanut buter cups, in general)! Yum!
JBoogie commented on Oct 13 10 at 7:21 pmThe Reese’s christmas trees and Double-Stuf Oreos are pretty much the only thing that got me through my third trimester (and my poor hubby). My poor son can’t help himself–a love of chocolate, peanut butter, and milk in any combination is just in his genes.
JesBelle commented on Oct 14 10 at 4:08 pmI won’t be eating half that stuff, anyway, since I’ve sworn off slave chocolate. The bub’s too young for trick-or-treating and we’ll be celebrating at Grandma’s. Hopefully, I can talk her into sharing my policy for at least that night.
Rebecca commented on Oct 17 10 at 6:04 pm“there’s no quicker way to swallow 100 calories”
Maybe. But there is no better way either. Well, except for Reese’s.
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