All Trick, No Treat: Top 5 Worst Halloween Candy Choices
This Halloween, you’ll undoubtedly be bombarded with candy. At the check-out aisle, at the gas station, at the PTO meetings, at the picnic, at the pizza shop, and certainly… at your kids’ requests. Halloween and candy are knit closely together, and while you may not be able to completely escape the sugar trap that goes hand-in-hand with the holiday, you can avoid some of the worst Halloween candy choices for both you and your family. Here are our top five scariest candy choices at the grocery store this Halloween.
It was difficult to come up with just the “top 5” list of health offenders, because so many name brand candy options are loaded with sugar, additives and artificial ingredients. But to simplify things, we chose those candies that are highest in overall sugar content and also contain trans fats—two strong factors making these candy choices a double-whammy for health destroyers.
- Skittles. These sweet-tart chewy candies have one of the highest rates of sugar content out there. Each serving contains a whopping 47 grams of sugar—that’s around 10 teaspoons of pure sugar. And they also contain partially hydrogenated oils, which give the candies their chewy, slippery feel.
- 3 Muskateers. Right behind Skittles in high sugar content, 3 Muskateers clock in at 40 grams of sugar, around 8 teaspoons worth. Like most other Mars brand chocolates, these candy bars contain trans fats.
- Starburst. These individually-wrapped, fruity candies are loaded in both sugar and trans fats (sadly, making them quite delicious). A serving runs 33 grams of sugar, or about 7 teaspoons.
- Milky Way. Another Mars candy bar, Milky Way has 35 grams of sugar, about 7 teaspoons, and contains trans fats.
- REESE’S Fast Break. At 30 grams of sugar per serving (or about 6 teaspoons), and containing trans fats, you might do better to have a bit of pure milk or dark chocolate over this overly-processed chocolate snack.
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