As the Halloween festivities commence, and the autumn harvest brings nutritious fruits and veggies for this fall season, parents need to be on alert for the Halloween treats that aren’t so healthy.
More often than not, kids’ trick-or-treat bags are filled with spooky-sweets that aren’t just bad for their teeth, but high in scary-sugars. However, not all sweet treats are created equal, and with the right information you can make the best choices on which candies you want to give your children.
Here is the best and worst Halloween candy for your kids.
1. Worst: Fun Size Candy Bars
Every parent’s worst nightmare, every child’s delight. Fun size candy bars don’t have anything fun about them when your child is consuming about 17g of sugar per bar. This means your child is eating almost more than half of their sugar intake for the day in one sitting.
2. Best: Alter Eco Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Bar
Organic and Fairtrade brand, Alter Eco, makes delicious mini dark chocolate bars that are a great alternative for your child’s sweet-tooth on Halloween night. While dark chocolate is good for brain and heart health, these are even better because they have 4g of fiber per serving.
3. Worst: Lollipops
One lollipop may not be so bad, but when your child is going through two or three Blow Pops and Tootsie Pops this season, it can be worrisome. Unfortunately, these childhood favorites leave a sugary-residue on your child’s enamel that’s hard to take off.
4. Best: Zollipops
Kidpreneur, Alina Morse, is the CEO and founder of Zolli Candy. This candy company has developed great sugar-free sweets like Zollipops, hard candy called Zolli Drops, and taffy called Zaffi Taffy. This is the clean-teeth pop parents love.
5. Worst: Gummy Candy
Gummy candies are ranked by many as one of the worst sweets. This is due not only to their artificial coloring and sweeteners, but the sticky-gooeyness makes way for cavities in your child’s teeth.
6. Best: YumEarth Gummy Bears
Some gummies aren’t so bad, and these are the perfect gummy alternative. YumEarth organic gummy bears are sweetened with brown rice syrup, cane sugar, and fruit juice while also being colored with the natural pigments in fruits and veggies.
7. Worst: Hard Candy
Besides being a choking hazard, hard candies are just bad for your teeth. They’re also top-sellers because of their longevity and low price. However, it’s a hard price to pay for your kids’ teeth.
8. Best: UNREAL Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
These yummy treats make you feel good about indulging in their chocolatey-goodness. Without the artificial dyes, flavors, and preservatives, these peanut butter cups are the perfect Reese’s Cup alternative.
9. Worst: Taffy
Taffy, like hard candy, is very difficult to get out of your kids’ teeth. It clings to the grooves on each tooth and allows bacteria to build-up if you don’t brush properly.
10. Best: Surf Sweets Organic Spooky Shapes
What’s better than spooky-shaped sweets? Absolutely nothing. These tasty treats aren’t just adorable, but they’re actually good for your kids. Not only do they get a boost of Vitamin C, but you don’t have to worry about preservatives. They’re sweetened with organic fruit juice and cane sugar.
Best and Worst Halloween Candy — Sources
More Halloween Treats
The Best and Worst Halloween Candy for Kids
10 Best & Worst Candies for Children’s Teeth (PHOTOS)
The 9 Best Halloween Candies, According to a Nutritionist
