What Dietitians Say About Halloween Candy

How do you know which candies will cause the least damage to your little ghouls and goblins this Halloween?

Not all candies are created equal when it comes to nutrition, according to dietitian Gloria Tsang. She says that choosing the right candy can reduce the health impact of your kid's trick-or-treat haul. 

"With big differences in calories, sugar, and quality of ingredients used, it's just not true that all Halloween candy is the same," says Tsang,  "None of them are exactly good for you, but we've done some close analysis of common competitors to see which options are best from a nutrition perspective."

Tsang is the founder of  HealthCastle.com, a website offering nutritional advice from registered dietitians.

The website did a nutritional breakdown of popular candy that might wind up in your kids' Halloween stash-

• PayDay beats Reese Peanut Butter Cups: Reese Cups contain polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR), a commercial emulsifier used to reduce cocoa butter. Plus, PayDay is the only candy to list peanuts, not sugar, as the first ingredient.   

• Kit Kat beats Twix: They're similar in calories and sugar (and both include PGPR), but Twix’s ingredient list is surprisingly long. Even more surprising? Twix is marketed as a biscuit topped with caramel and chocolate, but there’s no caramel on the ingredient list.

• M&Ms beat Skittles: Both contestants in this classic Halloween showdown contain artificial colorings and wax. M&Ms at least offer a tiny amount of calcium and protein, and less sugar. 

• Baby Ruth beats Snickers: There's no real winner here – Snickers has partially hydrogenated oil, and Baby Ruth has high-fructose corn syrup and the preservative TBHQ. Snickers loses out simply because the portion is larger, leaving room for more calories. 

• Mounds beats Almond Joy: Mounds has a shorter ingredient list, and skips the partially hydrogenated oil found in Almond Joy. 

• 3 Musketeers beats Hershey Milk Chocolate: The Hershey bar has that sneaky PGPR, while 3 Musketeers was unique among the candies surveyed in actually including real cocoa powder.

• Whoppers beat Milk Duds: Milk Duds will stick to your (or your kid's) teeth, so they're a no-no for anyone with dental issues. Plus, the smaller Whoppers serving saves some calories. 

Tsang says that you can't control what candy winds up in your kids' Trick or Treat bag, but she does suggest only allowing kids to eat a few small pieces of candy at a time.