Halloween Candy Nutrition Face-Off: How Do Your Favorites Measure Up?

You and your kids are decked out in Halloween gear. You've done the requisite door-to-door trip around the neighborhood and yelled "Trick-or-Treat" more times than anyone wants to count. Exhilarated (or maybe just exhausted), you and your troops go home and sort through the spoils, aka CANDY -- lots of it.

Around Halloween, Americans buy about 600 million pounds of candy, which means that children could be on a perpetual sugar high straight through New Year's. And, while none of us are under the delusion that this stuff is good for our kids, does anyone have a clue as to how the candies stack up against each other, nutritionally speaking?

If there is even a slight chance that a sort-of-good-for-you treat is available, we wanted to find it. So we conducted some hard-hitting research that involved 8 bags of different types of candy, plus pretzels, popcorn and other salty snacks. (And no, we were not at all motivated by the possibility of eating our research afterward. Nuh-uh.)

You may not be shocked to hear that junk food still turns out to be ... junk. But, take the quiz below and you just may be surprised at what came out on top in our competition. And, don't forget to tell us what you'll be handing out to trick-or-treaters this Halloween.

Halloween Candy Face-Off: Which Treat Is Best?

Let's see how you do on the next question.

To get the highest score, get all the answers right in the fastest time!
The clock will start as soon as you submit your first answer.

 

0:00

Question 1 of 10

Which has more calories: 1 Reese's or 1 Peanut Chew?

Reese's (15g)

Peanut Chew (12g)

High Scores

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Comments

[kateg5tg]

11:00 AM on 10/31/2011

Michelle is behind this article. ;)

[boogie albert 56]

10:28 PM on 10/29/2011

Who gives a flying F###. Halloween is Halloween. Quit taking the fun out of it.

[Chirper Lady]

07:29 PM on 10/29/2011

Secret? A parent is always on there nutrition. So why not give the kids a vacation for a day or two...until their attention span forgets... and let them eat cake?

As parents we make up for it anyway! (We have had more than 6 lbs worth of candy left from Halloween around Christmastime) Try it. I bet you will find it works for you as well.

[Sixgun Blazing]

06:25 PM on 10/29/2011

Who cares. Candy is candy. As a parent, I pick out some of the best candy bars and some of the other goodies and tell my child that I have to taste test these items to make sure they'll be alright for you. Lol...it's not cruel...it's just a dad thing.

[fpwillson]

08:06 PM on 10/29/2011

Funny and a good solution.

[thetruckerking]

06:16 PM on 10/29/2011

"Halloween Candy Nutrition Face-Off". Exscue me for a sec, I have to pick the skull fragments up off the floor since my head just exploded. This is like the third article I've seen today on the nutritional value of candy. Has everyone lost their flippin' minds? It's one day a year! Quit worrying about it and give it a rest before I have some other body part explode. If the nutrition of Halloween candy is at the top of your list of parental concerns, your kid stands no chance of making it in society anyway. Just send junior out to play in traffic and get back to having way too much time on your hands.

[Chirper Lady]

07:33 PM on 10/29/2011

Heavy. Litterally. Maybe that's what they mean...(pic and all) but I have to agree.... as a new parent I was all about the raisins. Then I realized if you walk them around enough they are too tired to eat more than 5 pieces (after searching for favs) and then they pass out.

After school, activities, and life, they forget about the candy so WHY NOT?

It's like a vacation paradise for kids. Who really wants to keep their kids from paradise?

[garyms4]

05:45 PM on 10/29/2011

Don't vote Democrat!

[fpwillson]

02:34 PM on 10/29/2011

Who cares? Kids and adults eat candy because they like the way it tastes. Not for it nutritional value. This whole article is silly

[loisdiamond2]

02:30 PM on 10/29/2011

Don't give out candy. I pass out bags of popcorn ! More healthy!!

[fpwillson]

02:37 PM on 10/29/2011

Right. The kids eat a few pieces and find that it has no salt or butter on it so they stash it behind Mrs. Jones' hedge. What did you accomplish besides urinating-off Mr Jones?

[Sixgun Blazing]

06:28 PM on 10/29/2011

Haha.....How true is that. The neighborhood birds gotta eat too I guess.

[boogie albert 56]

10:34 PM on 10/29/2011

El Cheapo

[anilimili]

02:20 PM on 10/29/2011

There's nothing wrong about eating candy, as long as it is in moderation. Kids can have a piece of candy a day without it being a problematic thing. You can also encourage your kids to donate some of their candy to the needy--homeless shelters, nursing homes, soup-kitchens. They can enjoy their candy while also learning to be compassionate and share with the less fortunate.

[pattinanas]

02:02 PM on 10/29/2011

I am 55 years old. My 3 brothers and I would each grab a pillowcase or paper grocery bag and take off (sans parents) on a hour or more hike around our neighborhood. The goal every year was to "do" all 3 streets in our little neck of the woods. The evening would invariably include extra trips home to dump our loot because it was getting heavy and then head out again. When we were done, hoe we would go to dump the rest of our "take" onto newspapers that our mom had laid out on the floor, one for each of us. The fun part.....sorting through all the candy we raked in and then trading back and forth between the four of us giving away those we didn't like and getting more of favorites. Apples, homemade treats and the like were confiscated and disposed of for fear of tampering: razor blades, poison, etc.

Halloween was a fun time for kids. After all, when else were we given carte blanche to knock on people's doors and simply yell "trick or treat" to have them give you candy. What could be better? In those days kids weren't couch potatoes like they are now. Calorie counting and nutritional value concerns were unheard of. For crying out loud people.......IT'S CANDY!!!

[loisdiamond2]

02:34 PM on 10/29/2011

I hate it when older kids come over and greedily hoard all the candy for themelves in pillow cases !

[bmitche]

03:55 PM on 10/29/2011

Those were the days !!

[bmitche]

01:18 PM on 10/29/2011

There is no healthy candy. Just let the kids enjoy Halloween ! Most people at candy on Halloween and are OK.

[msd7733]

12:21 PM on 10/29/2011

I know the dentist love this time of year they can pay off that second boat.

[madcityy]

11:01 AM on 10/29/2011

have fun,, forget other issues for one week of the yr.................dont be so baby like

[Mrs RAC]

10:41 AM on 10/29/2011

OMG...it's CANDY. Who looks for anything 'nutritional' in freaking Halloween candy?

[bmitche]

01:14 PM on 10/29/2011

THANKS.