By Dana Yarn, RD LD
What are some healthy snack alternatives to Halloween candy? Halloween candy is typically processed full of dye, high fructose corn syrup and excessive amounts of sugar and other harmful preservatives. If you want to still give out candy go for the higher quality brands that are sweetened without high fructose corn syrup like….
- Newman’s Own chocolate- organic chocolate with no additives or high fructose corn syrup
- Annie’s Organic fruit snacks ( Vegan; gelatin free, fat free; and naturally gluten free “No additives or preservatives, Certified organic; made with real fruit juice, Four delicious, all natural flavors in every pouch: Berry Patch, Sunny Citrus, Tropical Treat, Summer Strawberry
- Pirate Booty (these gluten free cheese puffs are a great alternative to candy and come in individual servings perfect for handing out on Halloween)
- Planters nut and seed trail mix – rich in healthy fats, and reduced in sugar
- Earth Balls Fair trade milk chocolate – Great tasting fair trade chocolate balls that are wrapped in paper that looks like the earth.
- Pure Fun Fruit Rocks (These delicious hard candies are made with organic ingredients and real fruit juice, and come in unique flavors such as Goji Berry, Pomegranate and Green Apple.)
- Yummy Earth Organic Lolly Pops – (Yummy Earth lollipops are USDA certified-organic, contain no artificial colors or corn syrup and are available in 20 flavors such as Pomegranate Pucker, TooBerry Blueberry and Strawberry Smash.)
- Endangered Species Bug Bites – (These bite-size squares of organic milk chocolate come with insect trading card from Endangered Species Chocolate, which not only sells organic and Fair Trade treats, but also donates 10% of profits to wildlife conservation)
- Betty Lou’s Organic Golden Smackers. (Betty Lou’s makes super-satisfying nut butter balls, and their Golden Smackers- organic chocolate peanut butter patties)
- Equal Exchange Mini chocolates – If you’re expecting to give out a lot of candy this year, these organic chocolates could be the right choice. Made with high-quality ingredients from farmers’ cooperatives in South America.
These companies typically have Halloween candy available during the season. The bottom line is sugar is sugar and both children and adults should not consume excessive amounts of sugar at all, even the alternative healthy brands should still only be consumed in moderation.