October 30, 2006
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Halloween and Candy
I was reading a website that expressed some advice for Halloween. Here is the link: http://www.wikihow.com/Give-Healthy-Treats-for-Halloween
In the article, suggestions were given on “healthier alternatives” to candy.
Some of the suggestions were
# 1 Individual packages of fruit or applesause
# 2 Little packets of organic raisins
# 3 Granola bars
# 4 Low-sugar, trans fat-free cookies
# 5 Cheese sticks
# 6 Small apples
I think any of these “treats” leaves the child feeling bitter. It also angers the parents who usually gets a 10% cut of each child’s candy.
Sugary Candy or Healthy treats?
Comments (184)
CANDY. yum.
Both!
candy!!! it’s halloween
I also think it’s humorus when the list of Haloween Trick-or-Treat tips say something like, “And don’t eat any of your candy before you throughlly inspect it. Whatever that means.
Apples are for chumps!
With treats like those, the holiday might disappear, what with the dangers of walking the streets disguised, and all. I say keep the candy flowing – work on Thanksgiving meals instead
Candy. I mean, yes..we live in a country full of obesity, but it’s only once a year.. Would I want a cheese stick over a Milky Way? Probably not.
CANDY CANDY CANDY! We should be eating those healthy treats daily. Halloween is for fun and frolic. Screw the healthy crap. CANDY!!!!
CAndy is good. Jesus christ. Why would you do otherwise?
And to the guy above wondering why they say that, its because people suposedly put needles and sharp objects in candy. atleast thats what they told me when i was a kid.
I think I am taking a holiday from Xanga until your stupid Halloween holiday is over. Someone sent me an enormous e-mail today of dogs and cats in Halloween outfits which took abouth twenty minutes to download. Bah Humbug!
sugar. Leave the applesauce nazis for another day…
candy def. the healthiness should be an everyday thing in the kids home lol
a 10% cut? Just a 10% cut? LOL… I think fruit-filled granola bars or fruit roll-ups are okay, but the rest seems a bit over-the-top… Apples? I always throw away the apples just because I grew up that if it wasn’t packaged and sealed, you just don’t know what might be in it. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, y’know… Do they still x-ray kids’ treats? We don’t even do the trick-or-treat thing.
if people do both it evens out nicely… the healthier alternatives cost more though
and I don’t know what planet you live on, but my parents used to tax at least 25% of my Halloween candy
Jelly beans. See, you get the sugar but flavors like pear and strawberry make you feel like you’re eating healthy
You missed the biggest problem. How many parents are going to let their kids eat an apple that was handed to them by a random stranger on Halloween? I think most of those healthy treats are a good idea but unless you only let your child trick-or-treat people that you know well, most of them would be too risky to let junior consume.
Then again, you probably shouldn’t let your children trick-or-treat people that you *don’t* know well… but many do.
it’s halloween…give kids and adults a break.
everybody needs candy once in a while.
i love candy, and halloween is pretty much the only time i eat it (poor college student the rest of the year)
so keep the CANDY!!
Why not some of both? Then the little kids can have the healthy treats and grow up to be happy, healthy people, and the parents can have the sugary stuff because it’s too late for them anyway.
As a kid it would have pissed me off something horrible! Keep the healthy shit to yourself people, kids want candy!
Candy!!!!
Halloween is a once a year thing. I say candy.
Give me health food for Halloween and I’ll give you eggs, toilet paper, and the burning bag or crap.
Just give out the money you would’ve spent on the candy or health foods.
CANDY!!!
my parents used to inspect my candy before i could eat it. like who has so dull of a life that they feel the need to poison some kid’s candy. i mean, how stupid can people be!
A good way to be the target of eggs latter in the night.
Nuf said
Sugar! It’s only once a year and you can always limit the amount kids eat. No fun to ruin Halloween with organic applesauce!
for halloween… candy!!!!
neither. i’m going out to dinner with my hub when the little candy terrorists come around.
healthy stuff for other days, you gotta splurge sometime!
I knew someone who used to handout porn magazines for Halloween.
I don’t like Halloween. Shut the door in their pathetic waif faces.
Or don’t open it in the first place.
toys
Candy! (preferably chocolate!!! – and not that cheap stuff, either! It should be brand name chocolate)
This is one day a year! Let them enjoy a treat for a change!
Give your children healthier snacks on a daily basis and one week of candy overload isn’t going to hurt them!
Sugary!
Those treats suck.
Kids wouldn’t go trick or treating for cheese stix. AND, back in the day, when I was little… I always wished for the little snack candy bars… not many people passed those out. If I got a little box of raisons… ewwwwwwwww…. personally, my kids don’t get to go ‘out’ and trick or treat….life has changed and my kids go to the structured carnival type things where they play games and have endless bowls of candy. I really don’t want them going door to door and asking strangers for candy or cheese stix…
get rid of halloween
Sugar and sugar and more sugar! What kinda sadistic bastard puts healthy treats in a kid’s loot bag? Jeez! Is nothing sacred??
gum, I like getting gum, I’ma ddicted to it.
chocolate covered fruits.
No way–granola bars are the shizz. It also helps clean you out by giving you some healthy foodz in-between all the junk. They’re doing you a FAVOR–they’re helping the candy binge last longer!!!
Candy. . .preferably chocolate.
Fuck that and the horse those people rode on…I remember when Halloween used to be THAT day…where I could dress up and be a goof and then spend that night…walking around various neighborhoods for a good 4-5 hours (I say 4-5 cause I started around 5PM)…gathering loads of candy that could last you easily till December.
Now people take their kids to the malls cause freak’n parents don’t want to be responsible. The comedian George Carlin makes a point “Touch the little prick every now and then, someday he’ll thank you for it”. Basically, spend some quality time with your kids…you brought them into this world…so either act and be responsible adults…otherwise…don’t be surprised if such-and-such appears out of the woodwork to whoop your loser ass (possible 6ft under).
sugary candy
oh god, please don’t be that token house that gives out date bars or raisins!!!
The candy’s fine…. I let my daughter pick out a few pieces she really likes. Then I keep what I really like, then I throw the rest away any way, LOL. ~Shea (Who has a no candy, junk food, suagr household anyway….though now she’s pregnant will most likely be keeping more of it reserve for latenight cravings, LOL)
How about some Cheetos? mmmmmm
i like getting fruit snacks for halloween, but i don’t think you’re supposed to give apples unless they’re wrapped up, otherwise people will think there are razor blades in them.
I hate getting floss from dentists.
The best is getting money from jehovah’s witnesses. One guy was handign out dollar bills, that was cool, i stopped by there a bunch.
plus healthy treats seem to cost more money…
(target fruit snacks are super good)
Candy…plus it’s cheaper.
dude, unless you want to get your house egged later in the night, you better give out real candy . . . good stuff, with chocolate. not those nassy bit-o-honeys!
Candy
Dude, if I get an apple, I’m either kicking the person in the nads, or egging the house.
Believe me, the “healthy” set is so overshadowed by the candy that both are fine!
Candy, man… It’s the only time of year where the little hellions should be ENCOURAGED to get hyped up on sugar (which apparently, doesn’t even actually hype you up…) and annoy the crap out of their parents before falling into a sugar-enduced coma for 8 hours…haha. Candy is awesome.
Sugar candy, then the parents can deal with what the kid eats the other 364 days of the year.
Raisins? No thank you. Granola bars have as much sugar as a candy bar anyway.
cause organic rasins are so much healthier than regular ones.
and applesauce is just depressing. it looks like slop. poor kids.
I think that if all we get is healthy treats, then there is no reason to run arround all over creation with the kids trying to work all that sugar out of them before telling them to go to bed!
SUGAR!!!!
Most children will still get more candy than their little bodies will ever need. I like the idea of going for healthier alternatives. I would not be surprised at all if a lot of our “ADHD” problems stem more from too much sugar and food dye in kids’ diets.
You know what the problem with America is?
Shit like this.
Halloween has been about candy for decades.
They are trying to solve the obesity epidemic….well here I’ll do it for them…moderation, idiots.
There is nothing wrong with candy as long as you dont let the kid eat it all at once.
My Halloween candy used to last me until April at the very least.
Good God.
That is all
Go for the good stuff! Put out the Cheese and Apples. If I had a kid and he got that stuff, I’d be more than happy to take my 10% cut.
Lock your doors and turn out the lights – let the little buggers fend for themselves. Next thing you know, some little old lady will get sued because she made the neighobr kid fat by giving him an extra milky way on Halloween.
I am an organic tree hugging, granola eating fruitcake but Halloween is one time a year.
Most kids would pitch them and not think twice.
yea. candy. the occasional fruitsnack is good. but…….ahh! i need my gummy worms and milky ways, ya know?
Once a year, let’s have some candy!
More sugar for the little cretins
Candy
I’ve never been trick or treating myself, but I always got a cut from my friends, and we all hated the people that gave out crackers or fruit. Yuck 
A lot of Sugary Candy
I agree with most. The whole excitement about the night is getting candy and eating candy until your belly hurts! If you give kids fruit and health bars….you will wake up the next morning with eggs all over your house and t.p all over your trees!!
yeah, candy.
LOL! CANDY FOR SURE!!! MY SON BANKS AT HALLOWEEN & I DO “SHARE” WITH HIM!
Oh people are so odd. If kids wanted health food they wouldn’t go Trick-or-treating.
Candy. Candy on Halloween is part of childhood. (And for the parents who sneak the kids’ candy. I DO try to only take the things she doesn’t like very much.)
my parents always threw that stuff away. back then there was a huge thing about dealers putting drugs in the food. not sure if that’s still a big thing now.
sugar candy!
its Haloween and thats what its about u cant change it
on a regular basis yeah parents should add healthier treats but haloween NO
if someone ever gave me an apple for halloween i think i would have slapped a bitch
candy!!
man.. give the kids a break. : )
-g
Candy.
I usually got sick of my candy after a day or two anyways. And it only happens once a year.
Uuuuuugh…. Who would serve that crap? Organic raisins?! Where is the justice! Candy all the way.
I vote for CANDY. Halloween comes one day out of 365 days a year. I say let the food police eat the low sugar cardboard tasting stuff. I am going to give out Smarties for Halloween. Pure sugar. LOL
i wouldn’t mind getting those healthy treats.. but I’d also want candy too.
candy all the way
what kind of person gives out tasteless health food? that’s sad
Candy.
Oh please, Halloween is all about the candy! Although my friend handed out juice boxes; and that’s kind of a nice alternative, especially after all the hiking around to different houses.
I say load ‘em up! If a parent doesn’t want their child having tons of candy, maybe they out to consider skipping trick-or-treating and take a trip down to the natural food store instead. Otherwise, CANDY PLEASE!!
I understand that..I think that healty candy is better anyway for teh children…They might not like it, but it is wiser…thanks for the message, i sent one back to you…
Donna
I don’t mind either, actually. I’ve never had a problem with healthy snacks. But I still think it’s okay for kids to get tons of sugar candy on Halloween. I know if I went trick or treating, I’d want at least *some* sugar. So go ahead give them candy. It’s just once a year.
Anything’s better than getting a dad gone pencil. I always hated getting pencils.
Giving out that shit is a great way to get your house TP’d. Or maybe apple’d. Or even arrow’d.
I say candy, but I enjoyed some of the alternatives as well. My mom never let us eat the apples because people may have used syringes to inject them with wierd stuff.
I will say candy because I go trick or treating with my kids every year and YEAH I can honestly say I love it ‘cuz for one thing? I get candy too! Serious on the healthy foods? Maybe a mixture in your ‘treat’ bucket and the kids will pick for themselves. I know mine will pick CANDY! Ha.
GIVE ME SUGAR!!!
Sugary stuff. We always had to throw away apples anyway. Someone could have injected them or something (or so we were told back then). I remember one Halloween my mom handed out raisins and peanuts (in the days before everyone was allergic). I was so embarrassed.
Halloween is only once a year. Kids don’t want to go to all that trouble to get healthy stuff. Mind you, lots of kids today probably just get stuff (candy) they already eat on a daily basis, so I don’t see what’s so appealing.
Cheese sticks?
Junk foods with no redeeming nutritional value whatsoever is what Halloween is all about.
Healthy foods, that’s as bad as giving out pencils for trick or treat. It’s treat god damnit. Health is not treat. Eat healthy the rest of the year
Candy
Sugary candy. Fork it over! We need chocolate!
-Guru on the Hill
Sugary Candy = a non-egged and tp’d house.
Treats, because It’s Halloween. I’d be pissed if I came home and saw that my kid got heathly apples ETC because that’s no Halloween!
Sweet… unless I have the choice for cheese sticks at every house X3
candy…healthy food is…not tasty.
candy! if someone tried to give the kids in my area healthy snacks for hallowe’en they would get their ‘windees tanned’ (for all those non scottish people- broken/smashed windows).
Candy
i’ve got enough candy for for 730 kids – if I give out only one candy each and I don’t eat any…
haha
*hugs*
Sugar candy of course.
Healthy treats, raisins are not good. Too much sugar and bad for teeth.
we give out candy AND raisins, granola etc. in the same basket, and let people choose for themselves.
Sugary candy…. STARBURSTS FTW!!!!
Candy! If the kids’ parents don’t want them eating candy, they can be the bad guy and take it away. Don’t give lame snacks to everyone!
Candy.
P.S. You misspelled “applesauce.”
Healthy treats.
# 3,4, and 5 are yummy. Granola bars are like cookies to me, so I try not to buy them.
My mom gave out friggin’ pennies. O_O I asked her who the hell gives out pennies for Halloween and she said lots of people. I never found a single penny in my trick or treat bag in the 12 years I went Trick or Treating and, if I had, I would have been pissed. I was the one left handing out the stupid pennies and one kid gave me the evil eye when he I put pennies in his bag. Kids don’t want healthy crap on Halloween and most likely they won’t even eat it. So you’re wasting your money and time. But what is worse, getting pennies or getting an apple? I’d say pennies…
SUGAR CANDY! I wouldn’t eat fruit or whatever anyway…could be poisoned. Only eat it if it’s securly wraped, kids!
CANDY!
Fuck the healthy shit. It’s Hallowe’en, for crying out loud. Respect the candy, and fuck the paranoid media.
Both! Give little granola bars AND a piece of chocolate…but if you can only afford one, go for the candy, man!
Candy! Let your kids be kids once a year.
sugary candies baby! why would you torture the poor kids by giving them candy that they will not like eating and taking away from their halloween experience!?!?!?
Sugary Candy
i live on the 4th floor of a dorm house with no elevator; my friend lives on the second floor. we were the only ones handing out treats in our house, so we combined efforts and used her second floor suite. (our school celebrated on sunday since tuesday is a school night and we have classes/chapel until late)
she had candy to give out, and i had hallowe’en rings (with spiders or witches or pumpkins or ghosts on them) and whistles (with spiders or witches or pumpkins or ghosts). each child got some candy and a choice of a ring or a whistle. the whistles were the favs of the 7-9 year old set (although the parents might kill us)… that way the kids didn’t get just sugar but something they could keep if they wanted to…
i think i’ll do toys again next year….
oh, and as a child i would have prefered the toys since i had braces from the age of 7 to 14, and most of the candy i couldn’t eat and none of the gum. we were forbidden apples because there were a rash of razor blade sabotages…
really, my son would pick the rasins or applesause over any candy, except maybe chocolate… I think a nice mix or good for you snacks and candy is great…
thou I’m one of those tree-hugging libberal dirty filthy hippie… I recycle and eat organic foods… so what do I know
(my 5 year old son has only been sick once in his life and YES he does eat candy in moderation, it’s all about moderation!!!)
ttfn
Give ‘em the damn candy. Tell them it has to last until next Halloween, then when they bitch about having no more candy, give ‘em an apple.
It’s Halloween, what child is gonna wanna eat some lame low fat granola bar?
Candy…it just wouldn’t be the same. I grew up tricker treating for candy… (before I knew the obesity rate of America) but the point is that it just takes away from the fun of tricker treating if you can all this health food. Its only one time a year so just give out the candy
Cheese sticks?
Posted 10/30/2006 at 11:25 AM by TheWhale
hahaha
Candy. One time of the year… gosh.
Halloween is only once a year. Give ‘em candy. Or, ideally, you could give both.
um for halloween…candy.
parents can monitor the amount of candy the kid actually eats. their out looking for candy…give them candy
although if you don’t anyone to come to your door next year you could give them the healthy alternatives
Sugary Candy, but only in small sizes (usually called “bite” or “fun” size).
Numbers 2, 4, and 5 don’t seem all that bad, though.
Candy, duh. thats the whole point of halloween, free mass amounts of sugar.
Eh…that’s hard. I’m afraid of refined sugars….but they taste so good!
Kashi Bars and small apples for my trick or treaters that come to our home.
Candy for us when we go trick or treating. However it really doesnt matter what they drop in our bags. Pencils, playdough and small cute toys are always cute, too.
Hey Dan,
Will you be adorning a costume tomorrow? Maybe for the candy?? Maybe for the kids???
If you do please take a picture of it and enter it in my COSTUME CONTEST that is on my site. Feel free to invite all of your fans and friends in Xangaland to Enter. There is plenty of time to still enter.
Answer: Always CANDY!!
fruit snacks!!!
I love fruit snacksssss =) mmmmmMmmm especially the Minute Maid ones! They come in little packages too!
What is this world coming to when we have health nuts trying to take over Halloween?
This is so utterly wrong…
Giving out health candy at Halloween because it’s better for you is like giving out coal at Christmas because it’s more practical.
duh. Candy.
candy
some of the healthy alternatives sound fine too, if you want to mix it up a little and give kids their choice
but warm or unrefrigerated cheese sticks are yucky.
sugary candy, please!
both!
HA! I’m allergic to fruit…Gimme fruit, I’ll sue you for trying to kill me lol
I’d like candy…what’s holloween without candy? Pssshhh, the only time of the year where I get FREE candy thank you very much.
So, go suck a butt.
they’re just wasting their money. kids wont eat them, and they’ll probably throw them at the person’s house.
Just give out the money you would’ve spent on the candy or health foods.
Posted 10/30/2006 at 8:20 AM by GunStarHero1988
haha i like that idea better. give me a quarter instead of an apple. then i can go buy gum.
For the sake of protecting your property, candy. And not cheap candy either. Children who expect sugary treats can be very bitter and vindictive…
CANDY U FREAKS! one day during a year tht these kiddos get to be all fueled on sugar–let ‘em be!
XOXO,
cG.
Sugar! I’d egg a house if they even thought about giving me an apple.
In this crazy world of idiots placing razors in apples noone will ever eat an apple given to them at halloween anyway. As for granola bars… they have almost as much sugar and fat as a damn candy bar does… check for yourself! Low sugar, sugar free and/or fat free cookies taste like shit! Take the applesauce and smear it on the car of the person who gave it to ya! Cheese stick? I like cheese… lol
Both sound good to me
If you gave me a granola bar on Halloween I’d kill you!
Candy. Hallowen’s not about being healthy. I think people make too much a deal of dieting and eating healthy in this country- the trick isn’t to eat low-fat, low-carb, low-wahtever food, it’s to not be a pig, I think. Eat well, but eat waht you like- jsut don’t be a glutton
candy!!
Candy cnady candy candy. Kids with healthy junk= immemorable Halloween except to be mocked for getting it. (*v*)
CANDY!
SUGAR!!!!!!!!!!
so i can’t even have halloween plans. my psycho swim coach is making me be at practice
my mom got little things of play-doh for the little ones and those snack size bags of microwave popcorn for the olders. i can’t imagine a kid not happy with that…except maybe an older with braces…but then the parents could eat it. we are big popcorn people here, so i think it’s a pretty nice alternative.
i mostly say candy, though. it’s only once a year. honestly, our house usually dumps the candy after a couple of days…or send it to dh’s school to get eaten by the staff.
First of all, who can afford to give that kind of stuff out for trick or treat? We had over 100 kids come to our house on Saturday night! Secondly, what kind of parent would let their child eat an apple they got trick or treating?? Thirdly, this is just rediculous. Trick or Treat is about sugar and begging. Not wholesome snacks.
If a kid really wanted to be healthy they’d stay home and eat some asparagus…the whole idea of trick or treating and harvest festivals and fall parties is to sack up a bunch of free chocolate, candy corn and other piles of crap that will make our bellies big and our brains happy. Bring on the snickers, and milky way and three muskateers and Mmmmmmm, all that stuff.
Why not raisinets—-the best of both?!
candy, duh! although granola bars wouldn’t be THAT bad…cookies would be just fine actually
Yeah, healthy crap like that will definitely get yout house egg-ed or toilet-papered!
Go with the candy, I say!!
Candy, definately. I’d eat the healthy stuff if I got it, but I’d much prefer something fattening. o-o
I keep fat free pretzels and a bag of Reeses/Mounds/Kit Kats by the door. In my area, you always get teenagers who walk around with a shopping bag and no costume who expect candy. Bite me. They get the fat free pretzels…the door when I’ve run out of pretzels. The little kids or the older ones who really get into it get the good stuff. And I can care less about my house being egged. It’s an apartment. Hahahaha!
they should just give out money for halloween. did you know that some hispanic countries do that? so cool.
Are you nuts???? We’ll get between 900 and 1200 kids at our door tomorrow night. I can barely afford one stinky little Jolly Rancher per kid.
Candy, it’s one night a year, jeez.
For the love of god, can we not afford one day of indulgence?
Americans, Americans, Americans. Please decide what is safe to eat and what isn’t safe after all, because meanwhile, I have to eat something.
PS. I’m giving out money for Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF.
anything pre wrapped is safer than anything not pre wrapped, healthy or not
Oh candy. For sure.
Though I would DEFINITELY prefer an apple to the candy. But not the rest.
I always gave out both. I had friends who were really strict about sugar, but I still wanted to give the children something.
Now…too many adults with a bag in their hand. No, thanks! I will make up some carmel corn for my girls and grandchildren. That is enough for me.
Sugary candy. They’ll be running around burning calories anyway.
I had a friend whose Dad was a chemist. He’d take all of their (one boy, two girls) candy and test it and give it back in a week or two. Poor kid. Bit paranoid maybe.
basically, candy seems much more natural, i think it would be suspicious seeming to get a “healthy alternative” i would wonder way more about the safety of eating it just because it would be weird
candy, of course.
Broccoli. Or candy.
The only healthy treat I’m deeming acceptable is fruitsnacks. Not the crappy kinds either. And maybe soft but not crumbly oatmeal raisin cookies. I didn’t think they existed, but my piano teacher gave me some. They were the epitome of cooky.
I would rather have the healthy treats, but “candy inspectors” would probably label it all as “dangerous”.
[Yay for Kashi granola bars!]
Screw that, I’m happy when I get granola bars. They’re good, lol.
-KrIsTiN-
You know, hub and I are both health freaks, but we send the kiddies away with all kinds of sugar garf. Really! It’s Halloween!
healthy.
Both kids ae getting too obese these days to eat too much junk food! Not all healthy choices are nasty!
SUGAAAAAR!!!!!!! ‘CAUSE THAT’S THE POINT OF BEING A KID-YOU DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT HEALTH! except for some but still
candy