Halloween candy

Do You Swipe Candy From Your Kid’s Halloween Haul?

October 30, 2016 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

ghostsswipecandy

Ah — Halloween candy! It’s pretty hard to escape because it’s everywhere – on desks, in restaurants, even in my veterinarian’s office in a nice purple bowl with a dog bone painted on the side.

Halloween week accounts for about eight percent of yearly confectionery sales and 34% of seasonal candy sales (like Christmas and Valentine’s Day). Only Easter, the next largest candy holiday, comes close.

FYI: The top five candies of all time — click here for the list of the top 50 – even though you might not agree:

M&Ms
Hershey’s Kisses
Snickers
Twizzlers
Reese’s Peanut Cups

Can’t resist – do you invade your kid’s Trick or Treat bag — what do you go for first?

Don’t feel guilty — If you’ve ever swiped candy from your kid’s trick or treat bag, you’re certainly not alone. According to the National Confectioners Association, 90% of parents confess they occasionally dip into their kid’s stash. I know I sure did.

It’s been estimated that, on average, a child in the US collects between 3,500 and 7,000 worth of candy calories on Halloween night.

Parents invade that collection big time — they eat one candy bar out of every two a child brings home. Their favorite targets are snack-sized chocolate bars (70%), candy-coated chocolate pieces (40%), caramels (37%) and gum (26%).

In Case You Want To Pick The Least Caloric Candy . . .

Here are the calories in some popular Halloween candy – just in case you might want to minimize the caloric damage (you didn’t read that wrong — candy has a big range of calories and fat grams) – and, just so you know — minis are small square candies while snack-size and fun-size are usually about 2 inches long:

25 calories or less:

3 Musketeers, Mini
Hershey’s Kiss
Smarties Candy Roll

30 – 50 calories each:

Airheads, Mini Bar
Kit Kat, Miniature
Milky Way, Mini
Peppermint Pattie, Fun size
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Miniature
Snickers, Miniature
Starburst, 2 Fun Size pieces
Twix Caramel Cookie Bars, Mini

50 to 70 calories each:

3 Musketeers, Fun Size
Hershey’s Milk Chocolate, snack size
Jolly Ranchers Lollipop
Skittles, Fun Size Bag
Sour Patch Kids, Treat Size
Swedish Fish, Treat Size
Tootsie Roll Pop

70 to 85 calories each:

Brach’s Candy Corn: 10 pieces
Butterfinger, Fun Size
Kit Kat, Fun size; 73 calories
Milky Way, Fun Size
M&Ms, Fun size bag
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, Fun size
Snickers, Fun Size
Tootsie Rolls, 3 midgee pieces

How To Pair Wine With Halloween Candy

October 26, 2016 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

How to pair wine with chocolate

Halloween candy isn’t only for kids. Neither are Halloween parties. So, if you’re an adult, why not have some wine with your candy – whether it’s the candy you bought for trick or treaters or what you snag from your kid’s collection.

There are all kinds of opinions about what wine goes well with what candy. Experts will tell you that you should consider and/or the wine’s sweetness, acidity, flavor and whether or not it’s sparkling. Since most candy is really sweet – especially the Halloween trick or treat kind –“outsweeting” the candy is tough to do!

Ultimately, your choice boils down to what you like, but here’s a synopsis of the recommendations that I’ve found – click on the links for more information about the various wine pairings.

The Pairings

Fresher, fruit forward wines are great to pair with fruity candy. Sparkling rosés go really well with gummy bears and worms and Starbursts, especially the pink and yellow ones. The strawberry and cherry notes in the wine mirror some of the red fruit flavors in the candy and the refreshing fizz helps to wash the sugar down. Other Starburst recommended pairings are light reds such as Pinot Noir, St. Laurent, Zweigelt or Gamay or sweet whites such as Reisling, Moscato, Malvasia.

Nerds go best with sparkling wines like champagne, proseco, cava, and sparkling rose.

The high acidity in Chenin Blanc off sets the sweetness in Jollyranchers.

Skittles also go well with the sweet whites or dry whites such as white table wine, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Grigio.

The sweet creaminess of the yellow, orange, and white mellow crème kernels of Candy Corn and pumpkins can pair with sweet whites, and rich whites such as Chardonnay, Marsanne, or Viognier, sparkling wines, and Port. The trick is to pick a Chardonnay or other wine that retains enough vibrant acidity to cut through the super sweet sugary candy. Or you can just keep shoving handfuls of candy corn into your mouth without allowing time to sip!

KitKat and 3 Musketeers are lighter and fluffier and pair well with sparkling wines and medium reds such as red table wine, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Merlot, and Grenache.

Try a Muscat with sugary Smarties.

Tootsie rolls will always stick to your teeth and pair well with the light reds.

Butterfingers go with the rich whites and the dessert wines such as late harvest ice wines, Sherry, Port, Tawny Port, and Ruby Port.

Twix pairs with dessert wines and with bold reds such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Monastrell, Malbec, and Syrah. The sweetness of ice wines will also likely taste delicious with the caramel, cookies, and chocolate in Twix.

The cherry undertones of Pinot Noir pair nicely with Twizzlers – you could even dunk!

Reese’s pieces, those wonderful bites of peanut butter and chocolate, can go with the light reds, bold reds, and dessert wines. Or try a cool climate California Syrah which will complement the chocolate in the peanut butter cups and with other peanut butter candy bars.

Another recommendation for nutty, chocolate candy is to pair it with wine that balances the sugar and cream from the milk chocolate and the salt from the peanuts and peanut butter. The strong acidic factors in Spanish Sherry make it a great pairing because it cuts through the fat and, depending on the aging, tends to have a nice nutty quality. German Rieslings also pair well.

The strong, sweet, creamy taste of Port pairs quite well with chocolate, caramel, and peanuts like the combo found in Snickers and with classic Caramels.

Heath Bar (one of my all time favorites) goes well with the dessert wines.

M&Ms, while they’re melting in your mouth and not in your hands, can be washed down with the bold and medium reds. Try a red Zinfandel.

For the coconut lovers, the harsh tannins in Cabernet Sauvignon pair well with the dark chocolate and coconut in Mounds.

Sour Patch Kids – maybe aptly named — don’t seem to pair well with anything except a puckering mouth, but you can try a bubbly NV Rosé.

If there are some caramel apples to bite into, the toastiness of caramel and butterscotch might pair well with Muscat or Gewürztraminer because the acidity of the white wine should stand up well to the sweetness of caramel. If you want to focus on the apple flavor, try ice wine, Sauternes, or a late-harvest Sauvignon Blanc.

And why not pair a Grand Cru Bordeaux with a 100 Grand Bar?

And then there’s chocolate with huge range of strong flavors including sweet, bitter, fruity and even acidic – flavors that don’t pair well with standard dry table wine. After a bite of a rich chocolate it won’t have any flavor. So try a sweet dessert wine instead. Its richness will enhance the flavor of both.

Here are some things to consider for chocolate pairings: think about choosing a wine that’s as sweet as the chocolate or try pairing by color – the darker the chocolate, the darker the wine. consider the bitterness and texture. Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and dark chocolate are an excellent classic pairing because the bitterness in the chocolate is similar in texture to the tannins in the wine.

Milk chocolate Hershey bars will always be someone’s favorite and they go with most wines, especially the rich and sweet whites and the light and medium reds. With the more bitter Hershey’s Dark chocolate, try a red Syrah.

Have a Happy Halloween!

Impress Everyone With Candy Corn Trivia

October 17, 2016 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

8 Great Candy Corn Facts

It’s orange, yellow and white candy corn time. No matter how hard you wish it, the candy shaped like a kernel of corn can’t substitute for a veggie. Those little tri-colored triangles have celebrated over 130 birthdays and are still going strong. Here are 8 sweet things you probably never knew about candy corn:

Candy corn was created in the 1880s by the Wunderlee Candy Company. It was popular among farmers who loved the corn kernel shaped candy that looked different from other candy. The Goelitz Candy Company, famous for their candy corn, began selling their brand around 1900. They still make candy corn today, but their company name has changed to the Jelly Belly Candy Company (guess what else they make!).

Candy corn is over 130 years old. It’s a “mellow cream,” a type of candy that’s made from corn syrup and sugar with a marshmallow kind of flavor. It tastes rich, but it’s actually fat-free.

The original three colors of candy corn — orange, yellow, and white — mimic a corn kernel, although each piece of candy is about three times the size of an actual kernel. The bottom of the triangular candy is yellow, it’s orange in the middle, and the pointy end is white.

Although 75% of the annual candy corn production is for Halloween, you can find it year round in varying holiday colors.

Indian corn has a chocolate brown wide end, orange center and pointed white tip, often available around Thanksgiving
Reindeer corn, the Christmas variety, is red, green, and white
Cupid corn for Valentine’s Day is red, pink, and white
Bunny corn for Easter is only a two-color candy and comes with a variety of pastel bases (pink, green, yellow, and purple) with white tips.

Some facts about Brach’s Candy Corn:

There are nineteen pieces of candy corn in a serving.
A serving has140 calories (7.4 calories per kernel), zero grams of fat, 70 mg of sodium, 36 grams of carbs, and no protein.
A large bag of Brach’s candy corn is 22 ounces and has about 300 pieces.
Ingredients in Brach’s candy corn: sugar, corn syrup, confectioner’s sugar glaze, salt, honey, dextrose, artificial flavor, gelatin, titanium dioxide color, yellow 6, yellow 5, red 3, blue 1, sesame oil.

According to the National Confectioners Association:

candy makers will produce nearly 35 million pounds of candy corn this year equal to about 9 billion individual kernels of corn — enough to circle the moon nearly 21 times if laid end-to-end
candy corn is so popular that it has its own day: October 30 is National Candy Corn Day.

How candy corn is made:

Originally it was made by hand. Sugar, water, and corn syrup were cooked into a slurry (the consistency of thin mud) in large kettles. Fondant (a sweet, creamy paste made from corn syrup, sugar, and water) and marshmallow were whipped in to give it a smooth texture and a soft bite.
The hot mixture was poured into “runners,” or hand-held buckets that held 45 pounds of candy mixture. Men called “stringers” walked backwards as they poured the steaming mixture into trays coated with cornstarch and imprinted with kernel-shaped molds. They made three passes; one each for the orange, white and yellow colors.
Today, the recipe is much the same but production is mechanized. A machine fills trays of kernel-shaped holes with cornstarch to hold the candy in corn triangle shapes, then the holes are partially filled with white syrup, then orange syrup, followed by yellow syrup. The mixture is allowed to cool and harden for about 24 hours, then a machine empties the tray, the kernels fall into chutes and they are glazed to make them shine.

A survey of Americans found:

8%think the whole piece of candy corn should be eaten at once
7% think you should be start eating at the narrow, white end 10.6% like to start eating at the wider yellow end.

Want To Walk Off Your Halloween Candy? Go This Far . . .

October 31, 2015 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Here’s another way to think about Halloween candy — how much walking will it take to work off the candy calories?

According to walking.com:

1 Fun Size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc. is about 80 calories. You’d need to walk 0.8 miles, 1.29 kilometers, or 1600 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

2 Hershey’s Kisses are about 50 calories. You’d need to walk 0.5 miles, 0.80 kilometers, or 1000 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

2 Brachs caramels are about 80 calories. You’d need to walk 0.8 miles, 1.29 kilometers, or 1600 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

1 mini bite-size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.) is about 55 calories. You’d need to walk 0.55 miles, 0.88 kilometers, or 1100 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

1 Fun Size M&M packet – Plain or Peanut, is 90 calories. You’d need to walk 0.9 miles, 1.45 kilometers, or 1800 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

1 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup is 33 calories. You’d need to walk 0.33 miles, 0.53 kilometers, or 660 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

1 full size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.) is about 275 calories. You’d need to walk 2.75 miles, 4.43 kilometers, or 5500 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

1 King Size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.) is about 500 calories. You’d need to walk 5 miles, 8.06 kilometers, or 10000 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

1 small Tootsie Roll is 25 calories. You’d need to walk 0.25 miles, 0.40 kilometers, or 500 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

If You Ate . . .

2 Brachs caramels, 2 Hershey’s Kisses, 1 small Tootsie Roll, 1 Fun Size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.) 1 mini bite-size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.), 1 Fun Size M&M packet – Plain or Peanut, 1 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, 1 full size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.), 1 King Size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.)… the grand total is 1188 calories. You’d need to walk 11.88 miles, 19.16 kilometers, or 23,760 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

For kids — as a guideline, to burn off 7000 calories a one hundred pound child would have to walk for almost 44 hours or play full-court basketball for 14.5 hours.

Don’t Worry Too Much …

Just remember – we and our bodies have an amazing ability to compensate for occasional holiday overeating – as long as those holidays don’t turn into weeks that turn into months.

So, enjoy your trick or treating and all of the ghosts, princesses, pirates, animals, cars, trains, skeletons, witches, and any other creature that rings your doorbell shouting “trick or treat.”

Happy Halloween!

Do You Steal Candy From Your Kids’ Trick or Treat Bags?

October 29, 2015 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Is there Halloween candy in your future (or present)? It’s pretty hard to escape because candy is everywhere – on desks, in restaurants, even in my veterinarian’s office in a purple bowl with a dog bone painted on the side.

Halloween and the week afterward account for about 5% of all candy consumed for the year. Big box stores don’t wait for mid-October to start stocking their shelves — by the second week in September most of them have already filled their shelves with orange and black trimmed packages of mini-candy boxes and bars – right along side the school supplies.

What do you steal from your kids’ Trick or Treat bags? What do you go for first?

Don’t feel guilty if you have. If you’ve ever swiped candy from your kid’s trick or treat bag, you’re certainly not alone. According to the National Confectioners Association, 90% of parents confess they occasionally dip into their kid’s stash. I know I sure did.

Not only do parents swipe candy form their kids’ bags, they invade them big time — they eat one candy bar out of every two a child brings home. Their favorite targets are snack-sized chocolate bars (70%), candy-coated chocolate pieces (40%), caramels (37%) and gum (26%).

How many calories are in Trick or Treat bags?

It’s been estimated that, on average, a child in the US collects between 3,500 and 7,000 worth of candy calories on Halloween night.

If you choose to eat all of that on top of your regular daily intake, you’re looking at a pound or two added to your waistline (or hips).

A One Day Indulgence Isn’t Such A Big Deal

One day of collecting (and eating) candy isn’t going to make a child – or an adult – overweight or obese (what it can do to behavior is another story). It’s the constant bombardment with candy, sweets, and other treats that can lead to weight (and health) issues.

Some food (or candy) for thought: a treat is only a treat if it happens once in a while – like Halloween, birthdays, and other holidays. If it’s a common occurrence it can become an expectation or a habit.

In Case You Want To Pick The Least Caloric Candy

Hershey’s Milk Chocolate: snack size .49-ounce bar; 67 calories; 4g fat
Snickers: Fun size; 80 calories; 4g fat
Tootsie Rolls: 6 midgee pieces; 140 calories; 3g fat
Skittles Original Bite Size Candies: Fun size bag; 60 calories; 0.7 g fat
M&Ms: Fun size bag; 73 calories; 3g fat
Butterfinger: Fun size; 85 calories; 3.5g fat
Tootsie Roll Pop : 60 calories; 0g fat
Starburst Original Fruit Chews: 2 pieces; 40 calories: 40; 0.8g fat
Brach’s Candy Corn: 20 pieces; 150 calories; 0g fat
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup: Fun size; 80 calories, 4.5g fat
Peppermint Pattie: Fun size; 47 calories; 1g fat
Kit Kat: Fun size; 73 calories; 3.7g fat