I’m presenting Week 1 of our Not One Ounce Holiday Program for a large corporate client today at noon and 3pm, and we’re talking about the best candies to choose for Halloween.
Spoiler Alert! (it’s not the candy corn)
To make the point for the presentation, I brought this into the office, and everyone here moaned and groaned about how gross these things are, in every possible inflection:
- “You BOUGHT that?”
- “YOU, bought that?”
- “Wait, you bought THAT?”
This mini-cone of waxy sugary dye is so popular that over 35 million pounds of it will be produced this year. That’s almost 9 billion pieces. Gosh, I wonder why we have weight and health problems? Maybe it’s our genes or the carbs or because we’re not eating 12 times per day … or maybe it’s because we’re eating 9 billion pieces of this every year. Maybe that has something to do with it.
To put an exclamation point on the problem, there’s even a National Candy Corn Day on Thursday, which is amazing for 9 billion reasons. Hey, for my business, how do I get a National Buy-My-Product-The-Day-Before-Everyone-Wants-It … Day?
If you glance at the ingredients you’ll see four (count ’em, four) kinds of sugars, because three just wasn’t sweet enough. Plus there are four kinds of artificial flavors and food dyes (AFCs). Please read this article on AFCs and the research showing their impact on behavior, particularly on our kids.
This staple of Halloween contains ingredients associated with behavioral disturbances and weight gain. So besides the ingredients that are in it, it’s great for you.
If you want to be healthy, control your weight, and avoid the Halloween Hyperactivity Effect, just say no to this scary little bit of weirdness.
The good news is that you will have the opportunity to say no a whole lot more now. Manufacturers now make a Thanksgiving “Indian corn”, a Christmas “Reindeer corn”, “Cupid corn” to give to your love for Valentine’s Day, “Bunny corn” for Easter, and (no kidding!) “Freedom corn” (red, white and blue) for July 4.
