Halloween is just a couple of weeks away now and the supermarket aisles are lined with sugary sweets for the trick and treaters to enjoy but are you worried about how much sugar your little one will be consuming during the festivities?
If you want to make some more health-conscious choices for your Halloween visitors this year, here is the breakdown of Halloween treats you’re looking for! We’ve scanned the sugar content of all the classic Halloween offerings and are bringing you all the facts to help you make the right decision this festive season!
Fruit Sweets
Haribo Starmix – 16g Bag
A Halloween classic, Haribo Starmix is a much-loved jelly treat for kids of all ages and as sugar content goes, is actually one of the better options.
The 16g packs of Haribo are particularly small and definitely aimed at much younger children but these small fun size bags contain just 7.52g of sugar. Although the sugar content is lower, the sugar to portion size ratio is pretty high but as a treat, they aren’t a bad option.
Haribo Starmix is also gluten-free and free from artificial colours.
Darkside Skittles
The spooky limited edition version of the classic multi-coloured fruit flavoured sweet, Darkside Skittles are available in 18g fun size packs, the ideal size for a trick or treat bowl.
Each 18g pack contains 16.1g of sugar which means these packs are actually 89% sugar, something most parents probably wouldn’t be keen to give to their children or even eat themselves!
A pack of these skittles is actually over 50% of an adult’s daily sugar intake and 67% of a child’s daily sugar allowance, so they’re definitely one of the higher sugar options.
Scary Safari Soft Jellies
A new Halloween treat for 2019 by Maynards Bassets, the Scary Safari Soft Jellies are fruit flavoured, animal-shaped gummies, packed into 16.7g individual packs.
Each mini pack of these jelly sweets contains 10g of sugar which is much lower than other options but sugar still makes up nearly 60% of the ingredients in these gummies.
These sweets are made with natural colourings and do contain some concentrated juice but the main ingredient, as with many sweets, is glucose.
Squashies
Drumstick squashies aren’t necessarily a Halloween sweet but they are available in treat size packs for the Halloween season.
Each small pack contains 50 calories and 11.2g of sugar which is a little higher than some of the other sweets we’ve covered but still much lower than skittles, which prove to be the highest sugar fruity sweet we’ve found.
Squashies are gluten-free and free from artificial colours.
Chocolate
Trick or treating isn’t all about the chewy fruit sweets and Halloween is often about chocolate too but how do our favourite Halloween chocolates compare in terms of sugar?
Cadbury’s Oreo Halloween Eggs
Similar to the mini Oreo eggs we get at Easter, these Halloween themed mini chocolate eggs are covered in Cadbury’s Dairy Milk and filled with a cookie and cream centre, each individual egg weighing around 10.3g.
Trick or treaters may take one or two of these smaller treats but each small egg contains 5.3g of sugar which may not sound much in comparison to other treats but when we think about the weight to sugar ratio, these eggs contain more than 50% sugar.
Although each egg may have a high percentage of sugar, just one little egg is only 22% of a daily child’s sugar allowance, which is much better than some of the other trick or treat options.
Cadbury Goo Heads
A new creation by Cadbury’s for 2019, these generously sized chocolate Halloween themed crème eggs are an extra special addition to the trick or treat bowl but they’re not set kind to your waistline!
Each 40g ‘Goo Head’ contains 26g of sugar which is over 50% of the ingredients and actually more sugar than a child is recommended to have in one day, so maybe save these for an extra special treat for the adults!
Cadbury Chocolate Buttons
Fun size chocolates are a classic Halloween treat, Cadbury’s chocolate buttons being one of the most loved and are often thought of as the perfect treat for little ones.
Each 14.4g treat size bag of these chocolate buttons contains 8.1g of sugar and 76 calories, 56% of the ingredients being sugar and one pack containing 33.75% of a child’s daily recommended sugar intake.
Cadbury’s dairy milk does contain fresh milk, hence a treat like this is recommended for young children over sugary sweets, however portion control is key at Halloween!
Mars Bars, Milky Ways and Maltesers
Classic trick or treating sweets, Mars Bars, Milky Ways and Maltesers are all favourites of young children but how do they compare when it comes to sugar?
| Product |
Pack Size |
Sugar Content |
% of Ingredients |
% of Child’s Daily |
| Mars Bar |
18g |
11.1g |
61.6g |
46.25% |
| Milky Way |
15.5g |
10.3g |
66.45% |
42.91% |
| Maltesers |
19.5g |
10.1g |
51.79% |
42% |
So, using the chart above, you can see that each treat is pretty equal in size and sugar content, however the percentage of sugar in Maltesers is much lower than the other two treats whilst a mini Mars Bar is a much higher percentage of your child’s daily sugar intake.
Hopefully these facts will help you make the best choices for you, your little ones and your trick or treaters this Halloween when it comes to being sugar aware!
