Halloween candy

Trick or treat? It鈥檚 really聽a rhetorical question. They聽just want the Halloween candy.

Millions of聽American children will get billions of聽sugar- and fat-laden聽treats on Sunday聽night in a tradition that has聽its roots in聽pagan and Christian rituals.

It鈥檚 fun. The kids are outside, walking. And, gosh, they鈥檙e cute in their princess and pirate costumes.

But聽nutritionally and dentally speaking, the modern-day聽Halloween聽is聽kind of a disaster.

Two聽of those itty-bitty聽鈥渇un-size鈥� Snickers聽count as a serving size, and they contain 160 calories (8% of聽the聽standard daily allotment of 2,000) and 3 grams of saturated fat (15% of the daily limit of聽20 grams, based on the 2,000-calorie-a-day limit).

A regular Snickers bar contains 280 calories and 5 grams of saturated fat, so maybe the fun-size isn鈥檛 so bad鈥攅xcept how聽realistic is that聽serving size of just two?

And the聽last thing the聽average American child needs these days聽is more calories.聽The聽 CDC聽reported last year that Great news. Still, the proportion of American kids who are is amazingly high:聽10.4% of those聽ages 2 to 5 and 19.6% of those in the prime trick-or-treating years of聽6 to 11.

Not sweet on sour candy

It isn鈥檛聽sugar alone that causes cavities (the medical term is caries). Researchers are聽beginning to聽document聽that to create conditions in the mouth favorable to聽鈥渃ariogenic鈥� bacteria.

Still, sugar is a major culprit and, of course, Halloween candy is聽one fine sugar delivery system.

Certain聽kinds of candy may be hard on teeth,聽apart from promoting cavities.聽If they lower the pH (make it more acid) in the聽mouth,聽the acidity can chemically remove the enamel surface so聽teeth聽are more vulnerable to聽mechanical damage from chewing.

(Acidity is bad for teeth in two ways, because the bacteria that cause cavities prefer an acid environment.)

Researchers at the published聽results this year and last聽showing that聽lollipops and jawbreakers could erode teeth enamel.聽Sucking candies聽like lollipops and jawbreakers聽produce聽saliva, and聽that saliva, it鈥檚 wonderful stuff聽for your聽mouth and teeth for many聽reasons, not the least of which is that it neutralizes acid.聽聽But according to these Dutch findings,聽the salutary effects from sucking lollipops and jawbreakers are聽offset聽by聽the acidity that comes from聽the citric, malic, and聽other聽kinds of acid they contain.

They聽set out to compare聽original and sour or tangy versions of the same candy: Jolly Ranchers versus聽a Sour聽Jolly Ranchers, for example.

The experiment was quite聽involved (Jolly Ranchers and Mike & Ikes don鈥檛 give up their secrets lightly, apparently). The researchers聽dipped extracted human teeth with a tiny section of some enamel removed聽in gooey mixtures of chopped candy and artificial saliva. A聽candy-and-water solution was used for comparison purposes.聽After聽sugary soaks of 25 hours,聽thin聽slices of the teeth were examined under a microscope聽for 鈥渓esion depth.鈥�

The lesions were deeper with exposure to the聽candy slurry made with the sour version聽of the candy compared with the original, and, as expected, the聽artificial聽 saliva provided some, but not much, protection against the erosive effects.

Taking the candy of out of trick-or-treat

that involved giving a total of 284 Halloween trick-or-treaters聽a choice between a toy (stretch pumpkin men, glow-in-the-dark insects,聽tickers, etc.) and candy.聽The toys proved to be just聽as popular聽as the candy (although we suspect that the particular candy choices might have had something to do with that).聽The researchers argued聽that聽the treat聽in trick-or-treat needn鈥檛 be聽candy,聽as long as it was associated with the other fun stuff about聽Halloween (dressing up, walking around the neighborhood).

So does this mean we are handing聽out boxes of raisins or pencils on Halloween?

No,聽bags of Snickers, Butterfingers, and Kit Kat bars the size of small pillows have been purchased and are awaiting distribution (sampling has occurred for quality control purposes). Maybe candy isn鈥檛 so bad? Harvard researchers聽have reported聽finding聽. But that occurred over聽a decade ago. Besides,聽the finding聽was聽the聽 kind of聽association that epidemiologists come upon all the聽time.聽They鈥檙e intended to pique聽curiosity and possibly stimulate further investigation. By themselves, they don鈥檛聽prove anything. Moreover, there鈥檚 now lots of evidence that foods like candy聽are bad for the health of聽adults and children, including the ones dressed up in聽pirate and princess costumes.

We鈥檒l聽feel a twinge of聽guilt on Sunday as we drop the Halloween candy into open bags聽and those adorable pumpkin-shaped buckets.

It鈥檚 only one night.