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Loading...8 Grossest Candies
- Melissa Breyer
- October 17, 2011
- 5:01 pm
- 165 comments
I adore Halloween. It’s the one time each year when our white gloves come off and we can indulge in any manner of blood, gore, guts, and all things gruesome. It’s the time to get down and dirty, embrace our fantasies in costume, and practice ritualized extortion for treats!
I love that Halloween wasn’t borne out of Hallmark’s desire to sell greeting cards. The holiday stems from the ancient Gaelic festival of Samhain which celebrated the end of the harvest season and the ensuing preparations for winter. The Gaels believed that at this time, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased could reach back into life and wreak havoc such with disease or ruined crops.
Some of these themes survive, but we have managed to snowball the who shebang into something all-entirely different. Namely: a candy extravaganza, with nearly $2 billion dollars spent on the spook-some sticky stuff last year. This year, more than 35 million pounds of candy corn alone will be produced. That is equal to nine billion pieces–¯enough to circle the moon nearly four times if placed end-to-end.
But Halloween candy has taken a turn to the dark side as well. No longer candy corn, mini-chocolate bars, and lollipops–the novelty candy market has invaded the scene like a pack of zombies. Here is a selection of the creepiest, goriest, and downright grossest of the ghoulish goodies on the market. Aside from the frightening ingredients, the candy concepts here are the stuff of shudders!
Read more: Children, Diet & Nutrition, Food, Halloween
Melissa Breyer
Melissa Breyer is a writer and editor with a background in sustainable living, specializing in food, science and design. She is the co-author of True Food (National Geographic) and has edited and written for regional and international books and periodicals, including The New York Times Magazine. Melissa lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
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Give it up!! You know you can't resist my charms!
Knew about the grapefruit juice but not the rest. Thanks for the info.
Smart & breezy sandals.
165 comments
+ add your ownAgreeably the most disgusting candies I've ever heard of, but I guess for Halloween they're perfect.
Gross, but very creative!
I don't believe the article was intended to be considered either healthy or environmentally correct in any way, shape, or form. It was merely informing us of the "grossest" candies currently available. They probably shouldn't be consumed by children or adults regardless of age because of the countries of origin and their lack of regulatory oversight and for all the sugar and chemicals each contains. Eat at your own risk......
Where can I get them? I bet those neighbor kids won't be back next year.
yuck
Love it! lol. Grossology. That's the stuff Halloween is made of!
gross
Kids should not be eating any of these candies; they are full of chemicals, food dyes and not to mention sugar and many of these products are made in other countries. How about the "plastic" throw away containers they come in. I don't mean to "bah humbug" Halloween but this article is not healthy or environmentally friendly....
These are so gross. Isn't amazing what people put in their mouths?
Gross!!! LOL :))
Thanks Melissa...
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