3 Healthy Halloween Candy Alternatives to Pass Out This Year

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We recently discussed, at length, the dangers and downsides of popular Halloween candies. I’d encourage you to go read that post because it was… thorough. But basically, popular Halloween candies (candies in general, really) are so insanely high in sugar and saturated fat in combination with some preservatives, artificial colors, and other ingredients that may not be the best for you. 

It was kind of a sad post… Because nobody wants to talk about how terrible their favorite treats are. I know I pretend I don’t know what I know when there’s a bowl of Reese’s sitting in front of me. 

Today I’m going to try to bring you a few alternatives that may be able to replace some of your Halloween favs! There are a ton of new options that have come out over the last few years for candy that is so much better for you than the stuff we grew up with as kids. It’s still candy and not good for you, but a lot of alternatives have eliminated the unnecessary addition of artificial colors and some other ingredients consumers have grown to consider unsafe. 

In this post I’m going to focus on trying to find items that could replace things like Reese’s and Starburst and the like. Personally, my favorite way to replace some of my favorite candies is to make them, but with better ingredients. I may put out a post like that sometimes, but for now, we’ll see what the grocery store has to offer us.

You will see that I’m not listing individual candies so much as 3 great brands that make severa candies. I did this because they are killing the candies-you-know-and-love-but-better game and really make most of what you could be looking for. I do not get any money by recommending any of these products to you! I have not tried all of these candies (though I have tried a lot of them). The goal of this post is just to show you some alternative options you can try.

(An important note on heavy metal concentrations in chocolates. As I discussed in my post on the problems with conventional candy (LINK), chocolate has been found to have levels of heavy metals, particularly, cadmium and lead, that are not considered safe. For the candies below, I did investigate this concern. I provided the information I could on this but it is not always possible to access it because not all companies talk about it.)

Unreal

This is by far my favorite candy brand right now, at least as far as replicating common favorites goes. One of the best things about Unreal products is that most big grocery stores carry them now and I think I’ve even seen them in a few gas stations. They’ve become more popular so they are much more accessible, which is always awesome. 

Perhaps my favorite thing about Unreal treats is that they are super simple. They contain as few ingredients as possible, just what they need and nothing more. They keep the sugar minimal and do not use artificial colors, unnecessary additives, or preservatives. They also do not use high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which is great. The only thing I will say is that they do use blue agave inulin in some of their products so if you are sensitive to inulin, stick with the coconut bars and peanut nougat bars, which don’t have inulin. Most people can eat inulin just fine though.

Now, because Unreal products are made with better ingredients, they are more expensive. That’s just the price you pay when you avoid using the quick and cheap products like HFCS. Personally, I think it’s worth it and it may help you reduce your consumption when you think about how many dollars each pack actually costs. 

It could also be possible that there is some niche marketing upsale costs as well as the raised prices that come with newer brands sometimes. People who want products like this are usually willing to pay a little more, so that could be driving prices too.

So what products do they offer? For Halloween candy favorites replacements, they have great options for M&Ms, Reese’s, Almond Joy, and Snickers. I’ll show a comparison between Reese’s and unreal peanut butter cups here, but all of the products have similar improvements from their traditional counterparts.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup

INGREDIENTS: Milk Chocolate (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Chocolate, Skim Milk, Milk Fat, Lactose, Lecithin, PGPR), Peanuts, Sugar, Dextrose, Salt, TBHQ, Citric Acid

For one cup: 22g of sugar (40% daily allowance) and 4.5g saturated fat (22% daily allowance)

Unreal Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

INGREDIENTS: dark chocolate (chocolate liquor, cane sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla), organic peanuts, organic cane sugar, organic palm oil (sustainably sourced), organic peanut flour, organic blue agave inulin, sea salt, sunflower lecithin.

For one cup: 5g of sugar (10% daily allowance) and 3g of saturated fat (15% of daily allowance) 

I don’t think I have to spell out the difference here for you. These unreal cups are so delicious with a fraction of the sugar and no TBHQ.

SmartSweets

I want to put a massive caveat on SmartSweets before I begin. This is not an Unreal type company that focuses on minimal ingredients and super natural products. What they do seem to be focused on is making better products that mimic what you know and love. 

Part of the difficulty with their products is that they are trying to recreate candies that are basically pure sugar with a fraction of the sugar. Sound too good to be true? It is. 

The only way to really use less sugar is to make something less sweet. However, some companies get around this by using certain fiber products that have a sweet taste. Inulin is one of those. Another is Isomalto-oligosaccharides (IMOs). IMOs fly by as a natural and calorie-free prebiotic fiber that can be used to sweeten without the blood sugar impacts of sugar and other sweeteners, but that isn’t really the truth. I am going to cover this in depth someday, but for now, understand that IMOs are not typically naturally derived, are not calorie-free, can affect blood sugar, and can cause major GI upset.

SmartSweets uses IMOs in pretty much all of their products. They explain this in their FAQs stating that IMOs are a “non digestible carb” that adds sweetness but won’t upset the stomach or impact blood sugar. Again, some research states that isn’t true. SmartSweets also contain a few other additives that I wouldn’t strictly avoid but would limit in my diet, such as certain flavor enhancers and “natural flavors.” None of these are severely problematic and all are considered generally safe, but as someone who tries to limit unnecessary ingredients and ingredients with even potential downsides, they’re not my favorite. They are committed to avoiding the use of some of the problematic preservatives mentioned in our post on Halloween candy as well as avoiding HFCS and artificial coloring.

But anyway, for a better alternative to your favorite sugar candies, you can find products mimicking Sour Patch Kids, Swedish Fish, gummy rings, lollipops, and more. Let’s compare Sour Patch Kids (a personal favorite of mine) and SmartSweets’ Sour Blast Buddies.

Sour Patch Kids

INGREDIENTS: Sugar, Invert Sugar, Corn Syrup, Modified Corn Starch, Tartaric Acid, Citric Acid, Natural And Artificial Flavoring, Yellow 6, Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1

For a serving size of 40g or 16 pieces (good luck): 37g carbs (I’m assuming from the corn starch, which is basically straight carbs), 26g of that being from sugar.

SmartSweets Sour Blast Buddies

INGREDIENTS: Isomalto-oligosaccharides (vegetable source), Chicory root fiber, Water, Modified potato starch, Lactic acid, Pectin, Malic acid (flavor enhancer), Citric acid, Fumaric acid, Rice flour, Stevia leaf extract, Fruit and vegetable juice (for color), Spirulina extract (for color), Natural fruit flavors with other natural flavors, Carnauba wax, Coconut oil.

For a serving of 40g: 33.6g of carbs, 10.4g being dietary fiber and 2.4g coming from sugar. 

All in all, if you’re looking to avoid corn syrup and artificial colors, Sour Blast Buddies are a great alternative. They have truly a fraction of the sugar and a good amount of dietary fiber, which most people lack in their diets. They are still very high in carbs so, though they are low in sugar, they still may be problematic for diabetics if consumed in excessive quantities. 

If you prefer to avoid some of the ingredients I mentioned above, then you may not want to go the SmartSweets route, but if sugar is your main concern, these are a win.

JOYRIDE

JOYRIDE is another candy company I’ve really been enjoying. I actually prefer them to SmartSweets. I would say they fall somewhere in the middle of Unreal and SmartSweets. They aim to make better-for-you versions of your favorite candies without artificial colors while limiting sugar, they also avoid GMOs, IMOs, and artificial sugars and sugar alcohols, but they are not on the 3-ingredients only train. Part of that is because it’s easier to make chocolate candies without added ingredients than sugar candies, unless you want to chew on a block of pure sugar. 

JOYRIDE focuses on utilizing different kinds of sugar, rather than sugar substitutes. For example, they use allulose, which is a natural sugar found in some plants. Additionally, all their ingredients are plant-based.

They only have a few products so far, various flavors of sour ropes, sour watermelons, and some Twizzler-esque products. Let’s compare their Classic Strawberry Twists with Twizzlers.

Twizzlers Strawberry Twists

INGREDIETS: CORN SYRUP, ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR (FLOUR, NIACIN, FERROUS SULFATE THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), SUGAR, CORNSTARCH, CONTAINS 2% OR ESS OF: PALM OIL, SALT, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, CITRIC ACID, MINERAL OIL, ARTIFICIAL COLOR (RED 40), LECITHIN (SOY).

For 30g or 3 pieces: 27g of carbs, 16g from added sugar.

JOYRIDE Classic Strawberry Twists

INGREDIENTS: Soluble Corn Fiber, Allulose, Wheat Flour, Sugar, Glycerin (or Vegetable Glycerin), Agar, Sodium Citrate, Citric Acid, Natural Flavor, Lactic Acid, Fumaric Acid, Sunflower Lecithin, Sea Salt, Fruit and Vegetable Juice for Color (Carrot, Blueberry), Steviol Glycosides

For 30g or about 5 pieces: 22g of carbs, 7g from fiber and 4g coming from sugar.

The JOYRIDE twists are free of excess sugar, nitrates, artificial flavors and colors, and have pretty decent ingredients. Again, I don’t love added “natural flavor,” some of the other flavor enhancers, and glycerin (which some people get headaches or similar issues from), I don’t hate them and will consume them in moderation.

Summary / TLDR

As time goes on and more people seek healthier alternatives to the junk lining grocery store shelves, more options become available to take the place of some of our favorite (but arguably terrible for you) treats. Today we explored alternatives for some of the classic candies we grew up with like Reese’s and Twizzlers.

Probably my favorite, as a chocolate girl, is Unreal. They make great products with minimal ingredients and no junk. For the sweet candy fans out there, SmartSweets and JOYRIDE are both great options with different pros and cons. It’s a little harder to make sweet candies with minimal ingredients so they do contain some additives, though they aim to use better ones than the mainstream brands. 

Luckily, these brands can be found in stores these days, though you can always find them online if they aren’t available in your area. 

Do you have a favorite candy alternative? Let me know what they are in the comments. Although I love replacements, I actually prefer just making my favorite treats at home for ultimate control of the ingredients. Stay tuned for a future post on recipes for some of my favorite treats. 

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