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What’s Behind Your Halloween Haul?

What you should know about some of the candy in your trick-or-treat bag.

Consumer News

What’s Behind Your Halloween Haul?

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Trick-or-treaters (and their parents) beware: Your Halloween haul on Saturday may contain candy that may not be as healthy, fruity, or even as ethically sourced as advertised. Here are five recent actions against candy companies:

Various Mars candy: A 2014 class-action lawsuit against Mars Inc. claims that the maker of Snickers and M&Ms misleads consumers on the “inherently unhealthy nature” of its chocolate by understating on the label the amount of calories in the candy.
SmartCandy: These gummy candies push images of fruit and phrases like “real fruit” on product packaging but in many cases contain no real fruit at all, according to the New York State Attorney General, whose office shipped a warning letter to the candy’s marketers in April.
Welch’s: Much like SmartCandy, Welch’s advertises its fruit snacks as “made with real fruit.” And much like SmartCandy, some people don’t agree with that claim. A class-action lawsuit filed in September against the snack’s manufacturer claims the fruit content is little more than “empty-calorie sugar syrup,” which sounds a lot like candy.
YumEarth Organics Pops: In April, the FDA warned the company behind YumEarth Organic Pops that advertising the products as “healthful” in connection with the statement “100% Daily Vitamin C” may violate an FDA rule against infusing candy with vitamins. Also, fruit ingredients are lacking.
Hershey’s, Mars, Nestle: Class-action lawsuits filed in September against these three candy behemoths allege that they fail to disclose on their labeling the alleged likelihood that their chocolate is the product of child and slave labor. (See related cases: Hershey’s, Mars, Nestle.)

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