Happy Halloween: Beware of Granola Bars

The L.A. Times asked various nutrition gurus and other traditional candy haters what they hand out on Halloween. Most of the answers are surprisingly chill. Even Marion Nestle--who tends to be the person with the most radical quote in any obesity article--was cool. She said she has no trick-or-treaters in Manhattan, but conceded the point of the holiday, saying, "I'm not in favor of nutritional purism on holidays. I think some negotiation is reasonable." She even admitted that caramel apples are pretty awesome: "Especially ones with the worst red, hard candy on them."

There's always a killjoy, though:

Kelly Brownell, director of Yale's Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. "Not food," he says. "because the food that people tend to hand out is candy, and children get plenty of candy already." In a 2003 study, he and colleagues offered candy or toys to trick-or-treating children ages 3 to 14 and found the kids were just as likely to pick toys.

He hasn't done studies on how far treats can be healthified before children balk, "but perhaps you could do that," he quips. "The outcome variable could be seeing how far you could go without getting your house TP'd."

Read the whole L.A. Times article here. 

Via the Center for Consumer Freedom.

Happy Halloween!