On the way to school this morning, my eleven year old daughter reminded me that for some people, Halloween marks Satan's birthday. Ever scouting the horizon for a useful metaphor, I pondered long and hard, and in the process recalled my visit to Target the night before. I remember standing in absolute awe before the Halloween section-which included a few plastic pumpkins, an aisle or two of costumes and row upon row upon neatly-ordered row of candy. Far more candy than I could squeeze into the widest setting on my cell phone camera and more varieties than I ever imagined existed.
To name a few-Wonka Giant Chewey Nerds, Laffy Taffy and Fun Dips; Hershey Kisses with Smores, Almonds, Pumpkin Spice, Caramel and Candy Corn flavoring; Candy Corn Autumn Mix, Puffy, Regular, Chocolate Covered and Tangerine; M&M's in all possible colors (especially orange and brown); Mini Butterfingers, Rollos, Three Musketeers, Snickers and Krackel bars; and of course 50, 55, 80, 87, 100 and 250 piece Combo Packs...and this exhausting list of seductive sugary doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of hard candies, including lollipops, sucking candies and other non-chocolate confections.
In that moment, I think my VBSL (vicarious blood sugar level) skyrocketed. And the VSBL is in no way related to more serious and scientific sugar and carbohydrate-related indices of metabolism such as the GI (glycemic index), GL (glycemic load) and II (insulin index). If refined sugar is the enemy and one of the major contributors to a range of serious and very costly (both to the individual and society) health problems including diabetes and obesity, then perhaps halloween is indeed Satan's birthday.
According to the National Confectioners Association (NCA), "sales of chocolate, non-chocolate and gum confectionery [in 2007 was] approximately $28 billion at retail per year." And if that's not enough to get your cavities screaming, consider the following statistics in that same year.
•More than 2.3 billion pounds of sugar at a cost of $672.9 million.
•More than 759 million pounds of cocoa beans at a cost of $664.1 million.
•More than 1.39 billion pounds of corn syrup at a cost of $173.3 million.
•More than 1.04 billion pounds of milk and milk products at a cost of $500.4 million.
•More than 320 million pounds of peanuts at a cost of $149.7 million.
•More than 70 million pounds of almonds and other nuts at a cost of $205.8 million
However, in the spirit of health consciousness and community mindedness, the NCA offers the following 'nutritional' information about candy (they don't go quite as far as a 'black box warning', or offer a statement such as 'eat candy responsibly' or 'if symptoms of hyperglycemia persist for more than four hours, call your physician'):
•Less than two percent of the calories in the American diet are supplied by candy.
•A one-ounce piece of milk chocolate contains about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of decaffeinated coffee.
•Some candies, such as lollipops, candy canes, gummi bears, gum drops, licorice twists and sour balls do not contain fat or cholesterol. What's more, many of these candies are relatively low in calories. A cup of candy corn, for example, has fewer calories than a cup of raisins.
•Not all saturated fats raise blood cholesterol levels. The form of fat found in chocolate, cocoa butter, does not raise blood cholesterol levels. That's because cocoa butter is derived from plants, cacao trees; whereas other types of saturated fats are derived from animals.
•Most people are not allergic to chocolate. A recent study showed that only one out of 500 people who thought they were allergic to chocolate actually tested positive.
So, as I have become inclined to asking in my blogs, "What does this have to do with psychology?" Quite a bit!. To start with, consumers have conflicting sources of information regarding the effects of candy consumption. And, in the face of conflicting information from (seemingly) credible sources, decisions may may be based upon the most salient characteristics, which in this case falls on branding, marketing and advertising claims of the candy manufacturers. In this context, and once again drawing from the work of Michael Pollan,
- Americans pay a great deal of attention to highly advertised brand names (Hershey's, M&M's and Cadburys, to name a few)
- Americans are bombarded with multimedia commerical asdvertisements for food, and candy in particular- as the result of massive marketing campaigns
- With regard to food, Americans' purchasing and consumption patterns are heavily influenced by external factors and influences such as time of day, celebrity and non-celebrity branding, packaging, immediacy of sensory stimulation and cultural messages such as 'Halloween is the time for candy' and 'Christmas is the time for spending' and Valenitnes Day is the time for flowers' as opposed to internal cues, which in the case of food and candy would be hunger.
- We love our little animated M&M television characters, plush toys, leather jackets and stores (yes, there are M&M stores in New York, Las Vegas and Orlando-they are called M&M World)
On the other hand, equally impressive monies are spent on research designed to convince us that candy, and chocolate in particular, may not be as harmful as was previously thought-and perhaps even healthy. Such is the case with the swirl (pardon the pun) of findings around the importance of sensory pleasure that candy provides and the potential health benefits of chocolate in enhancing cardiovascular health and influencing immune functioning.
So, what by Satan's firey horns shall we tell our trick-or-treaters? And what wisdom can the parents of our little (and perhaps not so little) ghosts, goblins (and Freddy Krugers) carry with them as they march into Target, Walgreens, CVS, WalMart, Sam's Club and gas stations everywhere? Actually, the NCA has some interesting and potentially good tips for those who will buy (and eat) candy. See Americans Playing Tricks with Treats this Hallowween.
In the final analysis, my contributions to the how-to's and what-nots of halloween candy purchasing and consumption are
- caveat emptor (that goes for scientific research as well as candy)
- everything in moderation
- candy tastes good
Here is a homemade Halloween candy treat.
