Buy Better Candy

Conventional Halloween candy is a serious trick. Chock full of food dyes linked to allergic reactions and behavioral problems in children, the chocolate is typically cultivated in Africa by children who are virtually enslaved.

But with a little effort, you can get good treats to give away.  First off, make sure your Halloween candy is food dye free. Not only are these chemicals dangerous, they’re discriminatory: After European manufacturers were required foods to display a food dye warning label, they began to substitute natural colors for dyes—but only in Europe. Nestle, for example, announced in 2012 that they were phasing out use of all artificial food additives from their entire confectionery line in the U.K., but not the U.S.

When it comes to chocolate, look for fair trade certified—often times, these candies are also USDA Certified Organic. You can get better Halloween candy everywhere from Whole Foods Markets to Amazon. Sweet!

This entry was posted on Monday, October 20th, 2014 at 9:02 am. It is filed under Sustainability and tagged with candy, fair trade, food dye, halloween, organic, USDA certified organic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.