Halloween doesn’t scare dentists or dietitians. They’re not monsters, after all—which means they wouldn’t begrudge kids their candy haul.
But they do use a few tricks to make treats less troublesome, starting with limiting the festivities to one night. “Kids are going to get candy,” says Liel Grinbaum, a pediatric dentist at smiles+grins in New York. “The biggest issue is when it’s extended to the next day, the next week, the next month.” He suggests selecting a handful of top-tier treats, enjoying them that night, and then giving the rest away.
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It’s also a good idea to prioritize brushing teeth as soon as possible after having a piece of candy. If your kids are munching as they parade around town, periodically offer them a water bottle and instruct them to rinse out their mouth and spit, Grinbaum says. That will prevent sugar from clinging to their teeth.
Plus, of course, some choices are healthier than others. We asked seven dietitians and dentists what they hand out on Halloween night—and why.
Bubblegum
Grinbaum’s go-to Halloween handout is sugar-free gum. “Kids are going to look at you like, ‘What the heck?’” he says. While it’s not a traditional choice, there are reasons to add it to the rotation. “The benefit with gum is that every time you’re chewing, your jaw activates your salivary flow, and then your saliva has the most powerful antibacterial enzymes,” he says. “You’re fully protecting your mouth as you’re chewing.”
Dark chocolate
When in doubt, opt for candy made out of dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate or white chocolate. “It’s a really good alternative,” Grinbaum says. It’s made with a higher percentage of cacao, which means the chocolate has “significantly less sugar, and it’s also anti-inflammatory. The polyphenols and flavonoids in cacao physically decrease the bacteria that causes cavities.”
Sweet potato chips
Ideally, whatever you give out for Halloween won’t have a high acid component, which is detrimental to your mouth’s pH levels. “When the pH in your saliva gets low, your enamel starts to break down,” says Lilya Horowitz, founder of Domino Dental in Brooklyn. That’s why she favors snacks like single-serve packages of sweet potato chips, which are typically made with less acidic oils than other options.
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“Avocado oil, coconut oil, and olive oil are all considered to be more alkaline or neutral than seed oils like canola oil or soybean oil, which are more refined and tend to form more acid,” Horowitz says. Plus, sweet potato chips are unique enough to add some much-needed variety to trick-or-treaters’ loot bags.
Clementines
One of the most fun things about clementines is that they look like tiny pumpkins, says Abeer Bader, lead clinical nutrition specialist at Mass General Weight Center. You can decorate clementines with stickers to make a spooky face. Cute factor aside, “You’re getting in some nutrients like vitamin C and fiber,” she adds, making the clementine-in-a-pumpkin-costume a nice complement to all that candy.
Gummy bears
Gummy bears provide easily digestible sugar, which will help fuel kids as they march around the neighborhood. “Gummy bears are a good, quick fuel source for your body,” says Diane Johnson, a registered dietitian at University of Tulsa Dining Services, “and they’re fun and something different.”
Payday bars
During a recent golf outing, Johnson’s friend needed a snack—and ended up opting for a Payday bar. The salty-sweet mix of peanuts and caramel make it both tasty and fulfilling, and the smallest size has six grams of protein.
In her mind, those nutritional stats outweigh the downsides of the candy bar’s stickiness. “It’s kind of a spinoff on a protein bar,” Johnson says. “Obviously, it’s not as healthy, but if you’re going to do any candy bar,” this one doesn’t haunt the dietitian.
Fruit jerky
Fruit jerky—a convenient, portable snack—is “moist and tender,” says Nadine Hassan, an adjunct faculty member in the School of Health Sciences at Purdue Global, where she teaches courses on nutrition. Choose a kind where “there’s nothing else added to it” but fruit. Plus, fruit jerky’s high fiber content supports digestive health, and its natural sugars are healthier than the artificial kind added to lots of other treats. Choose among a wide variety of flavors, including mango, pineapple, banana, strawberry, and apple.
Popcorn
Popcorn is perfect for salty-snack lovers. “It’s definitely a good fiber snack,” Hassan says. “In a Halloween treat bag, you’re probably getting mostly sweet everything, so it’s a nice balance.” Plus, popcorn is full of B vitamins, potassium, and manganese—and many brands offer single-serve bags low in calories and fat (and high in crunch).
Freeze-dried fruit
Freeze-dried fruit—which comes in individual portions—is “the healthy version of chips for your kids,” Hassan says. Freeze-drying preserves vitamins and minerals, she adds, meaning you’ll be handing over a nice dose of antioxidants and fiber to trick-or-treaters.
Snickers and Milky Ways
Jay Maillet and his wife are both dentists, but if you see them handing out candy bars on Halloween, it’s not an apparition. “We certainly partake in the candy, and our oral hygiene is fantastic,” says Maillet, dental director for the Northeast region at DentaQuest.
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Their favorites are Snickers and Milky Ways. Aside from the taste, Maillet appreciates that the candy bars are easily and quickly consumed. Sticky candies, on the other hand—like Twizzlers and Starbursts—stay on the teeth longer, heightening the risk of cavities. “Try to minimize snacks where the contact time with teeth is increased,” he says. The sooner a treat melts in your mouth, the better.
Apple and caramel dips
Apples are a top-tier fall fruit and a healthy, on-theme choice for trick-or-treaters. Opt for single-serve containers of apple slices and caramel dip, suggests Lindsay Malone, an instructor of nutrition in the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. Aside from the obvious health benefits of apples, you can buy these in bulk. Plus, “They’re packaged and sealed, so parents aren’t wondering if it’s safe to eat,” she says.
Sugar-free lollipops
You can’t go wrong handing out sugar-free lollipops, one of Grinbaum’s favorite in-office tricks and Halloween treats. Xylitol, a sweetener often used as a sugar substitute in these pops, reduces the growth of cavity-causing bacteria. Plus, they taste as good as any other sweet treat, he says; he loves popping them into his mouth himself during Halloween festivities (and the rest of the year, too).
Ice cream cups
Depending on the weather where you live, it might not make sense to give out a cool treat like ice cream. But if you can swing it, many kids enjoy the sweet treat as they continue their circuit around the neighborhood.
“Ice cream is significantly better for dental health than most candies are,” Grinbaum says. “It melts away into your saliva, so you’re avoiding the stickiness that gets into the grooves of your teeth and just sits there.” A scary image indeed—which makes Halloween an ideal time to scream for ice cream.