Surprising Choice Tops Halloween Candy List In Utah, Parents Admit Stealing Sweets
There are certain things about Utah that I thought I understood.
We like the outdoors. We like our fry sauce. We apparently have a complicated relationship with liquor stores.
But Halloween candy? Apparently, I have some learning to do.
Little Sleepies has undertaken what it calls its “Great Halloween Candy Breakdown,” looking at everything from parents stealing their children's candy to the favorite Halloween candy in every state. And once again, America has demonstrated that we are a nation desperately in need of something to argue about.
Nationally, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups come out on top with both parents and kids. That seems reasonable. Parents also ranked candy corn, licorice and Circus Peanuts among their least favorite candies, which suggests that somewhere, somehow, scientific research is finally catching up with common sense.
But then we get to the state-by-state results.
Here in Utah, the most searched Halloween candy was Tootsie Rolls.
Tootsie Rolls?
And we're apparently not alone. Minnesota also chose Tootsie Rolls, so congratulations to Minnesota. We have something in common now.
But look around us.
Nevada went with Kit Kats. Arizona and Wyoming chose Snickers. Colorado went with Sour Patch Kids. And Idaho—because apparently Idaho is determined to be Idaho—also chose Sour Patch Kids.
So Utah, sitting right in the middle of all of this, looked at the entire Halloween candy universe and apparently said, “You know what sounds good? Something that has been sitting in my grandmother's candy dish since 1974.”
I have nothing against Tootsie Rolls. They're perfectly respectable candy. They have survived generations of Halloween nights, dentist appointments and children discovering that the candy they thought was chocolate is actually something considerably more mysterious.
But compared with a Kit Kat? A Snickers? Sour Patch Kids?
OK, I'd actually take the Tootsie Roll over the Sour Patch Kids.
The Little Sleepies study also found that nine out of 10 parents inspect their children's Halloween candy before letting them eat it. That's probably good parenting, although 51% admit they're also looking for candy to steal for themselves.
Nearly one-third of parents impose a “candy tax” for taking their children trick-or-treating. Somehow, I think we need to work in a candy tax with the proceeds going to the grandparents.
One in four hide the kids' candy so they can eat it later. And one-third admit they buy candy for trick-or-treaters and eat it before Halloween.
Guilty as charged...
The first bags of Halloween candy arrived at our house yesterday. They'll never make it to the 31st.
So maybe the children aren't really the target audience here.
Maybe Halloween candy is simply what happens when adults are given an excuse to buy miniature versions of their favorite foods and then pretend they're protecting the children from them.
As for Utah and the Tootsie Roll thing, I have no explanation.
I'm just going to assume there are things about this state that are best left unexplained.
