Of course candy isn’t healthy! That’s not the point of these comparisons. We wanted to look at some popular candies and determine which of each pair was relatively better for you. “Healthiest” does not mean that we consider any of these items health foods. The “unhealthiest” Halloween candy in a category certainly will not ruin your diet if you eat a few pieces.
Keep in mind that nutrition labels use rounded numbers. Also, since the weight of candy in each wrapper varies, we compared nutritional information based on a standard weight of 30 grams, or just over an ounce.
1. Chocolate Bars
Essentially tied: Kit Kat Milk Chocolate and Hershey’s Milk Chocolate
You’d probably think that the light, airy wafer Kit Kat bar is a healthier choice, right? A snack-size Kit Kat wrapper indicates that it has 70 calories, while a snack-size Hershey’s Milk Chocolate has 65 calories. However, this is because the individual piece of Hershey’s weighs less than the Kit Kat. When we compare the nutrition information for 30 grams of each bar (about the amount you’d get in two snack-size bars), they have approximately the same amount of calories (150), sugar, fat, protein, and so on.
If we nit-picked we’d say the Kit Kat is “healthier” since it does have a tad less total sugar and saturated fat, while the Hershey’s has a tiny bit more protein. All in all though, we don’t see a clear winner.
2. Peanut Butter Candy
Healthiest: Reese’s Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Unhealthiest: Reese’s Pieces
One 21 gram (snack-size) Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup has 110 calories, 11 grams total sugar, and 2 grams saturated fat, according to its snack-size packaging. On the other hand, 30 grams (g) of Reese’s Pieces has 6 grams saturated fat.
When we looked at the Nutrition Facts Labels for these items and compared the info for the same weights (30 g), we found that Reese’s Pieces has fewer calories. The protein and sugar is about the same in each candy, but the Reese’s PB cups has about half of the saturated fat as Reese’s Pieces. The Reese’s PB Cups is our pick, but that doesn’t mean we’d choose them over the Pieces if offered, and vice-versa! It’s just our pick for this comparison. It applies to these specific products, not automatically to every pumpkin, miniature, or filled variation wearing the Reese’s name.
3. Candy Bars With Nuts
Healthiest: PayDay Peanut and Caramel
Unhealthiest: Almond Joy
PayDay, whose first ingredient is peanuts, wins in this match up. Yes Almond Joy does have fiber, but PayDay has less sugar, MUCH more protein (PayDay has 5 g protein in 40 g from its snack-size package label compared to 1 g for 34 grams Almond Joy) and ¼ of the saturated fat (Almond Joy has 7 g of sat fat in two snack size bars) as Almond Joy when we compared the Nutrition Facts for the same weights of candy.
4. Chocolate-Covered Caramel
Healthiest: Milk Duds
Unhealthiest: Rolo
We’ll admit it: Milk Duds may be winning more comparisons this year than we expected. We love that both list their Nutrition Facts using the same 30 g serving, so no conversion is needed. Milk Duds have fewer calories, less sugar and less saturated fat, and less added sugar too: 15 g versus 18 g in Rolo. Nutritionally, Milk Duds have the edge, overall, but Rolo does have less sodium (45 milligrams to Milk Duds’ 75, in their listed servings). Neither offers much by way of protein or dietary fiber. Also, the American Dental Association singles out sticky candies as problematic, since they stick around on teeth longer; depending on the mouths in question, that could sway this matchup in Rolo’s favor, no matter the label numbers.
5. Chewy Fruit Candy
Healthiest: Twizzlers Strawberry Twists
Unhealthiest: Starburst Original Fruit Chews
Though some people might assume Twizzlers’ nutrition label would be worse than Starburst’, we found the opposite (within the strawberry realm, at least). According to our bag of Strawberry Twizzlers, Twizzlers offer 90 calories, 11 grams of sugar and, rounded down to zero, a hint of saturated fat in their serving size of 28 grams. The Twizzlers’ wheat flour also means some of those carbs are starchy, as opposed to just taking up empty space, but we wouldn’t exactly call Twizzlers low-carb.
Starburst, on the other hand, have a shocking 2.5 grams of saturated fat per serving, for us six pieces that totaled 29 grams, plus 120 calories and 16 grams of added sugar. Though Starburst fall behind nutritionally gram-for-gram in this matchup, they can at least be portioned into twos that would contain only about 40 calories.
6. Gummies and Soft Fruit Candy
Healthiest: Haribo Goldbears
Unhealthiest: Sour Patch Kids Original
Although the calorie difference is small, Haribo Goldbears best them in this comparison, barely: by just 10 calories. According to its U.S. website for this product, a 30-gram serving of the reviewed Haribo contains 14 grams of sugar and 2 grams of protein. The kids, though rightly billed as fat-free, are by no means sugar-free: According to our U.S. Sour Patch label, their 30-gram serving size contains a whopping 24 grams of added sugar. Sour doesn’t necessarily equal less sweet. And, of course, neither candy is a big sugar savings that will obviate ADA concerns over chewy sweets or necessarily result in a dramatically different blood-sugar response from person to person.
7. Chocolate-Covered Mints
Healthiest: York Peppermint Patties
Unhealthiest: Junior Mints
York Peppermint Patties win this comparison handily, coming out ahead in calories, sugar content and (only slightly) saturated fat. Dark chocolate or not, Junior Mints’ reviewed label lists 25 grams of sugar per 30 grams. Though they at least are easily portioned into twos and fours, the reviewed York bag lists two patties, weighing 27 grams, for 100 calories, or about 50 apiece. Dark chocolate doesn’t count for much in Junior Mints’ favor: Nutritionally, it’s what else is in a food (like peppermint-y filling) and in its recipe that counts.
8. Hard Candy and Lollipops
Essentially tied: Dum-Dums and Jolly Rancher Original Hard Candy
At about 25 calories per reviewed lollipop (two are listed as containing 50), it’s no surprise Dum-Dums appear on more than one “healthiest Halloween candy” list, but their recipe isn’t necessarily healthier; they’re just smaller, in terms of portions. Our bag of original-flavor Jolly Rancher also lists two candies per serving, at 45 calories. We wouldn’t declare one healthy and the other unhealthy over a difference this small. Neither offers much by way of protein. Again, though, the ADA singles out hard candies as staying in the mouth a long time, which can affect teeth, though it does suggest eating Halloween candy during or soon after a meal, when there are other foods in your mouth.
The Halloween Candy Verdicts at a Glance
| Category | Our relative pick | Weaker choice in this pair | What decided it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chocolate bars | Kit Kat and Hershey’s Milk Chocolate are essentially tied | No meaningful loser | Small differences at equal weights |
| Peanut butter candy | Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups | Reese’s Pieces | Substantially less saturated fat; cups have more calories |
| Candy bars with nuts | PayDay | Almond Joy | Less sugar and saturated fat, more protein |
| Chocolate-covered caramel | Milk Duds | Rolo | Less sugar, saturated fat and fewer calories |
| Chewy fruit candy | Twizzlers Strawberry Twists | Starburst Original | Less sugar, saturated fat and fewer calories |
| Gummies and soft fruit candy | Haribo Goldbears | Sour Patch Kids Original | Less total sugar |
| Chocolate-covered mints | York Peppermint Patties | Junior Mints | Less sugar and fewer calories |
| Hard candy and lollipops | Dum-Dums and Jolly Ranchers are too close to call | No meaningful loser | Portion size matters more than the small label differences |
What to Take From This When You’re Buying the Bag
As we’ve seen, not every assumption is true when it comes to Halloween candy nutrition: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups come out ahead of Reese’s Pieces because the cups have less saturated fat, PayDay fares better against Almond Joy than expected, fruit-flavored candy may surprise you with its saturated fat and a candy’s wafers don’t necessarily make it lower in calories, by weight, than straight-up chocolate. And of course we’re comparing items by weight, since so many misconceptions seem to be size-related. Labels aside, of course, your mileage may vary nutritionally, and we wouldn’t hold minor differences between these products over someone’s head: You’re not required to chow down on any candy that doesn’t make you happy this October.
Methodology: U.S. manufacturer nutrition pages and published label information reviewed October 7, 2026. Equal-weight figures were calculated as the labeled nutrient amount divided by the labeled serving weight, multiplied by 30. Sugar figures in the comparison cards are total sugar; added sugar is identified separately where discussed. Rankings are editorial comparisons, not a validated health score. The Sour Patch Kids manufacturer specification is dated 2023, and the linked Almond Joy SmartLabel was updated in 2024. Recipes and sizes can change, so the package you buy takes precedence.
Cory Jones has spent 20 years in media and publishing and now leads the data and editorial operation behind The Greenest. He built and maintains the site’s Neighborhood Wellness Score — a proprietary dataset scoring food access, walkability, air quality, healthcare access, and health outcomes across 18,356 U.S. ZIP codes, drawing on CDC PLACES data, EPA air quality readings, and verified location intelligence. He turned 50 last year, is a huge fan of Rancho Gordo beans, and tries to work out more than he actually works out.
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