The Worst Halloween Candies You Should Never Hand Out to Kids

Cameron Jenkins
1

Candy Corn

Henry Horenstein

The candy corn debate is severely polarizing. Are they delicious or aren’t they? For the purpose of this article, I’m going to say they aren’t — but feel free to debate among yourselves.

2

Twizzlers

twizzlers candy
The Washington Post

If you already aren’t a fan of licorice, giving it a strawberry flavor doesn’t really help.

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3

Whoppers

whoppers candy
fstop123

Out of all the chocolate candies out there, these fall short. The crunchy malted milk center is surrounded by a chocolate coating that many Reddit users describe as having an “off” taste.

4

Bit O Honey

bit o honey candy
The Washington Post

Billed as a honey toffee with bits of almond, you would think the taste would match. Unfortunately, the texture and flavor don’t match up.

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5

Circus Peanuts

circus peanuts candy on a white background
pamela_d_mcadams

The orange creamsicle color of these peanut-shaped marshmallows can be a tad deceiving. They’re actually banana-flavored. The weird mash-up leaves many bewildered instead of wanting more.

6

Candy Buttons

candy dots
Steve Cicero

Hard candy dots on a sheet of paper look fun. But in reality, they taste like sugary buttons instead of actual flavors.

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7

Dots

dots candy
MediaNews Group/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images

No matter how fresh of a box you have, these gummy dots somehow always taste stale? They are hard to chew and all around the lowest on the list of gummy candies.

8

Necco Wafers

necco wafers
Boston Globe

Anything that can be compared to a “thin puck of chalk,” as one Reddit user put it, probably can be left out of Halloween baskets.

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9

Runts

colorful fruit shape hard candy
EasyBuy4u

Despite their fruit resemblance, the flavor of runts tends to be more similar to medicine. The hard exterior makes them difficult to crack and you almost never get to enjoy the crumbly center.

10

Tootsie Roll

tootsie roll candies
Victor Spinelli

Chocolate lovers may be let down by the chewy Toostie Roll, which can be considered as seriously lacking in indulgent chocolate flavor.

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11

Butterscotch Candy

orange gold butterscotch candy pile display
DrewTraveler

Chances are, if it lingers at the bottom of your Grandma’s purse it probably won’t be a winner this Halloween. Both can be said of this butterscotch hard candy.

12

Bazooka Bubble Gum

bazooka bubble gum
Sonia Recchia

Beyond the comics that come in the wrapper, this bubble gum is sort of lackluster. It’s hard to chew and loses flavor quickly.

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13

3 Musketeers

3 musketeers candy bar
The Washington Post

With all of the truly tasty chocolate bars out there, this one gets lost for being sort of one note. It’s filled with nougat and covered in chocolate. Nothing more to it.

14

Almond Joy

almond joy
The Washington Post

Not everyone loves coconut in their candy. And that’s reason enough to leave this coconut, almond and chocolate concoction off your shopping list this year.

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15

Red Hots

redhots candies
fstop123

Cinnamon-flavored candies are not for everyone. And truly they shouldn’t be. When it comes to Halloween candy let’s stick to sweet and chocolatey.

16

Milk Duds

milk duds
CatLane

These hard little balls of caramel wrapped in chocolate are a nightmare for your teeth. They’re hard to chew and instantly get stuck to your gums.

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17

Saltwater Taffy

saltwater taffy
Smith Collection/Gado

Tearing this sweet from its wrapper is half of the battle. The other half is being able to ever stop chewing it.

18

Gummy Hamburgers

gummy hamburger
Dmytro Skrypnykov

Despite looking like part of a McDonald’s Happy Meal, these gummy burgers really don’t have much else going for them.

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19

Dum Dums

thousands of dum dum pops
photographer3431

Sure they come in tons of great flavors, but when it comes down to it, they’re too small to ever really feel like a treat.

20

Pretzels

full frame shot of pretzels
Amir Besirevic / 500px

Right up there with non-candy items, like small toys and trinkets, savory options like pretzels and chips are not preferred in Halloween baskets.

Headshot of Cameron Jenkins

Cameron (she/her) is a staff writer for Good Housekeeping, where she covers everything from holidays to food. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she received a B.A. in magazine journalism. In her spare-time she can be found scrolling TikTok for the latest cleaning hacks and restaurant openings, binge-watching seasons of Project Runway or online shopping.

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