Adults are only supposed to have 25 grams of added sugar a day and doctors said many people sometimes eat that much in one sitting!
Endocrinologist Dr. Archana Sadhu with Houston Methodist Hospital said moderation needs to be taken more seriously as sugar-related health complications are on the rise.
“We’re not just talking about sugar. We’re talking about all the cascade of events that happen around consuming excess calories and that type of calories they are that directly play into sugar,” Dr. Sadhu explained.
Some of the health complications include high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney disease, high cholesterol, and cancer.
Nerds, Sour Patch Kids, and Swedish Fish candies are made of 80-90+ percent sugar.
While the Halloween staple, candy corn, contains 74% sugar.
Many people are tempted to go for low-calorie options like hard candies (or dark chocolate, which contains healthful antioxidants) but those are about 50% sugar in a handful of pieces.
The best option for sugar count is surprisingly Twizzlers at 38 grams (per 100 grams) coming in with less than half of the sugar others have.
Even if you dismiss sugar content for special occasions, like Halloween, Dr. Sadhu said most people are consistently eating too much sugar on a daily basis. She said examining sugar quantity should be more important than counting calories.
“Even foods that we consider healthy such as a serving of cereal... we think Honey Nut Cheerios is a great breakfast? Already has 30% of our daily intake, and then you know just condiments, even a Yoplait yogurt has about 25% of our daily intake. So, even healthy foods we’re getting too much sugar and then you add extra foods like cookies, cakes, and candies and we’re well above the top,” Dr. Sahu said.
According to one study by Snusboss, the following popular candies contain this much sugar per 100 Grams:
Rank; Product Name; Sugar Content per 100 Grams
1) Nerds Candy 93
2) Sour Patch Kids 80
3) Swedish Fish 77
4) Candy Corn 74
5) Skittles (Original) 73
6) Sugar Babies 73
7) Sweet Tarts 73
8) Charms Blow Pops 72
9) Werther’s Candies 69
10) Dum Dum Pop 69
11) Air Head 69
12) 3 Musketeers 67
13) York Peppermint Pattie 67
14) Tootsie Roll Pop 65
15) M&Ms (Original) 63
16) Rolo Candy 63
17) Heath Bar 61
18) Mars Bar 61
19) Jolly Ranchers 61
20) Toblerone Bar 61
21) Mike and Ike 60
22) Milky Way Bar 59
23) Laffy Taffy 59
24) Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar 58
25) Nestle Crunch Bar 58
26) Whoppers 57
27) Hershey’s Kisses 56
28) Dove Milk Chocolate Bar 56
29) Starbursts 55
30) Kit Kat 54
31) Baby Ruth Bar 54
32) Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Bar 54
33) Reese’s Pieces 53
34) Salt Water Taffy 53
35) Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup 52
36) Peanut M&M’s 52
37) Snickers Bar 52
38) 100 Grand Bar 52
39) Tootsie Roll 52
40) Hershey’s Krackel Bar 51
41) Twix Bar 50
42) Andres Chocolate Mints 50
43) Mr. Goodbar 50
44) Funables Fruit Snacks 50
45) Ring Pop 50
46) Dove Dark Chocolate Bar 47
47) Almond Joy 47
48) Haribo Goldbears 47
49) Sour Punch Twists 47
50) Mounds Bar 44
51) Whatchamacallit Bar 44
52) Twinkie 42
53) Butterfinger 41
54) Red Vines 40
55) Twizzlers 38
Sources include YouGov and Walmart.