So now that all the eggs are found, the candy half-eaten and the special Easter dresses all worn, I’ll share all those things you’d rather not know about Easter.
First, a note about compassion. We happened to stumble upon the Bag It movie during Easter weekend. A documentarian who goes to the extremes of trying to cut out all plastics from his life is an example to me of how much of our wasteful lifestyles actually do impact the entire world.
So this compassion for the entire world, its people and oceans was paired up with my compassion for my little toddler and how to make Easter fun for him right here and right now.
The stores and Easter egg hunts were overrun with disposable plastic toys and candy in disposable plastic wrappers. We have to make the best choices we can with the knowledge we have.
So in addition to considering our plastic and packaging consumption, I was considering the Easter candy itself.
Easter Candy
We limited the candy intake somewhat this year as compared to last, but the energy spasms from all-day candy consumption that our 3 year old experienced were still painful to watch.
The situation would’ve been much worse except for the fact that I found out what was in Easter candy. A few of the highlights: caster oil, chalk and a chemical that requires its own OSHA warning procedure just to handle it. Why companies decide we should then injest it is a mystery to me as I refuse to believe that they are intentionally trying to harm us. Then again, I’m naive about many things.
So here’s the list along with the simplified list of what’s in some of our favorite Easter candy. It’s a long one that should impress on you the prevalence of sugar; called sucrose, lactose and dextrose:
| Nerds Jelly Beans | Nerds Jelly Beans |
| Dextrose | Sugar |
| Sugar | Sugar |
| Corn syrup | Corn sugar |
| Water | Water |
| Modified food cornstarch | Modified food cornstarch |
| Malic acid | Fruit acid |
| Tapioca dextrin | Tapioca sugar |
| Carnauba wax | Palm wax |
| Natural and artificial flavors | Natural and artificial flavors |
| Colors added: blue 1, blue 2 lake, red 40 lake, yellow 5, yellow 5 lake, yellow 6 | Colors added: petroleum , petroleum, petroleum , petroleum , petroleum, petroleum |
| Sour Patch Jelly Beans | Sour Patch Jelly Beans |
| Sugar | Sugar |
| Glucose syrup | Sugar |
| Modified corn starch | Modified corn starch |
| Fumaric acid | Petroleum acid |
| Citric acid | Fruit acid |
| Artificial flavors | Artificial flavors |
| Artificial colors: red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6, blue 1 | Artificial colors: petroleum , petroleum , petroleum , petroleum |
| Lemonhead Jelly Beans | Lemonhead Jelly Beans |
| Sucrose | Sugar |
| Corn syrup | Corn sugar |
| Food starch-modified | Food starch-modified |
| Fumaric acid | Petroleum acid |
| Adipic acid | Petroleum acid |
| Malic acid | Fruit acid |
| Natural and artificial flavors | Natural and artificial flavors |
| Confectioner’s glaze | sugar |
| Lactic acid | Sugar chalk acid |
| Acacia (gum Arabic) | Sap |
| Citric acid | Fruit acid |
| Lemon juice concentrate | Lemon juice concentrate |
| Sodium lactate | Corn sugar salt |
| Carnauba wax | Palm wax |
| Sodium citrate | Salt |
| Titanium dioxide | Metal |
| Color: red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6, blue 1, blue 2 | Color: petroleum, petroleum , petroleum , petroleum , petroleum |
| White mineral oil (processing aid) | petroleum |
| 3 Musketeers | 3 Musketeers |
| Milk chocolate: sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, skim milk, lactose, milkfat, soy lecithin | Milk chocolate: sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, skim milk, milk sugar, milk fat, soy soy |
| Sugar | Sugar |
| Corn syrup | Corn sugar |
| Hydrogenated palm kernel oil and/or palm oil | Hydrogenated palm kernel oil and/or palm oil |
| Cocoa powder processed with alkali | Cocoa powder processed with salt |
| Egg whites | Egg whites |
| Artificial and natural flavors | Artificial and natural flavors |
| TWIX | TWIX |
| Milk chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, skim milk, lactose, milkfat, soy lecithin, PGPR, artificial flavors | Milk chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, skim milk, milk sugar, milk fat, soy soy, caster bean oil, artificial flavors |
| Sugar | Sugar |
| Enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid) | Enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, nicotine, metal, corn soy petroleum, soy, bacteria acid) |
| Hydrogenated palm kernel oil and/or palm oil | Hydrogenated palm kernel oil and/or palm oil |
| Corn syrup | Corn sugar |
| Skim milk | Skim milk |
| Dextrose | Sugar |
| Salt | Salt |
| Cocoa powder | Cocoa powder |
| Baking soda | Baking soda |
| Soy lecithin | Soy soy |
| Artificial flavor | Artificial flavor |
| Snickers | Snickers |
| Milk chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, skim milk, lactose, milkfat, soy lecithin, artificial flavors | Milk chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, skim milk, milk sugar, milk fat, soy soy, artificial flavors |
| Peanuts | Peanuts |
| Corn syrup | Corn sugar |
| Sugar | Sugar |
| Milkfat | milk fat |
| Skim milk | Skim milk |
| Partially hydrogenated soybean oil | Partially hydrogenated soy bean oil |
| Lactose | milk sugar |
| Salt | Salt |
| Egg whites | Egg whites |
| Chocolate artificial flavor | Chocolate artificial flavor |
| Milky Way | Milky Way |
| Milk chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, skim milk, chocolate, lactose, milkfat, soy lecithin, artificial flavors | Milk chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, skim milk, chocolate, milk sugar, milk fat, soy soy, artificial flavors |
| Corn syrup | Corn sugar |
| Sugar | Sugar |
| Hydrogenated palm kernel oil and/or palm oil | Hydrogenated palm kernel oil and/or palm oil |
| Skim milk | Skim milk |
| Milkfat | milk fat |
| Cocoa powder processed with alkali | Cocoa powder processed with salt |
| Malted barley | Malted barley |
| Lactose | milk sugar |
| Salt | Salt |
| Egg whites | Egg whites |
| Chocolate | Chocolate |
| Artificial flavor | Artificial flavor |
| Reese’s | Reese’s |
| Milk chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, nonfat milk, lactose, milkfat, soy lecithin, PGPR, emulsifier | Milk chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, nonfat milk, milk sugar, milk fat, soy soy, caster bean oil |
| Peanuts | Peanuts |
| Sugar | Sugar |
| Dextrose | Sugar |
| Salt | Salt |
| TBHQ (Preservative) | BUTANE PETROLEUM (Preservative) |
| York | York |
| Sugar | Sugar |
| Corn syrup | Corn sugar |
| Semi-sweet chocolate: chocolate, sugar, cocoa, milkfat, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, PGPR, emulsifier, vanillin, artificial flavor | Semi-sweet chocolate: chocolate, sugar, cocoa, milk fat, cocoa butter, soy soy, caster bean oil, vanilla, artificial flavor |
| Invert sugar | Invert sugar |
| Egg whites | Egg whites |
| Oil of peppermint | Oil of peppermint |
| milk | milk |
Product Professor 