With Halloween closing in, a TucsonVegan.com Research Associate went to the El Con Target store to find out what was available in the Halloween candy department. We were pleasantly surprised by the bountiful harvest that resulted, consisting of old favorites and new innovations:


Chocolate Mix Skittles
This is something the adults will love as much as, or more than, the kids: an assortment of S'mores, Vanilla, Chocolate Caramel, Cholocate Pudding, and Brownie Batter skittles. No bold fruit flavors here... just subtle chocolateyness. Every flavor is seriously good.
$2 gets you a bag of "about 18" 20g packets. A 2-packet serving has 160 calories, 15 fat calories, 2g of fat, 1.5g of saturated fat, 30g of sugars, and 5mg of sodium. Ingredients are sugar, corn syrup, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, less than 2% - cocoa powder processed with alkali, dextrin, modified corn starch, artificial and natural flavors, coloring (includes yellow 6 lake, red 40 lake, yellow 5 lake, blue 1 lake, yellow 5.) Made by Mars Snackfood USA.


Ghost Dots
These are perhaps the most innovative Halloween candy we found this year. They are small Mason Dots, with the usual fruit flavors, but with a ghostly glow-in-the-dark kind of look to them, and all the flavors are the same eerie color. So the flavor of the Dot in your hand is a mystery that can only be solved by eating it. And who doesn't love mysteries... and eating... both at the same time?
$2 gets you a bag of "about 18" 21g boxes. Each box has 70 calories, no fat, 5mg sodium, 17g of carbs, and 11g of sugars. Ingredients are corn syrup, sugar, modified food starch, malic acid, artificial and natural flavors, sodium citrate, artificial colors (fd&c blue 1) Made by Tootsie Roll Industries USA

Wonka Creepy Treats
These are slight variations on Willy Wonka classics dressed for Halloween. There are Banana Runts with slightly more texture than normal ("fungus toenails"), SweeTarts Skulls and Bones (which are actually shaped like little fruit-colored skulls and femurs), Banana Laffy Taffy ("Ear Wax"), and last but not least, "Nerds Giant Chewy Bumpy Warts" (which are grape-flavored, peanut-shaped, chewy, and yes, bumpy.) These are all tasty, very much in the Halloween spirit, and they display the kind of packaging ingenuity that would make Lee Iaccoca proud (while at the same time turning his tongue purple.)
$7.99 gets you 2.62 lbs (42 oz.) of this stuff, all of which is trans-fat-free, and all but the laffy taffy is fat-free.
Runts Fungus Tonails contain dextrose, maltodextrin, and less than 2% of corn syrup, calcium stearate, carnauba wax, artificial flavors, color added, yellow 5, yellow 5 lake.
Sweetarts Skulls and Bones contain dextrose, maltodextrin,malic acid, and less than 2% of calcium stearate, artificial flavors, blue 2 lake, red 40 lake, yellow 5 lake.
Nerds Bumpy Warts contain dectrose, sugar, corn syrup, water, modified cornstarch, and less than 2% of malic acid, gum arabic, carnauba wax, artificial flavor, color added blue 2 lake, red 40 lake. Made on equipment that also processes peanuts, nuts, milk, wheat, and soy.
Laffy Taffy Ear Wax contains corn syrup, sugar, palm oil, and less than 2% of mono- and diglycerides, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, salt, soy lecithin, artificial flavor, yellow 5. Made by Nestle USA.

Jolly Rancher Creepy Pops
These lollipops come in four flavors and colors: Eerie Apple (ghost shaped), Ghastly Grape (vampire shaped), Wacky Watermelon (Jack O'Lantern shaped), and Spooky Blue Raspberry (skull shaped.)
$2 gets you a bag of 24, 13g pops. Each pop delivers 45 calories, no fat, 15mg of sodium, 12g of carbs, 10g of sugars. Ingredients are sugar, corn syrup, malic acid, 2% or less of sodium lactate, natural and artificial flavor, artificial color (yellow 5, red 40, blue 1, yellow 6), sulfur dioxide to maintain freshness, and soy lecithin. Made in Brazil for the Hershey Company.

Twizzlers 110 Snack-Size Treats
This 3 lb., 1.4 oz (49.4 oz or 1.4 kg) $7.99 bag of Twizzlerliness has a number of varieties: traditional strawberry twists, pull-n-peel cherry, wild berry, and green apple, and the relatively unique "twizted punch" pull-n-peel with grape, fruit punch, and orange twisted together. The ingredients are corn syrup, wheat flour, sugar, 2% or less of palm oil, glyceryl monostearate, salt, cornstarch, glycerin, citric acid, potassium sorbate, and various artificial colors. These are made in Pennsylvania by the Hershey company, and they are kosher.

Wonka Mixed Berry variety bag
This 2.5 lb. $5.99 bag contains 85 pieces of Laffy Taffy and Nerds in various artificial berry flavors.
Nerds contain dextrose, sugar, malic acid, and less than 2% of corn syrup, artificial flavors, carnauba wax, color added, blue 1 lake, red 40 lake, yellow 5 lake.
Laffy Taffy contains corn syrup, sugar, palm oil, and less than 2% of malic acid, mono- and diglycerides, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, salt, soy lecithin, artificial flavors, blue 1, red 40. 1 box of nerds has 50 calories, 12g of sugar, and no fat. 5 bars of Laffy Taffy have 160 calories, 20 calories from fat, 2g fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 55mg sodium, 36g of carbs, 27 of which is sugar. Made by Nestle USA.

Mike and Ike Original Fruits
This $2, 10.5 oz. bag has 21 little boxes of Mike and Ike in the traditional flavors of cherry, lime, orange, lemon, and strawberry.
Each box has 150 calories, no fat, 30mg sodium, 38g of carbs, 27g of which is sugar. Ingredients: sugar, corn syrup, modified food starch, pear juice from concentrate, less than .5% of citric acid, malic acid, sodium citrate, confectioner's glaze, carnauba wax, white mineral oil, natural and artificial flavors, magnesium hydroxide, red #40, yellow #5,(tartrazine), yelloe #6, blue #1. Gluten free. Made in the USA by Just Born.