--- title: Halloween Dangers: Halloween Candy and Other Scary Health Risks description: Kids dressed as zombies and teenagers in masks don't scare you? Here's a list of real things that pose risks on Halloween. canonical: https://time.com/3546868/halloween-health-risks-candy/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-31T12:00:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:06:08.988Z article:section: Health og:title: 4 Real Things To Fear On Halloween og:description: Beware these Halloween health risks og:url: https://time.com/3546868/halloween-health-risks-candy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f81a50a18936483/698763a82dce015bdf9db402/halloween-candy1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2856 og:image:height: 1607 og:image:alt: Halloween candy og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 4 Real Things To Fear On Halloween twitter:description: Beware these Halloween health risks twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f81a50a18936483/698763a82dce015bdf9db402/halloween-candy1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 4 Real Things To Fear On Halloween > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Oct 31, 2014 12:00 PM UTC  Halloween Tray Halloween Tray Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Oct 31, 2014 12:00 PM UTC While a good scare has [surprising health benefits](http://time.com/3543859/you-asked-is-scaring-myself-healthy/), Halloween arrives with some health risks. Kids dressed as zombies and teenagers in masks don’t scare you? Here are the real health hazards to fear come Halloween night. **Excessive Candy Consumption** Halloween is the high point of the year for the millions of Americans who love candy. Americans are expected to spend $2.5 billion on candy this Halloween, according to the National Confectioners Association. That money goes straight to the trick-or-treating bags of millions of kids, who collect an average of 3,500 to 7,000 calories on Halloween night, according to University of Alabama at Birmingham public health professor Donna Arnett. It’s hard to say how much of children eat, but the average 13-year-old boy would need to walk more than 100 miles to burn off those candy calories. **P** **edestrian Traffic** Halloween is the deadliest day of the year for young pedestrians, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A child pedestrian is four times more likely to die on Halloween than any other day. Many more are injured. Child safety advocate Janette Fennell suggests trick-or-treating in groups and taping reflective tape to costumes to stay safe on the road. As always, pedestrians should cross streets at corners and look carefully before walking. **Drunk Driving** Holidays are often the riskiest days to be on the road, and Halloween is no exception. The last time the holiday fell on a weekend, in 2011, 74 people died in drunk driving incidents, compared to about 27 people on an average day. Because Halloween falls on a Friday this year, your chances of encountering a drunk driver on the road may be especially high. That may not be reason enough to avoid the roads entirely, but watch for drivers that seem out of control. Of course, don’t drink if you need to drive yourself. **Marijuana Candy** It maysound far-fetched, but law enforcement officials in Colorado are warning parents to look out for candy that may be laced with marijuana. So-called edibles are legal in the state for adults over age 21, but local officials fear that young kids may wind up with some of the substance in their trick-or-treat bags. Marijuana-laced candy appears and tastes like other candy, so Denver [police](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wQdLzyN8AU) recommend that parents toss any candy that isn’t clearly packaged from a recognizable brand. **MORE**: [This Is What Pot Does To The Teenage Brain](http://time.com/3100613/pot-harms-teenage-brain/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3546868/halloween-health-risks-candy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3546868/halloween-health-risks-candy/"},"headline":"4 Real Things To Fear On Halloween","datePublished":"2014-10-31T12:00:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:06:08.988Z","description":"Beware these Halloween health risks","url":"https://time.com/3546868/halloween-health-risks-candy/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","Marijuana","Pot","cars","Drunk-driving","safety","halloween"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f81a50a18936483/698763a82dce015bdf9db402/halloween-candy1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f81a50a18936483/698763a82dce015bdf9db402/halloween-candy1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Halloween candy","caption":"Halloween candy","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3546868/halloween-health-risks-candy/","name":"4 Real Things To Fear On Halloween"}}]}] ```