Can Candy Hurt You?

by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

(Page 2 of 3)

By and large, candy isn't considered a threat to health, with the exception of the hazard of dental caries, or tooth decay. By definition, candy contains sugar, which is the prime source of sustenance for the ever-present bacteria responsible for cavities.

Some people are also convinced that in children, sweets are a major culprit in causing hyperactivity and other behavior and cognitive (learning) problems. Recent evidence suggests that it's unlikely. Results of a study examining this issue, funded by the National Institutes of Health, were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in February 1994. Two groups of youngsters — one suspected of being sugar-sensitive, the other presumed not to be — were fed a variety of carefully calibrated diets, including one high in sucrose (table sugar). The researchers concluded that the higher-than-normal sugar regimen had no significant effect on either group of youngsters. Despite this conclusion, some physicians feel there may be isolated cases of unusual sensitivity in some children, whether to sugar or to some other dietary element. The child's doctor is the best source of advice and should be consulted before any dietary manipulation is attempted.

Sometimes, as with any food, health and safety hazards may crop up in candy, notes Gene Newberry, acting director of CFSAN's office of field programs, the center's enforcement arm, which is on the lookout for such introduced hazards. Carelessness in quality control and sanitation — violation of the good manufacturing practices on which the safety of all our packaged foods depends — might, for example, result in contamination with microorganisms that could cause illness. But this has happened, according to Newberry, only on rare occasions; in most cases, the contamination has been discovered before the product has reached the public, so people have not been harmed.

"Responsible manufacturers," says Newberry, "keep up constant vigilance, especially at key points in production at which the product is particularly susceptible to accidental contamination. If safety deviations are discovered, production is halted and the situation is corrected immediately." FDA backs up this basic manufacturers' responsibility with its own unannounced plant inspections, taking random samples for analysis.

FDA also looks closely at all imported foods, including candy, to be sure they contain no substances, such as flavors and coloring agents, not approved by FDA as safe for human consumption.

Another important candy safety hazard is the risk of choking, especially in small children. In some cases, the risk is inherent in the product: A hard candy, such as a sourball or lollipop, or a cluster of nuts, while perfectly safe for an older child or adult, could easily block an infant's or toddler's far narrower windpipe. Such products should be off-limits for youngsters under the age of about 5 years.

Otherwise safe candy can be made unsafe when potentially harmful non-food components are introduced; FDA can ban such components as unsafe adulterants. Here, FDA's authority is limited to elements not of "practical functional value" to the product, according to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Thus, for example, FDA can't ban lollipop sticks, which serve an essential functional purpose, but can prohibit items that are not truly functional. If a manufacturer attempts to incorporate prizes or trinkets inside a food product, for instance, FDA can take action.

"Importers, from time to time, attempt to bring in such products as chocolate Easter eggs with small toys inside," Newberry reports. "We don't want them on the market because they're a real choking hazard. We can, and do, prohibit them as nonnutritive substances that are definitely not essential to the product itself."

Label Requirements

By law, all packaged foods must bear a label listing ingredients in order of predominance; candy is no exception. Every package of hard candies or chocolate bar you buy must offer such a listing.

As part of the new food labeling rules under the 1990 Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, manufacturers must include substantially more nutrition information on labels than in the past. As of May 8, 1994, every candy product (along with other packaged foods) must have on its label an ingredients list plus a new-format data summary, headed "Nutrition Facts," designed to help health-conscious consumers best relate content to nutrition concerns. The new labels include such information as calorie content; such elements as carbohydrates, fats and protein; key vitamins and minerals; and, for each, its "daily value" percentage on the basis of a 2000-calorie diet. (See "Nutrition Facts to Help Consumers Eat Smart" in the May 1993 FDA Consumer and "Making It Easier to Shed Pounds" in this issue.) An example: The label on one popular brand of chocolate-with-peanuts bar, using the new format, includes the information that it provides 280 calories, 8 percent of the daily value for carbohydrate, and a significant 34 percent of the daily value for saturated fat.

The mandatory May 8, 1994, deadline for the new labels applies not to sales but to the actual incorporation of the label in the packaging. "Consumers may still see the old labels for some time," Michelle Smith notes, "depending on when the packaging was completed and the label applied." The earlier labels carried the required ingredients list, and some also included nutritional data, which were then optional.

So now if you decide to indulge your "sweet tooth" you know exactly what you're biting into!

About the Author

www.fda.gov
FDA is A United States government body that oversees medical devices, including contact lenses, intraocular lenses, excimer lasers and eyedrops. In the US, these products must be approved by the FDA before they can be marketed.