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Food

5 Halloween-Candy Alternatives Kids Will Hate More Than Raisins

They may have been a hit when the kiddies were still in strollers — when they picked them out of those little red boxes with sticky fingers. If raisins are received while trick-or-treating, however, they will most likely be used as tiny projectiles — ones that are more likely to be thrown at you than at each other.

Here are five other offerings kids will be repulsed by — and what you might expect if you attempt to give them out on Halloween.

Fresh Fruit

If you thought raisins made annoying projectiles, you may not want to see what happens when an angry 9 year old has an apple in her hand.

Nuts

Aside from endangering a large percent of the population and enraging the parents of the peanut-allergy set, the fact is that nuts, while a lovely snack to accompany a cocktail, is of almost no interest to a generation that grew up going to nut-free schools, except in that they may seem vaguely dangerous. If they don’t throw them at you, their grownups likely will.

Loose change

Look bub, in an age when a candy bar can costs a couple of bucks — and more and more people are paying for their purchases with online apps — these kids may not even know what to do with pennies, nickels and dimes are. Except of course (you guessed it) use them as projectiles.

Dental floss

Yes, your dentist probably gives you at least one sample-size plastic floss dispenser every time get your teeth cleaned, and you’ve probably got a colorful collection and the noble idea that the children will need your generous gift once they’ve chewed all those actual treats. But beware: They may conspire to use their new spools of string to tie up a beloved pet. (Yours, not theirs.)

Sugarless gum

All we can say is watch where you step.

Liza Schoenfein is the food editor of the Forward. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter @LifeDeathDinner

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