Halloween Candy: What's Really Inside the Wrapper

Kids aren't the only ones who get excited about candy. Come on, admit it... you get just as thrilled to eat their leftover candy from Halloween night.

In fact, Americans eat approximately 24 pounds of candy every year. But do you really know what exactly you're eating?

Unfortunately, today there are so many more ingredients mixed into candy than the days of old when you could actually pronounce the ingredients in your chocolate bar.

For example, the infamous candy corn contains Blue No. 1, which is a synthetic dye used in soaps, shampoos and other cosmetics. Candy corn also contains Yellow No. 5, a dye that's found in DayQuil, wax that's used to polish your car and fortune cookies. M&M's, one of the highest selling chocolate candies, have the ingredient Yellow No. 6 that has been linked to hyperactivity in small children.

Just because certain candies have ingredients that you should eat with caution, it doesn't mean there aren't any that are safe. When buying, or before digesting your candy, look at the label to make sure it's a safe candy. A good rule of thumb is this: if you wouldn't eat it, would you let your children?

Registered Dietitian, spokesperson and media personality with a private practice in New York City, Keri Gans, shares what's really inside your candy wrapper, as well as some of the better candies to eat.