Are you anticipating your kids to come home with giant bags of Halloween candy? Or perhaps you’ll have a good amount left over from the trick or treaters who visited your house. Whichever the case, most of us will end up with a good stash of candy, a stash we certainly don’t want our kids to devour in a week’s time. So just how long will all that candy last?
Here’s a look at the shelf life of candy from the folk’s at Candy Warehouse. They find:
General Guidelines:
For various types of candy, below are some general guidelines (and this assumes the products are unopened and properly stored).
ALTOID MINTS: 2 months.
AMORINI HEARTS: 2 months.
BUBBLE GUM (Bubble Yum, Bubblicious): 2 months.
CANDY BARS: Up to one (1) month, however, certain candies such as Necco Wafers, Smarties, Starburst Fruit Chews or Nerds can last much longer due to their consistency.
CANDY CORN: 2 months.
CARAMEL: 2 months.
CHOCOLATE (DARK): 2 months.
CHOCOLATE (MILK & WHITE): 2 months.
CONCESSION CANDY: Same as Candy Bars above.
GUM (Dentyne, Orbit, Wrigley’s, Freedent): 2 months.
GUMBALLS: 2 months.
GUMMI CANDY: 2 months.
HARD CANDY like jawbreakers, lemon drops and other solid sugar candies: 6 months.
JELLY BEANS: 2 months.
JORDAN ALMONDS (CONFETTI): 2 months.
LICORICE PASTELS: 2 months.
LOLLIPOPS: 2 months.
M&M’s CHOCOLATE CANDIES (and other candy-coated chocolates like dutch mints): 2 months.
NOVELTY CANDY: 2 months. Most novelties candies are encased in a plastic outer shell.
TWIZZLERS: 2 months.
UNWRAPPED BULK CANDY: 3 months, however, certain items such as Candy Roll Wafers, Runts, Rock Candy Strings and Candy Blocks will last longer due to their consistency.
WRAPPED BULK CANDY: 2 months.
And Remember, as a General Rule of Thumb:
No candy likes to be hot! High temperatures disfigure, melt (especially chocolate, even if they are coated), discolor, and cause candy to stick to wrappers, especially lollipops. Any candy with nuts will have a shorter life span and should be consumed within 1 month of ordering. Softer candies such as Caramel Creams or Brach’s Royals have a shorter shelf life due to their consistency. Do NOT refrigerate or freeze chocolates, as this causes the cocoa butter in the chocolate to rise to the surface and creates a white-ish, discoloring effect. Yet, in this case, the chocolate is still perfectly safe to eat, it just doesn’t look appetizing.
