Halloween, one of the more prominent staples of the fall season. If there are pumpkins and multi-colored leaf decorations on store shelves, there will also be big bags of different kinds of candy. Candy is known to be sweet, nutty, and even sour. However, as the years go by you may start getting bored of your favorite chocolate bar and move on to like a sour or sweet type of candy. 

Studies show that over time as we get older, our taste buds start to change. Our taste buds also begin to shrink, or atrophy, and do not function as well. This results in decreased sensitivity to taste, typically affecting salty or sweet, and eventually sour or bitter foods. This is part of the reason why people tend to change what kind of candy the prefer.

While trick-or-treating sophomore, Isabella Dainels, would always look forward to getting all the chocolate candy and would give all the gummy-sour related candy to her younger sister. Daniels at the time preferred chocolate then sweet and sour candy, now she prefers getting the sweet and sour candy and isn’t a big fan of chocolate like she was before.

“When I was eight years old and younger, my family and I would go trick-or-treating often. I remember always being so excited just to go and get chocolate from all of my neighbors. The main chocolates that I liked at the time were Snickers, Twix, and KitKats. Every time I would get candy other than those specific chocolates, I would give it to my younger sister. When I got into middle school, I think that was when I stopped liking chocolate as a whole. Now I like things like Sour Patch Kids, Trolli Gummy Worms, Mike and Ikes and plenty more,” said Daniels.

 Sometimes the transition between chocolate and sweet and sour candy is vice versa. Some people liked the sweet and sour candy before they discovered their love for chocolate. AP Human Geography teacher, Ashley Hicks, says that when she was growing up, she preferred sweet and sour candy before being dedicated to her love for chocolate of all sorts. 

“As a kid and a little bit of my teenage years, I was in love with sweet candy. If it was gummy worms, gummy bears, LifeSavers, it didn’t matter, I just absolutely loved them or things related to those types of candy. Then when I was in college I started liking chocolate. Little by little I started, sort of, separating myself from my favorite sweet candy and eating chocolate. I never really liked chocolate but as I got older I just randomly found myself loving chocolate and now I can’t get enough of everything chocolate,” said Hicks.

There are people who are just stuck in the middle and can’t decide which kind of candy they prefer. Some people like junior, Lindsey Estrello, have a love for both chocolate and sweet and sour candy. Growing up she didn’t mind having a combination of both types of candy in her trick-or-treat bucket.

“If I’m being honest, I love both types of candy equally. When I trick-or-treated I wasn’t picking over which type of candy I mostly wanted. Just as long as I was having a good time and getting some pretty good candy. I’ve just always been a lover of both and I hope that won’t change any time soon,” said Estrello.

Freshman, Trinity Martinez, is also a big fan of both types of candy and is indecisive when choosing which is her favorite. She would mainly focus on her love for Halloween and not be picky when it came down to the candy she got from her neighbors. If she had more candy than the other, she was more than okay. 

“I love both sweet candy and chocolate. All I know is that I am not a picky person when it comes down to candy or food in general. Since I was younger all I focused on was just making sure I at least went trick-or-treating with my friends and if I had more chocolate than sweet candy, that’s fine by me,” said Martinez. 

When it comes down to Halloween candy, it can be hard to choose from. Some people grew up loving chocolate then ended up going for sweet and sour candy as they got older, while others preferred the other way around, and other people can’t decide which is better. Halloween candy is surely to crave about.