Americans Stuff Their Faces With Record Amount Of Candy

Cue the Stephen Colbert “We’re #1” chant, because Americans have topped themselves in ingesting unhealthy snacks once again. Candy sales for Halloween 2011 will be $2.3 billion, a new record. According to the National Confectioner’s Association, the average American will spend $7.36 on Halloween candy this year. Allow Susan Whiteside, the company’s vice president of communications, to explain the trend in the least amusing way possible:

“Snack-sized versions of the candies that are popular year-round are the most popular at Halloween … The focus is typically on small, individually wrapped single-serve packages of chocolate and non-chocolate candies.”

So people serve all types of candies in smaller packages around Halloween? Got it. Another fun factoid: there will be 35 million pounds of candy corn produced this year, or about 27 pieces for each American — but you guys can have my serving.