The candy Bill Gates would hand out for Halloween

There’s no way you could walk up to Bill Gates’ Medina home, say trick-or-treat, and score a mini Butterfinger. But, the billionaire is fond of a new candy that’s been “unjunked.”

Gates writes on his blog Gates Notes about a new candy he was given a sample of this summer. He says it looked and tasted like the most popular candies we’ve been eating since we were kids.

“Only after trying it did I learn that it had been ‘unjunked,’ that is, many chemicals, corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, artificial flavors and colors had been removed, along with a significant amount of the sugar,” he writes.

The candy comes from a company called Unreal. They say their purpose in creating the candy was to prove that all of the junk and high amounts of sugar in many of our most popular foods doesn’t not need to be there in the first place.

If they can make healthier candy, that still tastes good, then other foods can also be made in this way.

Many children will trick-or-treat for piles of candy that’s loaded with fat and sugar. Gates notes that young people in the U.S. get as much as half their calories from junk food and beverages. Teens consume an average of 24 teaspoons of corn syrup per day.

How much candy will you allow your kids to have for Halloween?

The company Unreal got its start on a Halloween night a few years ago when founder Michael Bronner started looking over his son’s haul and wanted to throw half of it away because it had no nutritional value.

Later, he started working with a chef to create unjunky versions of kids’ favorite candies.

Unreal candy comes in five varieties. Overall, it contains an average of 45 percent less sugar, 13 percent less fat, 23 percent fewer calories, 149 percent more protein and 250 percent more fiber.

The label says it’s made with all real food ingredients – no corn syrup, no hydrogenated oils, and no synthetic colors.

They work hard to ethically source their ingredients, like traceable cacao beans, and sustainable, organic palm oil. The dairy is from cows raised without antibiotics or added hormones. And the candy is made in the USA.

The company’s name, by the way, is simple, Bronner says, “When somebody does something incredible you don’t say ‘wow that was real’ you say ‘that was unreal.'”

Locally, Unreal is sold at Target, QFC and Fred Meyer. There’s probably a reasonable amount of it at Bill Gates’ house too. He says it’s “fantastic.”

By LINDA THOMAS

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