N.J. Dentist Holding Annual Halloween Cash For Candy Buyback
TOTOWA, N.J. (CBSNewYork) - A dentist in northern New Jersey is holding his 7th annual candy buyback this Halloween.
The cash for candy program is aimed at preventing the pain and annoyance of a cavity later for the little trick-or-treaters.
As WCBS 880's Levon Putney reported, the buyback held by Dr. Larry Kaplan lets parents do something good with all the candy their kids will collect on Halloween.
N.J. Dentist Holding Annual Halloween Cash For Candy Buyback
"We want to buy it back from them so they can put that in their piggy bank," Dr. Kaplan said.
He gives kids a dollar per pound for the sweets, plus a grand prize for whoever brings the heaviest bag of candy.
"Money beats cavities and also it's healthier to collect money in your piggy bank rather than get tooth decay," Dr. Kaplan told Putney.
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Kaplan's office, Dental 2000, will then send all the wrapped candy to the troops currently serving overseas.
"They get all the candy. Now, we don't want to have them to get all the cavities, so we have to have them use it in moderation, too," Kaplan said.
He added the goal is not to deprive kids of all the treats they'll collect on Halloween.
"We tell them to take their favorites and keep it home and just bring what they don't want here," he told Putney. "Everything should be done in moderation."
The buyback will be held at the Little Falls Shop Rite from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday and then at the Dental 2000 office in Totowa on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Monday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Controlling The Candy Craze In Your Home
Different parents have different ways of controlling the sugar overload that comes on Halloween, CBS 2's Cindy Hsu reported.
"I said to her 'when you get home you can pick one piece of candy and then we'll put the rest of it away for another day', then we don't take it out again," Samantha Benowitz said.
Sandi Taylor uses the holiday to teach her children.
"You know we just teach moderation and so we have a treat basket. We're trying to teach our older girls to have just a little bit at a time," she said.
Mother Sara Crudop suggests using a method called the 'Switch Witch', it's kind of like the tooth fairy.
"If you want her to come she can come at night and switch out a bunch of the candy for a toy or some kind of present," she explained.
Experts said that kids are used to candy and won't miss it once it's gone.
"They're used to birthday parties, they're used to sweets, they don't miss the candy once it's gone. But, the next day the candy needs to leave the house," Lauren Slayton from foodtrainers.com said.
There's also the matter of adults over-indulging in all of this candy. Experts cautioned that children watch everything that their parents do.
"So you want your children to have self-control. You have to model self-control yourself. So, maybe the family makes an agreement on no more than two pieces of candy a day," child psychologist, Dr. Jennifer Hartstein explained.
For those who do over-indulge experts added that Halloween does only come once a year.
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