Claire D.

Candy Bar Argument

Did you know that $12.6 billion was spent on chocolate last year? It is this sort of fact that demonstrate that everyone loves this delightful, tasty treat. However, candy companies should make changes to these candies involving people's health. Mars and Hershey candy companies should continue making the candy, but make changes. One of the details that makes me have this opinion on these candy companies is that there are child labor problems in other places where kids are forced to harvest the cocoa. Also, they should make the change of lowering the prices of the candy since some of it has benefits, and that they should replaced most of the milk chocolate and candies with dark chocolate, since dark chocolate has lots of great health benefits that milk chocolate does not.

One reason Mars and Hershey companies should make changes is because of child labor issues in other countries. For example, roughly 1.8 million kids work on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast and Ghana. Also, the children are forced to work on the farms each day, either with very little pay, or no pay at all. In addition, kids are often taken out of school just so they can work on the cocoa farms full-time. Finally, the children often have to walk numerous miles each day during work. It is not fair to these kids that they have no education because they are forced to work. Kids in these places are losing their childhood to child labor. Archer Daniels Midland is a big farming company that is based in Illinois. It said it works to "Actively develop, support and fund several programs to help eliminate the worst forms of child labor.” This is saying that this huge company is trying to make a change by donating money, and having more people become aware of this growing problem. It is a great thing that such a big company is trying to raise awareness for this important cause.

Another reason why Mars and Hershey should make changes to the candy is so they can lower the prices, to make it available to more people. Surprisingly, some of the candy those companies produce has health benefits. For example, chewing gum helps people deal with stress. Also, studies show that people who eat candy regularly often live longer than people who do not. In addition, sugar helps people persevere longer in a difficult task. Finally, sugar also makes people focus more. “Things candy companies want you to think are healthy are full of sugar,” says Deborah Balin of the Union of Concerned Scientists. She is saying that even though that people can benefit from candy, candy companies want to keep it a secret about all of the sugar really in the candy.

The last reason that the two candy companies should make changes to their candy is that they should replace the milk chocolate in their candies with dark chocolate, because of its health benefits. For example, dark chocolate helps prevent your risk of cardiovascular disease. Also, dark chocolate helps fight inflammation, pain or swelling inside the body. To add to that, milk chocolate has more sugar than dark chocolate. Finally, dark chocolate is very good for the heart. “These materials are anti-inflammatory," scientist John Finley said. That is, they bring down inflammation, or pain and swelling, inside the body. This helps prevent "some forms of cardiovascular disease.” Cardiovascular disease is caused by inflammation, which dark chocolate helps fight off. This quote is saying more about how beneficial dark chocolate can be, and some of the things that dark chocolate does, and even goes more into detail about them. Also, they should make the change of lowering the prices of the candy because some of it has benefits, and that they should replace most of the milk chocolate and candies with dark chocolate, since dark chocolate has lots of great health benefits that milk chocolate does not contain. In other words, by reducing swelling they lower the risk of various heart diseases.

Even though some people think that they should discontinue the candy, there are lots of reasons why people should just change them. While it may be true that sugar is the first cause of cavities, if Mars and Hershey candy companies use dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate, there will be a lot less cavities, because dark chocolate contains much less sugar than milk chocolate. Even if 1.8 million children are forced to work on cocoa farms to make the candy that we enjoy here in the U.S., our country is putting up a hard fight to end child labor in other countries. Some very large companies are even donating money to end this problem. Yes, most of the candy is bad for you in some ways, but candy provides thousands of people with jobs, and is carrying on a old tradition that these companies have been working very hard on to keep alive.

My friends and I love candy, but we hardly ever get to eat it because of all of the sugar. If these changes are made, more kids would be allowed to eat these sweets because it would be much better for you then it is now. Mars and Hershey candy companies should continue making the candy, but make changes to them. Because of child labor issues in other places including harvesting the cocoa, they should lower the prices of some of the candy due to its benefits, and finally companies should replace most of the milk chocolate in the candy with dark chocolate to make the sweets better for you. These are the reasons why I think that Mars and Hershey candy companies should make changes, but keep making candy.