The exact number of treats it's "okay" for kids to have at Halloween.

Halloween is on Monday. Which means tonight, tomorrow and all weekend you are likely to have little kids dressed up as ghosts, witches and that terrifying child from Stranger Things banging on your door demanding lollies.

Halloween has become an excuse for cosplay and a free pass to shovel a whole lot of rubbish into your mouth. And your kids’ mouths. And your own again when you’ve confiscated their plastic-pumpkin lolly bucket and they’ve gone to bed.

Listen to Holly and Andrew talk to Susie Burrell about why Halloween treats are bullsh*t:

BUT, not everyone is happy with the “just let the belt out another notch or two” approach to yet another holiday (I think that means in addition to Christmas and Easter, neither of which have anything to do with eating at all, of course).

Enter Susie Burrell, who, here at Mamamia, we have always loved for her no-nonsense, no cutting-out-of-food-groups approach to eating and health. Susie has never once told us to quit sugar. But this week she did tell us to rein in the lollie-madness of Halloween.

“Halloween is one day,” she says. “But the problem is, it will go on for a week, treat-wise.”

Take a look through some healthy halloween treats

“This is the time when treats should be consumed,” she says.

Well, thank God for that. But the issue is, how many treats?

“I think three or four individual pieces [of lollies or chocolate] and then rationed one per day for a period of time… Parents need to regulate how many houses their kids trick or treat at. Let them choose the three or four and then you put the rest of them away. They’ve had input, they’ve had a reward, but the parents are in control of it.”

The other thing is how big the chocolates are. “[Kids are] little, they need small things. Buy mini-chocolates, not full-size. They shouldn’t have adult-sized treats. Little kids’ ice-creams, not Magnums.”

And the million-dollar question. What’s a ‘good’ bad treat? Lollies or chocolate?

“Chocolate,” says Susie, making all our dreams come true. “Choose the chocolate over lollies. Lollies are just so concentrated in sugars and so bad for the teeth and so easy to over-consume. Chocolate is much easier to portion, too.”

We think you have just been given permission to steal half of your kids’ choccy stash. Enjoy.

Check out Susie’s blog with more healthy Halloween recipes, here. 

Hear the full conversation on the latest episode of This Glorious Mess here: