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The last thing on your mind when enjoying a yummy piece of candy is whether it contains caffeine — but that’s actually a valid concern. Like it or not, some versions of candy do harbor several milligrams of buzzy caffeine. But it’s mostly ones made with coffee or chocolate. Since chocolate comes from cacao beans, the amount of caffeine varies depending on the type of chocolate and the concentration. In a nutshell, a dark chocolate bar has far more caffeine than milk chocolate, and white chocolate has none at all.
That’s because it contains no solid cacao bean parts, only cocoa butter, which has no caffeine. As for your favorite candies, other than pure chocolate bars, the caffeine content is typically minimal, and some have zero caffeine. For comparison’s sake, a regular 8-ounce cup of brewed coffee has about 95 to 200 milligrams of caffeine, give or take depending on the type of beans and brewing methods. Your sweet treat is far less likely to send you buzzing through the day or night.
Caffeine in candy varies based on size, but here’s the reported caffeine content in a few favorites. Some candies with zero caffeine are Twizzlers and Skittles, while a single Hershey’s Kiss, a Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme Bar, and six Whopper balls each have only 1 milligram. Those with 3 milligrams include popular candy bars such as Butterfinger, 100 Grand, Oh Henry!, and 5th Avenue, followed by 4 milligrams in Toblerone, Twix, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Then there’s the straight-up chocolate bars, which deserve a closer look.
A deeper dive on caffeine in chocolate candy
Chocolate candy is typically less caffeinated than a cup of coffee, but it’s still in there. You’ll get the biggest caffeine boost from dark chocolate bars, and the higher the percentage of cocoa solids, the more caffeine. Fortunately, dark chocolate candy bars often state the cocoa percentage, as it indicates purity and is desirable to those seeking valuable antioxidants — the darker, the better. For example, the USDA notes that there are 12.2 milligrams in 1 ounce of dark chocolate with cocoa solids in the 45% to 59% range, while there are 22.7 milligrams per ounce when the cocoa solids hit 70% to 85%.
Milk chocolate candies are a good choice if you’re seeking treats with less caffeine. They have fewer cocoa solids, plus more milk solids, more sugar, and at least 10% non-alcoholic chocolate liquor, which combined dilute the mixture and cut down on caffeine content. In a typical 1.5-ounce bar of milk chocolate, you’ll be consuming almost 9 milligrams of caffeine — considerably less than dark chocolate candies. It’s worth mentioning that chocolate, particularly the dark versions, have another resident living inside those solid cacao beans.
It’s called theobromine and is responsible for that bitter aftertaste in dark chocolate. It’s actually much more prominent than caffeine in cocoa solids. The two combined provide a potent natural energy boost by stimulating the central nervous system, producing a sense of euphoria and alertness. As a reminder, the maximum amount of caffeine you can safely consume each day is 400 milligrams. So, you’ll want to think twice about nibbling dark chocolate before bedtime, and go easy on the volume if you’re extra sensitive to caffeine.
