Americans eat 25 pounds of candy per year

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Americans will eat an estimated 25 pounds of candy per-capita this year, while pumpkin growers will produce more than 1 billion pounds of the holiday gourds.

Illinois produced an estimated 427 billion pounds of pumpkins in 2010, with California, New York and Ohio each cultivating more than 100 million pounds of the Halloween porch staple, the U.S. Census Bureau said in a release Wednesday, citing Department of Agriculture figures.

Ninety-two percent of respondents to a 2005 survey said their neighborhoods are safe, and 78 percent said they had no fear of walking anywhere within a mile of their homes -- good news for the potential 41 million trick-or-treaters ages 5 to 14 who choose to walk door to door in search of sweets.

More than 1,100 manufacturing establishments employing more than 34,000 people made chocolate and cocoa products in 2009, led by California and Pennsylvania, and per-capita consumption of candy in 2010 was 24.7 pounds, the bureau said.

Also in 2009, more than 1,700 costume rental companies offered Halloween enthusiasts the opportunity to disguise themselves in style. The Census Bureau suggested Transylvania County, N.C., Tombstone, Ariz., and Skull Creek, Neb., as great places to enjoy the holiday.