Everybody likes junk food, right? At least every once in a while if not more frequently. Even health-conscious bodybuilders have a “cheat” day.

But when people are jonesing for some junk food, what do they reach for? A website called Casinos.com culled information from Google Trends; they measured the search volume of 32 popular snacks and candies by state, looking at a year’s worth of trends going back to July 17, 2022.

sweet candy junk fook children delice pattern background
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By the way, according to Casinos.com, the term junk food was first coined way back in the 1950s and celebrates all food high in fats, sugar, salt, carbs, and calories.

From Casinos.com, here are some of the ground rules:

For the purposes of this research, we left out fast food restaurants such as McDonald's, Burger King, and KFC as they are worthy of their own bespoke nationally celebrated day (National Fast Food Day, November 16). Likewise, we didn't include drinks or sodas, and basically, anything you can consider healthy.

The number one junk food snack in the United States is Sour Patch Kids; seven states had them #1. Likewise, Animal Crackers (5) and Kit Kat (5) both performed well in the research.

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But what is New Jersey’s favorite junk food? It’s a cookie: Chips Ahoy! to be precise.

Chips Ahoy! THINS THIN-credible Cookie Jar
Jason Kempin
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The cookies were followed by Kit Kats and Sour Patch Kids.

Photo by Justin on Unsplash
Photo by Justin on Unsplash
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There are some surprises in the research: Reese’s only appeared once, as Ohio’s favorite snack, but wasn’t in the top three of any other state. Similarly, Oreos were the favorite in only one state, Iowa, and Swedish Fish made the top three in just two states, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania.

On the other hand, Animal Cracker took top honors in five states. Who knew?

Casino.com
Casino.com
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Every Movie Theater Candy, Ranked:

See How School Cafeteria Meals Have Changed Over the Past 100 Years

Using government and news reports, Stacker has traced the history of cafeteria meals from their inception to the present day, with data from news and government reports. Read on to see how various legal acts, food trends, and budget cuts have changed what kids are getting on their trays.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.

You can now listen to Deminski & Doyle — On Demand! Hear New Jersey’s favorite afternoon radio show any day of the week. Download the Deminski & Doyle show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now.

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