Candy scam.

One look at the Almond Nougat. Caramel Drops. Peanut Butter Crunch, and other Weight Watchers Whitman's chocolate candies and many a dieter will lose his or her head.

Who needs the fruits and vegetables that the Weight Watchers program recommends when you can snack on something like Pecan Crowns or Coconut Crispy Buttercream Crunch or English Toffee Squares?

Most of the labels advertise the calories, fat, and fiber in just one piece, making them look like candy that won't show up on your waistline. Not so fast.

It turns out that Weight Watchers candies are essentially ordinary chocolates that replace some of their sugar with sucralose (a safe artificial sweetener) and maltitol and sorbitol (sugar alcohols that have a "laxative effect" if you eat too much). They also have maltodextrin and polydextrose (two relatives of the corn sugar dextrose). Both are so poorly digested that the Nutrition Facts label counts them as fiber, which means it doesn't have to count their calories.

Fair enough. But each serving (3 to 7 pieces) still ends up with 150 to 180 calories and 5 or 6 grams of saturated fat.

Want a small, individually wrapped piece of chocolate? A Hershey's Kiss has just 25 calories, the same as a Weight Watchers Caramel Drop. At least the Kiss doesn't pretend to be diet food.

Whitman's: [phone].