25 Pumpkin Spice Foods You Should Stay Far Away From

Sprouts Organic Pumpkin Spice Kale Chips ($5) sound like they were dreamt up by buzzword-happy food scientists, and the flavor isn't too far off. Kale chips shouldn't be sweet, much less pumpkin-spiced; we'll leave it at that.

No; just no. Pinnacle Pumpkin Pie Vodka ($15) tastes exactly as you imagine, which is to say: cloying sweet and artificial. It might make for a good gag gift, but beyond that we just can't recommend its purchase.

Ciao Bella Pumpkin Sea Salt Caramel ($7) had the potential to be so good, yet it let us down in a major way. First off, the caramel is all on the bottom. Womp womp. As for pumpkin: the company earns one point for using real pumpkin bits but minus three for it tasting really grainy and squash-like. Plus, the ice cream itself is icy as if it’s freezer burned.

If you're dying to try pumpkin spice candy corn, Gold Emblem Pumpkin Spice Candy Corn is a better option than Brach's. That said, it's painfully sweet, it lacks candy corn's honeyed note, and the only discernible spice is cinnamon.

Waxy in texture and potpourri-like in flavor, everything about these Hershey's Kisses Pumpkin Spice ($3) made us grimace. Stick to original Kisses if you know what's good for you.

As kefir fans, we really wanted to like Lifeway Kefir Pumpkin Spice ($5 for a 4-pack) but were put off by its unpalatably sour flavor, which just didn't jibe with the mild dose of spices.

We had high hopes for Engine 2 Apple Pumpkin Granola ($5) but were puzzled by it's lack of flavor — cardboard-y was the best we could come up with. While the granola doesn't taste bad per se, it also doesn't really taste like anything.

If you've never had Joe's Joe-Joe's, Trader Joe's take on Oreos, what are you waiting for? The pumpkin flavor, on the other hand, is something you can skip out on. Similar to the Mango Joe Joe's, these have a bit of an unpleasant aftertaste. While the orange filling gets props for being made with actual pumpkin puree, it doesn't quite make for a cookie we want to keep snacking on.

We really wanted to like Sprouts Toasted Pumpkin Loops ($3) — how good does a pumpkin spice take on Cheerios sound? — but they fell short of our expectations. While the crunchy texture and malty whole-grain base was on point, the pumpkin-spice flavor reminded us of a candle or air freshener.

While we applaud the creativity of Boulder Canyon Pumpkin Pie Kettle Cooked Potato Chips, after one bite, it's clear why most chip manufacturers stick to pumpkin spice flavoring instead of going fully for it with a pumpkin pie flavor. These were simply way too sweet.

Sadly, Third Street Festivus Chai ($5) is full of sugar and spice but isn't so nice. While not out-and-out offensive, we wish it tasted more like tea, as a bit of bitterness would round the flavor out nicely.