“Candy Unwrapped”

“The nice thing about this exhibit — you can eat it!” says Tadd Pullin, President and CEO of the Health Museum, about “Candy Unwrapped.” We admit that all the museum had to do was say “candy” and we were in. The exhibit features interactive stations such as Pucker Up, where you can eat a piece of sour candy in front of a camera and you learn why it makes your cheeks squeeze together. The red-tinted Romancing the Bean looks like a candy-box boudoir; there, visitors can press buttons for onscreen trivia about chocolate, such as why some believe it’s an aphrodisiac. And the Taste Bud Tango has a squishy floor modeled after an actual tongue.

This all sounds pretty, well, sweet, but we had to ask: Health Museum? Candy? “Something on candy, why would we do such a thing?” says Pullin, laughing. He assures us “Candy Unwrapped” explores the sweet and sour sides to treating yourself. Throughout the exhibit’s run, the museum will offer educational programs that “will also be fun, but they’ll help people broaden their understanding of how they can improve their own nutrition and fitness.” Topics such as obesity and diabetes will be discussed, but isn’t it a little mean to throw candy in our faces and then talk about the unhealthy side effects? “In a way, it’s a teaser strategy,” Pullin says. “If no one wants to be teased they don’t have to be, but sometimes that’s a great door opener.”
Tuesdays-Sundays; Fri., Aug. 31, 2007