Two years ago, Annie Scott turned her teeth orange.

The hospitality business senior wasn’t demonstrating her holiday spirit.

She had eaten too many Halloween Oreos.

“I started eating them and I was like, ‘Wow, these are really good,’ and 20 minutes later, I smiled at someone and my teeth were orange,” she said.

“The whole theme of Halloween has grown over the years,” said Bruce Grambau, manager of Goodrich’s Shop-Rite, 940 Trowbridge Road. “People are always trying to capitalize on it more than they were in the past, so there’s more items than there were five years ago.”

Scott said she would still buy the Oreos - and try new Halloween goodies.

“It’s more for the color and orientation of it all,” she said after buying $300 worth of Halloween decorations.

“Halloween is my favorite holiday - I buy in stages,” she said, adding that food will probably be the next stage.

The popularity of the holidays - particularly Halloween - has grown, resulting in more and more products, said Stella Cash, director of the dietetics program in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition.

“It’s a phenomenal business - I’ve been in cities where they have Halloween stores and that’s what they sell,” she said.

Cash said holiday food sells well because it allows consumers to get into the spirit without getting rid of too much money.

“It becomes a specialty item, and it’s at a price that most people can still afford,” she said. “It’s a little bit of a treat that we can use for decoration.

“It’s fun - it’s a marketing gimmick and people buy it. You take a very common product like alphabet soup or noodles and turn it into one specific holiday.”

Lansing Community College student Alisa Gribele was craving something sweet when she spotted Count Chocula cereal - an item popular near Halloween, along with Boo Berry Crunch and Franken Berry Crunch.

“I haven’t had it since I was 4,” she said.

Gribele said she will probably purchase some of the new Halloween foods later in the month “just for fun.”

“I’ll probably try whatever they have to get into the spirit,” she said.

Jeff Harsh, a district account supervisor for Hershey’s, said the company’s assortment of holiday goods keeps growing. The company sells novelty items such as marshmallow and Reese’s pumpkins, peppermint patties shaped like bats and cookies-and-cream ghosts.

“People are looking for more products that are more Halloween-specific than everyday items,” Harsh said. “And anything that has seasonal-type wrap is a big pull - everyone buys that.”

Nursing senior Beckie Riggs usually purchases candy pumpkins - traditional Halloween items - as well as newer foods like Halloween Oreos and orange and black M&M’s.

“I buy the pumpkins because they’re good and the M&M’s and Oreos because they’re festive,” she said.

Delhi Township resident Joe O’Reilly buys holiday items such as Halloween Oreos and Little Debbie cakes for his children.

“If I’m going to put a piece of candy in their lunch, I might as well get Halloween stuff,” he said. “It’s not much different in price.”

But that gap in cost can deter college students on a budget.

Communication junior Chantel Garrone said her mom used to buy Halloween Oreos and Pillsbury cookies, but she sticks to the basics, like candy corn and candy pumpkins.

“I buy what’s less expensive,” she said. “Other Halloween foods cost too much. I think they all taste the same (as their everyday counterparts).”

Some shoppers think the food industry has gone too far with all of the seasonal goods.

“Some of it I think is a little bit much for Halloween,” computer engineering freshman Octavia Gildersleeve said.

And bright orange-colored food turns away some consumers.

“It doesn’t look too tasty to me,” kinesiology sophomore Lashaun Pritchett said.

Lansing resident Chris Toner said the abundance of commercial foods takes away from the creativity and fun of homemade goods.

“I remember making cookies with my mom,” she said. “Too many people don’t do that anymore and it’s good for memories.

“And it’s a little bit better for you than all the processed stuff.”

But some of the items are healthier than traditional sweets, Cash said.

“Last year, I saw pretzels in the shape of pumpkins, which is a little bit more nutritious than the lots and lots and lots of candies that people get,” she said.

Cash said consumers will continue to see “more products or old familiar products that are adapted for the season.”

“Look how much we’ve seen in the last four or five years,” she said. “The packaging doesn’t change. They don’t have to build a new industry but sell what they’ve got and it’s cost-effective.”