Are the Cakes on Food Network's 'Halloween Wars' Trashed After Filming?

Are you afraid of a little competition?

The frightfully delicious series Halloween Wars is back for an all-new season featuring cake artists and sugar masters. Nine teams will compete on the Food Network reality-competition show to create edible Halloween-themed displays, and the winning group will receive a $25,000 grand prize.

So, will these competitors scare the judges right out of their seats with their Halloween-themed masterpieces, or will their ghoulish creations fall flat? Season 12 has promised to be one of the best seasons to date with delicious cake artistry, but many fans are wondering what actually happens to the cakes after the competition concludes. Keep reading to find out more.

A big question on a lot of viewers' minds is: What happens to the boo-tiful creations after the show? Are the cakes simply thrown out? While baking competition shows can differ, a user on Quora in 2012 referenced a quote from a Food Network rep who apparently told an unnamed publication that on Cupcake Wars, the 1,000 cupcakes that are baked are either donated to charitable organizations or eaten by “hardworking cast and crew.”

But, does Halloween Wars follow a similar format?

Another person shared a thread on Quora claiming to have competed on Food Network’s Cake Challenge series in 2010.

"I can’t answer for certain, but this is my experience. ... The winner’s cake, of course, went to the person that it was for. The rest of the cakes (we came in 2nd place) went right smack dab into giant trash cans that the cleaning crew rolled out after the shoot was over," the person wrote.

They added, "I was pretty horrified by that because I hate to see perfectly good food wasted. I inquired why they couldn’t have been donated to a food bank or a homeless shelter, and they told me that liability issues prevent them from doing that. It’s very sad. I imagine the same would be true for all those cupcakes too."

Though all these years later, it's possible that Food Network may have changed this policy to be more eco-friendly.

Catch Halloween Wars on Food Network Sundays at 9 p.m. EST or on Discovery Plus.