26 Lip-Smacking Candy Facts For Kids With A 'Sweet-Tooth'

Cotton candy, candy bars, candy corn, white chocolate, tootsie rolls, pecan pie, red jelly beans, and chocolate bars are all favorites that both young and old can't get enough of.

Candy is usually made with a high proportion of sugar or sugar alternatives, making it very sweet. Candies come in a wide range of flavors and types, with different tastes, and many people share candies with their friends and family.

Cotton candy and candy bars or chocolate bars have an influence on the western world. They were descended from the Middle East. The first candy company in America was Good and Plenty. It might at first sound strange, but candy corn was used to feed chickens. Candy bars are made with different ingredients depending upon the kind of candy, such as chocolate bars made of coffee nut, or cocoa solids, and white chocolate, such as milky way. Halloween candy is also very popular among children. Halloween candy is most often given out by parents, family members, or neighbors on October 31. Halloween candy is a tradition that's been around for many years and one that many people enjoy when celebrating this holiday. Modern-day candy-coated with sprinklers is very attractive as it's iced beautifully with small flowers, stars, and others. John Cadbury created his chocolate bar brand in 1849. The chocolate bar later flourished in wider regions. Almost 50% of Americans were introduced to candy bars over 50 years ago. In 1875, Henri Nestle and Daniel Peter introduced milk chocolate. Tootsie rolls were believed to be included in the World War II warriors' ration. The candy bar was introduced in 1847 in England, while the Snicker candy bar was introduced in 1929. In 1923, the Mars family produced the Milky Way Bar, the first of several candies they would manufacture. Joseph Fry's Chocolate Cream Bar, invented in 1866, is the oldest known candy. The Chocolate Cream was the very first surplus and commercially marketed candy, even though Fry first successfully compressed chocolates in bar moldings in 1847. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, made of milk, white fudge, and dark chocolate cups loaded with peanut butter, are the most popular candy in the United States. In 1923, H.B. Reese created them upon establishing the H.B. Reese Candy Company. M and M's candies, owned by Mars Brothers, are also well known in America. Brown is the rarest color in M and M candies. The chocolate of this company was also the first chocolate in space. The Kit Kat candy bar was originally introduced as Rowntree's chocolate crisp.

History And Origin Of Candy

The history of candy can be traced back to ancient times. Let's take a look at some interesting candy facts.

• Most candies are derived from some form of fruit, nut, or sugar. Honey was also very popular in many parts of the globe, especially when procured from bees living on apple blossoms.
• It's possible that the first candy or candy bar was a simple concoction of fruits and nuts cooked with honey. In the Middle East, candy took a giant leap forward from simple blends of fruits and nuts to a delicious confection made with a sugar called rock candy or sugar candy. Rock candy was mostly made by boiling grape juice until it thickened and then pouring the hot liquid into molds.
• It's believed that rock candy originated in India, where it was known as "khanda" and made from sugarcane juice.
• The Han Dynasty of China was the first to cultivate sugarcane and produce rock candy. It was during this time that rock candy came to Persia, where it became a favorite treat among royalty. King Richard I of England received some rock candy as a gift from the Persian sultan during the Crusades, and he brought it back to Britain, where it was refined into loaf sugar.
• The first candy factory is believed to have been opened by Arabs in Spain after Muslim conquerors took control of the country in 711 A.D. The Spanish also introduced hot chocolate around this time, made with native cocoa beans (cacao beans). In the 12th century, the Moors introduced sugar to Sicily, where candy-making flourished.
• The Sicilians became famous for producing some of the finest hard candies and liqueurs made from locally grown fruit and flowers using sugar and wine.
• The European invasion of Mexico and South America in the 16th century brought sugar canes and sugar mills to the New World. Candy making became a very popular art form during this time as immigrants from Europe brought their different methods of candy making with them to their new homelands.
• Many of the settlers who arrived in North America came from Holland, Germany, France, and England, where they had already become experienced candy makers. In fact, by the end of the 17th century, candy-making became a very lucrative business in the American colonies.
• It might at first sound strange, but candy corn was used to feed chickens. In 1923, the Mars family produced the Milky Way Bar, which was among the first founded.

Types Of Candy

Different areas of the world have created their own versions of candies, but most are based on similar ingredients. Some of the candies are hard candies, jelly belly candies or gummies, caramel, taffy, a milk chocolate bar, and many more.

• Hard candies are made from boiled sugar with flavoring added and cooled to create a hard shell around them. Gummies are made from gelatin and flavorings. This type of candy is chewy and soft and comes in many shapes and colors. It can also be shaped into fruit shapes like raspberries, and peaches or gummy bears are also common.
• When gummies include gum inside them, they are called "gumdrops." This form of candy includes more sugar than most other candies. Mints are a form of hard candy. This type is based on peppermint or spearmint flavors. They are sold in colored shells and can be purchased just about anywhere. Dark mint is one example of such a candy.
• Lollipops, the stick-shaped treats, are often given to children at special events like parties, parades, carnivals, and fairs. Flavors include fruit flavors like grape, strawberry, and cherry, as well as chocolate, bubble gum, and novelty flavors like banana split.
• Taffy is a soft candy that is chewy in texture and flavored with milk or caramel base flavoring with added colorings. It comes in many shapes, including a square, ball, stick, flat ribbon, round disk, and roll.
• Chewing gum is made from chicle. This type of gum starts as a liquid form, but it hardens over time to become chewy. It comes in many fruit flavors like apple, grapefruit, cherry, lime, orange, and banana.
• Licorice is typically made with licorice root extract, sugar, and flour. It usually comes in black strips that are soft enough to chew. Flavorings may include anise oil, sal ammoniac, or both. Some people like to dip licorice candies in chocolate for a sweet treat.
• Caramel is made with cream and sugar, cooked until it becomes gooey. It's usually served as caramel apples, put on top of popcorn, or eaten by itself.
• Sometimes coconut, nuts, or other toppings are added before it hardens into its famous candy shell.
• The popsicle was invented in 1905 by an 11-year-old boy named Frank Epperson, who left a cup of soda mix on his porch overnight during the wintertime. When he woke up the next day, he discovered the drink had frozen to the inside of the cup. His popsicle was later patented as the "Popsicle Ice Pop" in 1923. Today, this type of candy is made by pouring flavored syrups onto plastic sticks.
• Tootsie Rolls candy may be chewy or hard, depending on its intended use. It got its name because it used to contain sesame and was supposed to taste like a Tootsie (flavored lollipop). The company has since relocated and doesn't make tootsie rolls anymore, but they do make other types of lollipops.

Process Of Making Candies

Ingredients for candies include sugar, water, corn syrup, chocolate bar, and cocoa butter. A candy bar maker makes a batch of a certain flavor, let's say vanilla candy drops.

• First, they make a sugar syrup of equal parts sugar and water. The mixture is boiled until it reaches the hardball stage at 260 F (126 C). At this point, a little bit of the mixture is dropped into cold water. If it turns into a hardball, then the syrup has reached the right temperature and consistency. Then flavorings are added to the syrup, vanilla extract in this example.
• After that, colorings are added depending on what type of candy you want to make. The syrup is then poured into a pan and cooled, and after it has hardened, the candy is broken up. The pieces are shaped to make different-sized drops for various uses. For hard candy, most of the water is boiled off until sucrose crystals form in sugar syrup that boils at around 320 F (160 C).
• You have to be careful not to let it get too hot, or the candy will become grainy. To make a praline, caramel, or nougat candy, you need to heat sugar in a pan over medium heat. As it cooks, the sugar melts and starts to turn golden brown (caramelize) creating an amber color. The longer it cooks, the darker brown it becomes.
• When you add cream or butter to the mixture, it separates into sugar crystals and syrup with a chewy consistency. To make an English toffee, also known as 'burned milk candy,' you need to melt sugar in a pan until it becomes dark amber. As soon as it starts to smoke, you need to add butter and beat the mixture until it cools. If you don't do this quickly enough, the syrup will burn and become grainy.

Nutritional Value Of Candy

Candy is a sweet treat for many, but because of its high sugar content, it's not the best thing for you to eat all the time. Candy has almost no nutritional value at all unless it includes nuts or other nutritious extras such as raisins, coconut, chocolate chips, and so on.

• If you're craving candy, it's best to limit yourself to a small amount of up to 50 calories per day, which is about one Hershey kiss or six jelly beans per day. While candy has little nutritional value, its sweet nature can be satisfying for strong cravings and desires. Candy can help you lose weight in a few ways, such as helping to suppress appetite, slow digestion, having fiber, and many others. By eating a small amount of candy, your body can release insulin.
• This hormone affects the way you feel about food and enables you to have a feeling of 'sugar rush' or satisfaction. Eating one piece of candy does not cause weight gain, but it can help suppress hunger as well as other cravings for junk food. A study conducted in 2008 followed 12 healthy participants who consumed up to 50 calories of candy per day for two weeks and were monitored throughout that period.
• In the end, the researchers found that these participants lost an average of 1.9 lb (0.86 kg), which is close to 1 lb (453 g) per week! Of course, this isn't considered a huge amount, but it all adds up to help you achieve your goals. Candy is often high in sugar and fat, which slows down the rate at which food moves through your digestive tract.
• This can also cause an increase in satiety, thus preventing unnecessary snacking or eating of junk food. Most types of candy are high in sugar and don't contain many vitamins or minerals, but they do contain small amounts of fiber, which can help to keep you regular. Fiber is good for your digestive tract and ensures that waste will move through efficiently.