War Heads were invented in Taiwan around 1975. The Foreign Candy Company was the first to import the sour candy into the United States in 1993. In 1999, War Heads was referred to as a “$40 million brand.” Today, they are manufactured by Impact Confections.

A real warhead is the front of a rocket. This is what holds the explosives. The name of the candy is a pretty accurate description of what your mouth feels like as you eat it. War Heads are an extremely sour candy not for the weak. . It is nearly impossible for someone to eat War Head candies without making a sour face. The intensity is insane!

Each piece of candy is coated in a layer of malic acid, citric acid, and ascorbic acid. Malic acid is the same acid found in green apples, giving them their sour kick. The first minute of having the candy in your mouth requires serious dedication and lack of concern for the feeling in your mouth. Luckily, the sourness subsides after a little bit and you’re left with a sweet fruity flavor. The different kinds of War Heads on the market currently are black cherry, watermelon, lemon, blue raspberry, and apple.

On every package, there is a warning label, which reads, “WARNING: Eating multiple pieces within a short time period may cause a temporary irritation to sensitive tongues and mouths.”

I, personally, have never eaten a candy more sour than War Heads. I remember the very first time I tried a War Head. I was probably about eleven years old.  The concept of an extremely sour candy intrigued me, and all of my friends could not stop talking about this crazy candy. So, I took a piece and popped it into my mouth. Almost instantly I spit it right back out. Never in my life had I experienced such sourness. Watching my friends just keep them in their mouths, sometimes eating two at a time, baffled me.

In high school, I would buy bags of War Heads just so I could give them out to other people. I still could not eat them, but I thought it was so funny watching my friends eat them. The funny faces they made would make me laugh so hard.

War Heads are only for those whose mouths are not sensitive in the slightest and truly love extremely sour candy. If you choose to try them out, all I can say is “Good luck!”

Sources:

https://www.candyfavorites.com/blog/warheads-for-extreme-candy-eaters-only/

https://www.chron.com/life/health/article/The-science-behind-how-Warheads-are-so-sour-4901092.php

Introduced in 1907, Hershey Kisses are simply bite sized chocolate candies that are simply delectable. One reason why Kisses rose in dominance within the candy industry is because of Hershey’s ability for mass production. Not only that, but the chocolate used was innovatively inexpensive.

 The Wilbur Bud was a similar candy made of little chocolate drops in 1894. However, the Wilbur Bud was not made through mass production, but by physically molding the candy. For each candy made, melted chocolate was poured into a teardrop shaped mold and cooled in order for the liquid to solidify.

Hershey was able to speed up the process. The Hershey Company created a machine that could automatically create the teardrop shape with a nozzle. Each Kiss could be plopped, one after the other onto a conveyer belt. Hershey also was able to come to the conclusion that consumers may desire to individually hold the chocolates in their hands. In order to make this possible, the company decided to use a foil wrap for each miniature candy.

The Kisses were hand wrapped by factory workers until 1921. Afterwards, a machines with a foil plunger stamps the chocolates as they passed on the conveyer belt. In 1924, the tissue paper poking from the top of the Kiss was trademarked, and has been iconic ever since.

In the 1960’s, the Hershey Company became one of the very first candy companies to switch up its colors depending on the holiday. 1962 was the exact year that the Hershey Company first wrapped the Kisses in red and green foils for the Christmas season. In 1986, red and pink foils were used for the first time to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Today, foils come in a variety of patterns and colors celebrating holidays such as Easter and Halloween.

Hershey Kisses come in a variety of different chocolate flavors and fillings as well. My personal favorites are the dark chocolate Kisses and the milk chocolate Kisses filled with gooey caramel.  The kisses are without a doubt one of my favorite candies because I simply just love all things chocolate. The simplicity of the Hershey Kiss is what makes it so iconic. Just to have a single drop of Hershey chocolate is irresistible.

Fun Fact: If the Hershey Kisses produced each year were put in a single line, it would be over 300,000 miles in length.

Sources:

https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2012/09/hersheys-kisses-fun-facts-and-recipes/

http://time.com/3707086/hershey-kiss-history-valentines/

After three years of research, the first filled candy bar was created. The Milky Way chocolate bar debuted in 1923. It was inspired by the popular chocolate-malt milkshakes of the time.  In fact, the first advertising slogan for the Milky Way was, “A Chocolate Malted Milk in a Candy Bar.”

Malted milk was first introduced as infant formula in the late 19th century. It was prized for its yummy taste and reputed health benefits. Malted milk was soon a key ingredient in the malted milkshake. The earliest advertisements for Milky Ways claimed that the candy had “more malted milk content than a soda fountain double malted milk!”

In 1926, the Milky Way candy bar was introduced in chocolate and vanilla flavors- each sold for five cents. In 1932, the Milky Way bar was sold as a two piece bar, but were separated indefinitely in 1936.

The vanilla Milky Way bar, covered in dark chocolate as opposed to milk chocolate, was renamed the Forever Yours candy bar. Forever Yours was discontinued in 1979. It was back by popular demand in 1989 and renamed the Milky Way Dark bar. Today, you may recognize this candy by the name given in 2000, which is the Milky Way Midnight bar.

The mass production of the Milky Way was originally made possible due to the fact that the candy was first filled with mostly nougat. Nougat is made just from eggs, sugar, and air, which is helpful in keeping costs low. As the years went by, more and more caramel was added to the Milky Way. Today, the Milky Way has a thick, gooey, stringy caramel filling. This is the very ingredient that makes it one of the most famous candy bars in America!

Growing up, my very favorite Halloween candy was always the Milky Way or the Milky Way Midnight candy bar. I would always separate those from the huge mass of Halloween candy I acquired with my friends. After going through the candy collected during the last couple hours, they’d be gone within the first hour of arriving back at home.

Midnight Milky Ways will always be the first thing I reach for when I decide to treat myself to a candy bar. The contrast between the sweet caramel and the bitter dark chocolate is simply irresistible.

Fun Fact: Theoretically, a Milky Way is a Snickers without peanuts, a Milky Way without caramel is a Three Musketeers, and a Three Musketeers without a nougat is a Hershey’s chocolate bar!

Sources:

http://mentalfloss.com/article/70206/10-gooey-facts-about-milky-way-bars

https://www.oldtimecandy.com/collections/walk-the-candy-aisle-milky-way

Smarties have been owned by the same family since its creation in 1949. Over 60 years ago, Edward “Eddie” Dee, an immigrant from England, founded the Ce De Candy Inc. and based the whole company on a candy designed not to melt when the weather was too warm. The factory was opened in Bloomfield, New Jersey, in August of 1949.

America’s favorite candy wafer roll was produced in a rented factory equipped with only two machines in the building. The company was moved to Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1959, and then finally Union, New Jersey in 1967. The Ce De Candy Inc. was renamed after 62 years, and in 2011 was finally called Smarties Candy Company, reflecting the  huge success of Ce De Candy Inc.

The success of Smarties was so great that an additional factory was opened in 1988 in Newmarket, Ontario. These Canadian smarties are imported to America whenever the demand is too large for just the single factory in New Jersey. Canadian Smarties are named Rockets. This is because there is already another candy made from chocolate that is named Smarties. Canada and the United States of America are the only countries in which Smarties are available for purchase and consumption.

Today, Smarties are made in Newmarket, Ontario and Union, New Jersey. They are being manufactured twenty four hours a day in six different colors. Smarties are available in the colors  orange, purple, green, pink, yellow, and white. Their corresponding flavors are orange, grape, strawberry, cherry, pineapple, and orange- cream.  Billions of Smarties rolls are produced each and every year.

Smarties are made free from peanuts, treenuts, milk, eggs, shellfish, fish, wheat, and soybeans. All products from the company are also gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan. The original ingredients of Smarties are: DEXTROSE, CITRIC ACID, CALCIUM STEARATE, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, COLORS (RED 40 LAKE, YELLOW 5 LAKE, YELLOW 6 LAKE, BLUE 2 LAKE).

The Smarties Candy Company also likes to give back to the community. Each year, they allot a specific amount of candy for donations. The company tries to keep the donation candy specifically for requests made by the nearby communities situated in New Jersey.

I remember when I was a kid, Smarties were one of my very favorite candies. I would trade my lollipops for Smarties in a heartbeat. My cousin, Elena, happened to love Smarties so much, in fact, that they were the only candy she could eat without feeling sick. Just the taste of any other sweet, such as bubblegum flavored toothpaste, would make her nauseous!

Fun Fact: Smarties only contain 25 calories per roll.

Sources:

https://www.candyfavorites.com/a-smarties-history

https://www.smarties.com/faqs/

https://www.smarties.com/our-story/