Candy makes everything better. This statement is being shared by millions of people worldwide; and that for a good reason. Eating candy causes a surge in dopamine, which is the hormone that causes feelings of joy, excitement and happiness. Since candy makes us happy, I think it is time to grab yourself a sweet treat and enjoy reading this article.
Fact 1: Over 200 million skittles are produced each day
The famous skittle slogan “taste the rainbow” doesn’t come from nowhere. With five original colours (purple, yellow, green, red, orange), Skittles almost make up a rainbow and count to some of the top selling candies. Factories worldwide produce over 200 million skittles each day, making for a total of over 70 billion skittles per year. To put the amount of skittles into relation: the earth has a diameter of 14,742km which means that it would take about 850 million skittles to cover the whole earth. Therefore, in less than five days, enough skittles would be produced to cover us in the rainbow candy.
Fact 2: The inventor of cotton candy is a dentist
Sounds absurd, since dentists are usually the ones to advise you to eat less sugar to prevent cavities but back in 1897, a dentist and a confectioner paired up to create the famous state fair candy. William Morrison, a dentist from Tennessee, and the confectioner John C. Wharton decided to join forces to create a machine that spun heated sugar through a screen, creating the fluffy texture with the sweet taste as we know it today. It was originally sold under the name “fairy floss” but changed into “cotton candy” in the 1920s, when the dentist Josef Lascaux attempted (but failed) to improve on the original candy-making machine.
Fact 3: Snickers was named after a horse
The best-selling candy bar world-wide was introduced in 1930 by Frank and Ethel Mars. They owned a farm called the “Milky Way Farm”, on which they bred racehorses. Ethel’s favourite horse was named Snickers. Snickers died only two months before the couple released their new chocolate bar and in honor of Ethel’s favourite horse, they named the candy “snickers”. As a fun side fact, a few years before releasing snickers, the couple also created the milky way bar and, well, I guess you can imagine where they got their inspiration from.
Fact 4: You could circle the earth more than five times when laying out all the candy corn produced in a year
People either love or hate it. The famous Halloween candy with its white, orange and yellow colours and the distinct marshmallow-vanilla flavour is a must-have in many households. As a result of the rising demand, candy corn was made available all year around, adapting to each season and holiday. Approximately nine billion pieces of the small sweet treats are being produced each year. One candy corn has a length of one inch (=2.54cm). The circumference of the earth is 40,075 km. It would need 1,570,000,000 pieces of candy corn to circle the earth once. Since nine billion pieces are produced each year, the earth could technically be circled around 5.6 times with candy corn.
Fact 5: The “chocolate layers” in KitKat aren’t actually made of chocolate
KitKat counts to some of the best-selling candy worldwide. It is sold in over 80 countries and produced in a low-waste-process with 100% certified sustainable cocoa. The three layers of wafer are separated and covered by an outer layer of chocolate, but the chocolate layers are not what you might think they are. A BBC documentary revealed that this inner chocolate layer is primarily made of grounded KitKats that were sorted out during the production process due to imperfections. Instead of throwing out these flawed KitKats, the company crushes them up, adds sugar and voilà, there you have the perfect KitKat as we all know and love it.
Even though candy might not count to the healthiest snacks, if it is consumed in a reasonable amount, the rush of happiness and joy that comes with it is a feeling that most people don’t want to miss out on.
Sources:
https://www.tropicalfoods.com/fun-facts-candy/ (editors of tropical, February 8th, 2023)
https://www.yoursweetchoice.com/blogs/news/fun-facts-about-sweets-and-candy (editors of you rsweet choice, February 8th, 2023)
https://www.skittles.com/ (editors of skittles, February 8th, 2023)
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/the-sticky-sweet-history-of-cotton-candy#:~:text=Perversely%20enough%2C%20cotton%20candy%20was,Wharton. (Rebecca Rupp, February 8th, 2023)
https://manictimes.com.au/the-top-10-bestselling-candy-bars-in-the-world/#:~:text=1%20%E2%80%93%20Snickers,in%20the%20UK%20until%201990. (Editors of Manic Times, February 8th, 2023)
https://harshchocolates.com/blogs/news/the-story-of-how-the-all-classic-chocolate-bars-mars-snickers-and-more#:~:text=The%20Horse,Ethel’s%20favorite%20was%20named%20Snickers. (Editors of Harsh Chocolates, February 8th, 2023)
https://www.bhg.com/halloween/recipes/the-history-of-candy-corn/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20National%20Confectioners,candy%20corn%20are%20produced%20yearly. (Sara Broek, February 8th, 2023)
https://www.nestle.com/media/news/kitkat-100-percent-sustainable-cocoa (Editors of Nestle, February 8th, 2023)
https://virginradio.co.uk/lifestyle/79827/people-are-feeling-confused-after-learning-what-is-inside-a-kitkat (Virgin Radio, February 8th, 2023)