Origins of Candy Bars

Last week we featured the Candy Critic Israeli candy review-a-thon.  I discovered some wonderful new treats, and some treats I'd like to forget as well.  I love trying new treats from all over the world, and I'm really lucky to have the opportunity.  There is however, one problem that keeps coming up whenever national pride mixes with candy.  There are many places all over the world who claim to have created many of the same treats.  I'm no candy historian, but I will often do a little research into these notions when I presented with them.  A fine example came up with the Israeli candy review-a-thon.  In particular it came up with the bars above.

Apparently there is an urban legend that these bars (very similar to Cadbury Flakes) came out before their Cadbury predecessor.  The legend says that an Israeli company made them and Cadbury bought the recipe from them.  This is a believable story in my book, after all Cadbury makes many treats, and I know that they didn't invent them all.  There are a few Canadian treats that I'm pretty sure were made by smaller candy companies when I was a kid.  This isn't to put down Cadbury at all, in fact if they buy great recipes and candy companies and continue to make the products as well as the original companies I'm very happy.  This kind of thinking allows more people to enjoy great treats that they may not have been available before. 

The thing that makes the urban legend of Cadbury buying this particular treat strange is that according to history provided by Cadbury, this treat was created in England at one of their factories.  So that leaves us with two potential stories, and divides two countries.  I've come across so many treats that people claim originates from their home country, but when you read the history it's not so clear.  Just ask my Swedish friends about the origin of the candy cane.  It's not that I take a particular side in the issue, it really means little to me as to where a particular treat originated.  I think more about where I tried it first, and the memories I got from tasting that particular treat.

The only worry this debate really causes me is the idea of a company making up a story in order to sell a candy.  I'm not accusing Cadbury of doing this at all, I just wonder how much of the candy world folklore is not real history and actually a sales pitch to try sell more candy.

CC