Candy News

Ben and Jerry's has invented a new way to put more things into their ice cream, this is the kind of science I can get behind.

I'm glad that King Games does not own the word candy, because that might affect the way I write candy reviews.

Are those Cheesies?  Nope, they're miniature representations of popular culture and art.

What would you do with five-hundred thousand sugar cubes?  Would you build a fortress?

Here's a look at 50 years of PopTarts, from a PopTarts expert.

Here's a look at how Russel Stover turned into one of the biggest players in the chocolate scene.

Here are 10 facts about Tastykakes, and here's one bonus one:  I've never tried one in my life.

The folks at Jelly Belly are trying out some new natural colours, but we all want to know, will their candy still be pretty?

I've stopped believing when "experts" tell me that something I eat is unhealthy, it's a constantly changing science.  Moderation and portion control are always in style.

Army rations are often described as horrible but nourishing, but some of the treats you get with them are downright tasty.

Sara Lee, real.  Betty Crocker, fake.  Famous Amos, real.  A great list of who's real and who isn't, as well as an explanation.

Did you know that you can order custom made chocolate bars on the internet? You can also get custom ice cream too.

Just Born updates their factory, and now we can expect some new awesome treats.

Fannie May recalled their heart shaped box of chocolates, apparently they contain nuts where there shouldn't be.

So this guy working at a warehouse had problems with a candy machine, he then did the next logical thing, and slammed the machine using a forklift

Apparently people wan their licorice to not only be soft, but healthier.

Time Magazine listed the 13 most influential candy bars of all times, I have a few problems with this list, but many of the bars deserve high praise.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Friday Candy Video

I can't tell you how many cookie bag closing devices I've seen over the years.  A few of them I've bought, but frankly I never really use them.  Why not?  Well, most of the time when I'm eating cookies out of the bag, I'm not at home, where all of my cookie clips can be found.  At home, I generally put my cookies in containers or my cookie jar.  The video above is going to make traveling, and eating cookies a whole lot better.

I found this clip here.

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Stuff I Want To Try

Snickers Rockin' Nut Road Bar - Snickers - I have no idea what it really is, but there's a huge hype over it. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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Classic/Creative Candy Advertising

According to Boing Boing, the website where I found this ad, these candies are real. I'll be honest, it looks like some kind of weird joke at first.  If you take the time to read the text, you'll realize that this is more about asserting women's rights, and less about candy.  I can tell all you ladies out there that it won't work, I myself have "balls", and I can assure you that I have no courage at all.

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A Cool Candy Thing

This is the kind of things that if given to me as a gift I might tear up a bit when I open it up and realize what it is. It's pretty much a culmination of two of my favorite things, candy and Star Wars.  The problem is, I'm not sure how much my number one love, Allison, would agree to the idea of a giant Yoda holding a candy bowl sitting in our living room.

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Spring Is Coming Soon

Yellow Gummy Bear Posters by bewarethecheese
Browse for more wall art on Zazzle

With spring just around the corner, my thoughts go to nature waking up and springing (pun intended) into action.  I think about the bears waking up after a winters hibernation, and I think about how cool it would be to eat a gummy bear the size of a real bear... I may have gotten off topic there a little.

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This Week In Candy

Well today is a day of good and bad news for me.  First the good news, it appears that team Canada has won the gold medals in hockey, and placed third in overall medals.  I'm a proud Canadian, so it brings a twinge of pride to me, and also makes me crave Tim Hortons for some reason.  Sadly however my week is, and probably won't be perfect.

I had grand plans this week, it was to be a week of writing, posting, and general candy fun times.  Then it hit me... a cold.  I'm presently wrapped up in a blanket playing games on my tablet and napping a lot.  When this sort of thing happens, my weekly candy review update (that was posted this morning) comes from a collection of candy reviews that I keep on hand.  That's right, I have reviewed several treats in advance, just in case I'm unable to write a review on (or close to) Monday.  Now I'm going to go back to bed with a warm cup of chicken noodle soup.

Don't worry about me being sick, I'll still be posting regularly this week.  I can't foresee any bonus articles this week, unless I discover an amazing cure for the cold in candy form.  Having said that, if any candy companies out there have said cure, sending it to me now will guarantee many posts extolling the virtues of your amazing cure for the cold candy.

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It Was a Cranberry Review, The Kind You'd Find at a Second Hand Store...

While admittedly this review is not the best example of a great cranberry treat, I feel that cranberry as a flavour is lacking in the candy industry.  It's a great juice to use for sweet treats because the tartness of the cranberry can work so well with sweet things.  I think brands like Jolly Rancher and Lifesaver could really expand on the cranberry flavour and make it work really well.  I also think that cranberry juice would work very well with chocolate, maybe in some kind of cranberry cream in the middle of a chocolate.  This is really a unique flavour that needs more attention.

Click here to read today's cranberry review.

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Candy News

That 20 year old Twinkie you're eating, you might want to stop. Learn more about that, and other sad food truths.

Luck Charms is turning 50, and they're planning all kinds of fun stuff to celebrate, all I need is a box and a bowl myself.

A few years back I had to give up two jars of peanut butter that I had in some carry on luggage because they defined it as a liquid. This guy figured a way around this.

CNN has been researching the cocoa industry for a few years now, unfortunately what they've found isn't that nice, but it could be fixed.

I've always wondered how many candycritic.org readers are pot heads, according to this article it could be quite a few.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Friday Candy Video

I think this is a selling feature for candy that hasn't come up in a while, sick of jerks, have a chocolate bar to take the edge off.  It's a pretty good philosophy if you ask me.  It would also make for a good signal to the jerks wasting your time.  Imagine being at a meeting at work, you're giving your presentation, and when you look out at your audience you see every single one of them eating a chocolate bar.  That's your cue to wrap it up.

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Stuff I Want To Try

Fruit Vines  - American Licorice Co. - I like things that are both chewy and fruity. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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Classic/Creative Candy Advertising

I'm not really sure what a white cat has to do with fruit flavoured snacks.  I've owned several cats in my day, and none of them have been particularly partial to fruit.  I've never owned a white cat, so maybe they enjoy a banana now and then.  I'll have to check YouTube for "white cat eating fruit" to see if it's true...



Well I'll be damned.

I found this ad here.

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Your Food Is Different

The flavours and flavour combinations that we find in candy is something that's very close to many of us.  Most of us started eating candy as children, so the flavours, smells and textures were implanted into our memory at a young age.  Science has proven that flavours, smells and textures stay in our minds, and are directly associated with our brains memories.  This means that you'll probably remember the smell of your 5th birthday, long before you remember who actually attended.  Because candy plays with these senses in particular, we remember candy well, and often very fondly.

We build a certain bond between these foods we've grown up with, and our place in the world.  Since humans are often self-centred, we also assume that everybody else will also have these same bonds.  The truth is, many people don't have the same connection to certain foods as you.  This means that people from certain cultures may have never had contact with a particular food that you love, and when they try it, they can only rely on the actual flavour in relation to their experiences.

This brings me to the best example of this that I can think of, peanut butter.  In North America we put peanut butter on everything.  Chocolate and peanut butter, peanut butter and jam, I've even had peanut butter on a hamburger.  In Europe however, many people don't eat peanut butter.  In fact I know several people who've never even tried it in their entire lives.  I also know a few people that have tried it, and absolutely hate it.  So why would you hate peanut butter?

I think the answer can only come about when you look at peanut butter from a neutral standpoint.  The texture of peanut butter is the first thing that turns people off; it sticks to your mouth, and is difficult to eat.  Peanut butter is also very oily, and many people don't like oily food.  Finally, peanut butter tastes like peanuts, and while many people enjoy peanuts, not everybody likes to mix it with so many other foods.

Don't get me wrong, North America isn't the only peanut loving continent, many Asian countries use peanuts and peanut butter for a great deal of their cooking.  Have you ever had a peanut Thai sauce, often peanut butter.  Many North Americans I know can't imagine someone not wanting to eat peanut butter, but then my Japanese friends can’t understand why everybody doesn't like red bean past either.

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A Cool Candy Thing

Every single time I play Cut the Rope, my mouth starts to water.  Something about watching that little creature eat the candies is strangely appetizing.  The problem is, after about 20 minutes of playing I start to think that he's had enough.  Then I think about how sick I would be if I ate that much candy, then I get a little nauseous and I stop playing.

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Bar... Plain and Simple

Candy Critic Bar Tees by candycritic
Find other Candy T-Shirts at zazzle.com

This shirt design comes from one of the older looks of candycritic.org.  I think it's still pretty cool, and I think it works really well as a t-shirt.  I think I may start a line of simple designs for basic treats, see how it works out.

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This Week In Candy

Right off the bat I should tell you that these cookies pictured above have nothing to do with anything we're posting this week.  I just got a tin of official Real Madrid cookies from a friend in Spain, so I'm eating them.  I'm not writing a review, and after this paragraph you'll probably never hear about them again.  I'll hear more about them however because I still have three quarters of the tin to go through.

This week we will be talking about geographical tastes.  More to the point, we're going to look at the fact that some foods you think are global hits are in fact only popular in some places.  Whenever I travel, I like to visit grocery stores, and in these grocery stores I get an idea about what people like to eat wherever I am.  Sometimes it's because I can't find something that I consider a food staple, other times I find a lot of something that I'm not even sure how you would eat it.  Generally I tend to buy some local groceries, find myself a kitchen, and experiment.

Lately I've started to keep track of how many reviews I've posted.  A few weeks back I did a count and mentioned that I had posted 861 reviews.  Well after this morning's new review, we're up to 869 reviews, thanks in part to our Ritter Sport review-a-thon a couple weeks back.  I think I'm going to somehow keep up with counting my reviews, maybe on This Week In Candy.

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German Lindt Review

One of the biggest debates in the candy world is about where you get your chocolate.  Many people argue that certain bars taste better because they're made somewhere else.  While this can be true, it's not always the case. I see so many people who argue that all chocolate bars are better in Europe than they are in North America.  This isn't the case all of the time, mostly because many bars you get in North America are actually made in Europe.  Importing candy, even chocolate, is fairly easy because of its long shelf life (at least compared to things like fruit and cheese).  So unless a bar sells millions of bars in a particular country, there's no reason not to import instead of manufacture.  So is this bar better than its North American brother, probably, but that's only because of the cool name on the package.

Click here to read today's European Lindt review.

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Candy News

What's the sexiest food you know, chocolate, oysters... asparagus?!!

I normally don't link to other people's snack reviews, but I highly doubt I'll ever review edible underwear myself.

Get the full scoop on Candy Hearts, then get yourself a full scoop of Candy Hearts.

Of this list of ways to say I love you using food, I think "let a jar of Nutella do the talking" is good enough for me.

So does wine and chocolate really go together?  I'm convinced that everything goes with chocolate, so the answer is yes.

Apparently who you vote for may actually have a connection to what kind of candy you like.

Boing Boing has posted two really interesting articles that I feel tell the real problem with obesity in the world right now. Here's the first, and here's the second.

If you need to argue that chocolate might be a health food, read this article, and amaze your friends.

Here's an interesting study that deals with how we are affected by candy advertising.

I find it odd that the closer we get to Valentine's Day, the more recipes I'm discovering for candy themed alcoholic drinks.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Friday Candy Video

This might possibly the worst candy science experiment I've ever seen.  I'm not against saving your extra Valentine's Day candy to try out a few fun experiments, but I'm not sure chucking them in a fish tank is really teaching you much.  Why not set a few on fire, or at the very least figure out why particular candies might float.  Most importantly why would you throw chocolates in water, they're so tasty, and you can always share them.

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Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I found this Valentine here.

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Classic/Creative Candy Advertising

I love the fact that this Valentine's themed candy ad has some of the best (or cheesiest) slogans for candy ever.  "Candy is delicious food", and "candy's dandy keep it handy" are just the kind of advertising you won't really see today.  It's too bad that candy has lost some of it's wholesome image, but it's a good thing that candy companies can't advertise themselves as being healthy.

I found this ad here.

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A Cool Candy Thing

I know that it's not Halloween now, but I also know that a bunch of you are really into Adventure Time, so I thought it was OK to talk about this candy corn guy right now.  I've seen a few episodes of Adventure Time myself, but I'm guessing that you have to watch a lot of Adventure Time to truly get it.  If the opportunity comes up where I'm not writing or taking photographs all day, and I can just sit and watch TV, this is the show to watch.

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Stuff I Want To Try

ChocOBeer  - Carre Chocolates- The perfect gift for that special bartender at your local sports bar. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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How Gummy Bears Are Made

Baby Gummy Bear Tshirt by candycritic
Browse Zazzle for another tee zazzle.com

With all of this love in the air, I thought it would be a good idea to make sure you know the consequences of what can happen with "too much love".  Since I'm a candy guy, I thought the best way to share this knowledge was by means of a gummy bear themed t-shirt.

Check out more fun candy related stuff at our store.

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This Week In Candy

Is Valentine's Day just a holiday made up by greeting card companies?  Sure, it's a possibility.  The question is, how bad can a made up holiday be if it's all about love?  While I agree that spending a bunch of money on things that you'll only want on Valentine's Day is kind of silly, and putting pressure on people to make it a "special" day is also pretty wrong.  But if you look at it as a basic idea, it's really nice to have a day that you can sit with that special someone and just remember why you like each other.  Or, you can sit with your friends and bitch about why relationships suck, either way it's healthy, I think.

To help celebrate Valentine's Day, all week on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr we're suggesting some great inexpensive snack related things you can do with that special someone.  It just goes to prove that you don't have to spend a fortune to make that special someone happy.

Speaking of social media, if you haven't checked out our new Instagram feed featuring daily candy facts, you're missing out.  How else could you learn how to say "donut" in seven different languages?

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Valentine's Day Review

Of all the holidays that I do special candy reviews for, Valentine's Day is probably one of the most simple. Christmas is challenging because many of the treats are so similar, chocolate Santas, chocolate balls, and chocolate reindeer are often just the same chocolate in different form.  Halloween is difficult because not everywhere in the world celebrates Halloween, so if I'm out of North America, I have to improvise.  Easter is pretty much the same deal as Christmas, in fact sometimes it's exactly the same chocolate as Christmas with a different wrapper.  Valentine's Day, particularly in the last 10 years or so, is different.  There seems to be this attempt to make new candy traditions for this holiday, traditions filled with gummies, suckers, and marshmallows.

Click here to read this years Valentine's Day candy review.

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Candy News

Flavour wise beer and chocolate make sense together, culturally I'm not so sure.

Did you know that PEZ was origionally a candy for adults? Well it is once again.

As a protest to the word "Candy" being trademarked for use in a video game by the makers of Candy Crush Saga, a few people have started to make their own candy themed games.

So how do you feel about Necco's latest new messages to be printed onto their candy hearts: "#LOVE” "TXT Me" and “Occupy My 3>”?

Are you into Dungeons and Dragons?  Do you like candy?  Well here's a little project you might enjoy.

Huffington Post recently posted a list of "Disappointing Foods That Are Never As Good As You Think They'll Be", but I'd argue quite a few of these.

Here's an interesting photo collection were they compare things that have been banned in parts of the USA, to things that are allowed (pretty much guns).  Kinder Eggs are included in the things that have been banned.

Skittles art is so cool, any subject works really well, even your favorite football player.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Friday Candy Video

"Each year millions of gallons of milk, the kind you drink, go into Milky Way candy bars."  So what you're saying is that I can eat a Milky Way bar every day, and not a glass of milk?!!  See mom, I was right, candy is healthy.

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Milk Chocolate Review-A-Thon Entry For The Opening Ceremonies

I've been spending the last few days talking about all of the other aspects of these wonderful Ritter Sport bars, but today, I'm just going to talk about sports.  I'm a big fan of the Olympics, and even though there's a lot of controversy going on right now, let us not forget about the athletes that have trained their whole lives to get to these games.  Tonight I'm going to sit by the television (with friends) and cheer on my fellow Canadians as they walk into the stadium to compete.  They say that Canada has good odds at placing in the top 3 countries for medals this year, so GO CANADA GO!!!

Click here to read today's Ritter Sport review, then find a flag and cheer on your country.

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Stuff I Want To Try

Bite Sized PB&J Snacks  - Welch's - I wonder if these work for those on a low carb diet?. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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Classic/Creative Candy Advertising

You know you've made it as a candy company when you have your own hot air balloon.  Companies that are just starting off, trying to make ends meet, don't go out and buy hot air balloons.  I'm not saying that it's a bad advertising choice, I'm just saying that it takes some capital to get something like this going.  I'd also like to add that if the people from Ritter Sport would like to give me a ride in their hot air balloon, I would graciously accept.

I found this ad here.

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Marzipan or as Some Call it, Day 4 of Our Ritter Sport Review-a-Thon

I really wish that I loved marzipan, it's really surprising that I don't.  It contains two of my favorite things in the world, almonds and sugar, but for some reason I just can't get into it.  As I get on in my years, I have started to tolerate it a little more, but I'm not sure why.  It could be that my palette has grown, or it could be that I'm starting to eat higher quality marzipan. But I'm still not a huge fan of the stuff, and if given another option I'll often leave the marzipan behind.

Click here to read today's marzipan review.

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A Cool Candy Thing

You would probably think that a Snicker's bar key chain would be a pretty cool thing to have, and you'd be right.  But what if that key chain could also have a flashlight built into it as well?  Well my friend, it really seems like this is your lucky day.

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Number 3 in Our Ritter Sport Review-a-Thon

I was giving some thought about what country has the best chocolate in the world, and I think Germany would be in the top 10, maybe even the top 5.  A big reason for it's high ranking is brands like Ritter Sport.  While we all associate fine chocolate with countries like Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland, these countries also offer some really good lower quality stuff as well.  I've eaten bars (like the Ritter Sport) that have the quality of the chocolate one would expect in many other countries finest chocolate shops.  To qualify as a chocolate super power, you really have to cover the whole range qualities.

Click here to read today's bar in our Ritter Sport review-a-thon.

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Stuff I Want To Try

Irn-Bru ice cream  - AG Barr - I love Irn-Bru, and I like things frozen, so I'm sure it works. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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Cute Card For Valentine's Day

Single Bear Greeting Cards by bewarethecheese
Shop for a different greeting card template online at zazzle

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, you have to be sure to get that special someone the perfect gift. Might I recommend that this perfect gift be accompanied with a cute little candy card.  The one above is just a sample of some of the cute candy cards that you can buy from our sister site bewarethecheese.com.  You can see the entire collection of candy themed cards right here.

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Day 2 of Our Ritter Sport Review-a-Thon

Of the many treats that I've reviewed, from all over the world, Ritter Sport has the most awkward name to say, as a native English speaker.  The two words "Ritter" and "Sport" don't roll off the tongue together at all.  In fact I always find myself having to think a little harder when I say those two words together.  Stranger still is that although it is a German treat, they still use the word "sport", although according to my limited research there is no German word for sport.  Although I've also never seen a Ritter Sport bar that uses any kind of translation for the bar anywhere in the world.  I wonder if other languages find those two words together awkward to say as well.

Click here to read today's tasty Ritter Sport bar review.

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This Week In Candy

This week we're having a fun filled review-a-thon.  It's been a while since our last one, so we figured it was about time.  This week we're going to taste test a whole slew of Ritter Sport bars.  Some of you may not be familiar with them, but in many European countries they're extremely popular.  In fact the photo above was taken at the Ritter Sport museum in Berlin Germany.  Many people who have tried them, don't always realize how many varieties they come in either.  Hopefully this week I'll teach you a little something about this awesome bar, and convince you to sample one of the many varieties available.

A Candy Critic reader Joel has been asking me to return the "Bunny Test" back online for a little while now.  This was a little (very poorly made) game I designed a long time ago.  It took me a while to dig it out of the archives, but it's back online for all to enjoy.

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We're Back... With Another Review-A-Thon!

It's been a long time since our last review-a-thon, but we're back. This week's review-a-thon theme is the Ritter Sport bar.  The Ritter Sport bar might be the only chocolate bar in the world that was designed specifically to fit into a pocket.  I'm not sure if the size or shape actually improve the bar, but fortunately Ritter Sport bars are often made from very high quality ingredients and are very tasty (that should give you some idea about how these reviews are going to go).

Click here to read today's Ritter Sport bar review.

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