Seeing Red... Pez That Is

Somehow in my long career of being a Candy Critic, I've managed to miss out on reviewing all of the red coloured flavours of Pez. It's pretty amazing since a few of these flavours were my favourites as a kid. Because I feel so strongly that each and every red flavour should be well represented on candycritic.org, I've decided to get all three reviews up this week. I'm always curious about the classic candies that I've not yet reviewed, so if you know about one, let me know.

Check out the first of 3 red coloured Pez reviews that I'll be posting this week.

A Pez Movie... Sort Of

 This looks like a really interesting story of a man that brought Pez into the world... possibly illegally.

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Classic Candies I Haven’t Reviewed And Why - Part 2

Lucky Elephant Popcorn - I've always been a little bit nervous about reviewing Lucky Elephant Popcorn. I've always had fond childhood memories of this treat, but I'm not sure it actually holds up on its own. I'm thinking that if I break down Lucky Elephant Popcorn, and look at it objectively, it's just sweet, bland popcorn. Sure it's bright pink, but is that enough?


Regular Lays or Ruffles, or Pringles - Every time I find myself in a store, facing the wall of potato chips, I always seem to find a flavour so interesting, or weird that I have to try it. I do eat regular potato chips, but only at parties, and almost always with some kind of dip. Some day I might have to go out and specifically buy plain potato chips to review, but only after I've exhausted all the other amazing flavours available.


Hot Tamales - I don't like spicy food. I see Hot Tamales as the quintessential spicy candy. It's not the hottest candy out there, but it's really the grandfather of hot candies. I actually think candies that are hotter than Hot Tamales are more interesting to me because I'm curious as to how hot they really are. Hot Tamales are hot enough that I'm scared to eat them, but not hot enough to make me interested.


Cherry PEZ - I've reviewed three flavours of PEZ so far, orange, grape and lemon. I've enjoyed each one of these flavours, but cherry has been my favourite flavour since childhood. The reason I've never reviewed cherry PEZ is because I've haven't selected the flavour of a package of PEZ for as long as I've been doing this site. Any PEZ candies that I've reviewed on this site came with a PEZ dispenser. I guess it's just been my luck so far (or maybe they never package PEZ dispensers with cherry PEZ), but I have not tasted cherry PEZ in years.

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I Bet You Didn't Know These Where European

Most people seem to assume that so many classic candies come from their country. This likely happens because people build such a strong relationship with these candies that they associate them with home. Since it's always been there, it must come from wherever you were born. Then, instead of being rational, people assume that when they see these candies outside of their home, it must be because they're so popular that they're exported. The truth is there can only be one place of origin for any candy, and sadly, except for a very few of you, it's likely not your home town or country.

Kit Kat
Place of Origin England
Check out our Kit Kat review here.

One of the best selling candies in the world was born in a place where so many other great candies were born, England. In fact that Kit Kat was created in a particular town in England that could be the birthplace of more popular chocolate treats than anywhere else in the world, York. These treats include the Aero bar, Terry's Chocolate Orange, and Smarties, just to name a few. Treats created in York can be found all over the world. In fact I think I could safely say that there isn't a country in the world (except maybe North Korea) where at least one York created treat can be found. At the very least you can find them in every airport in the world.

Likely the most popular of York's creations though is the Kit Kat bar. I've had people from all over the world claim that the bar was invented in their country. I've even had people point out Kit Kat rip off bars and claim that it was the original. While I haven't done any serious investigation of these allegations, food historians generally agree that the Kit Kat bar was the first, and it was made in York.

PEZ
Place of Origin Austria
Check out one of our PEZ reviews here.

You would think it would be obvious because of the name "PEZ" which doesn't sound English at all, but this is one very European candy. Invented in Austria as a breath mint for smokers, the letters PEZ are actually a short form of the German word "Pfefferminz". At this point I think the USA is probably one of the biggest consumer of the candies since many of the dispensers are themed with American characters. I assume that most people assume that the origins are from their own country because they're so used to seeing their favourite characters on the dispensers.

This candies ability to take on so many shapes (or at the very least the dispensers ability) is likely why this candy is such a global phenomenon. The candy itself is always the same, with a few flavour variations sometimes available in one place over another, but the packaging is what people love about this candy. It's also the reason people assume that it's from their own country.

Gummy Bear
Place Of Origin Germany
Check out one of our Gummy Bear reviews here.

The gummy bear is kind of complicated, but there's no denying that the origins are German. It gets complicated because of the popularity of the candy later on. The gummy bear was invented in Bonn Germany in 1922 but the candy didn't go global until the 1980s, but when it broke it broke big.  It went from being a simple German candy that no one had ever heard of into the catalyst for a candy revolution. This was the candy that actually started a candy trend that's lasted ever since, the gummy. Many could credit the gummy bear as being the original gummy candy, and I'm sure many people would assume that it came from their own country.

The gummy bear's explosion of popularity is likely caused by the American market in the 80s, it went all the way to a popular television series. But the origins are much simpler, and found a ten hour flight away from the USA.

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Candy In The Media - Watching Them Make PEZ

For the next few weeks we'll be featuring videos all about how they make your favorite candies. This week we're looking at a great segment all about our favorite square candy PEZ.

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It's Another PEZ Review - PEZ Grape

I told you last week that we would be posting another PEZ review online, and  here it is.  I'm not sure how exciting that is, but it's something we've had to get off our plate. We're still missing a few PEZ flavours, but that will have to wait for another time.

Note - I think next week we'll be having a review-a-thon, and I'm thinking Asian Ice Cream treats.

Click here to read our latest PEZ review.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out more about next week's Asian Ice Cream review-a-thon.

Also, follow us on Instagram to keep up with all our Snack Facts.

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Do You Like PEZ? How About PEZ Reviews? - Lemon PEZ

I have to be honest, I wrote this review a few months back. I tell you this because I wanted to write a brand spanking new candy review for you guys, but I can't. I hurt my tongue. I hurt my tongue eating crab, and it sucks. I bit my tongue and it left a small scratch, well that scratch didn't do so well (most likely because I've been eating a lot of acidic foods lately) and it got worse.  It's nothing that won't go away, but frankly the idea of eating anything that isn't totally bland (no acids or salt) sounds awful right now. Fortunately I have a pretty big list of reviews ready to go for just such an occasion, so you guys don't miss out.

While digging through the list I came across this review for lemon PEZ, and it seemed appropriate that this review should go up ASAP. I also have a review for grape PEZ waiting to go up, and if my mouth doesn't heal by Monday, I think I'll post it then.  I should at some point make sure that I have every flavour of PEZ represented on candycritic.org, since it's truly one of the classic candies.

Click here to read all about Lemon PEZ.

Let us know you're favourite flavour of PEZ on Facebook or Twitter.

Also, make sure to please follow us  on Tumblr, because we'd follow you if you asked us nicely.

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Candy In The Media

All this week we're featuring videos of candy factories, in particular candies that you may receive on Halloween.  While you don't often receive Pez on Halloween, when you do it's either really great, or really crappy.  It's great when you get a new Pez dispenser in your bag because frankly they're not cheap, and that's a high quality treat to be handing out.  They're kind of crappy when someone gives you a Pez refill pack, because you just can't eat it until you get home and put it in a dispenser.  It's really crappy if someone just gives you a single brick of Pez, that's worth an egging if you ask me.

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A Cool Candy Thing

Nothing can help you cap off your holiday cheer like the heads of your favorite holiday characters mounted on sticks... Oh wait a minute, these are just Pez dispensers, my bad.  I guess this would be a fine thing to get for the holidays, as long as you ignore my earlier comment about them looking like the dismembered heads of famous holiday characters.  I've never really thought about Pez dispensers as dismembered heads before, and now that I do, I'll never be able to look at them the same again.  Maybe they should create a line of famous people who've faced the guillotine.  Maybe a series of Pez dispensers based on some of the characters from the Tudors television series.

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A Cool Candy Thing

Yesterday I wrote about the Tic Tac Syndrome, an issue where you can't help but shove your mouth full of a particular candy.  While I think candy dispensers can help this problem, I worry about how hard they can be to load up.  This particular dispenser looks pretty cool, but it also looks like it might be hard for a sufferer of the Tic Tac Syndrome to fill up.  So if you have a problem, and you want this PEZ dispenser, make sure to get plenty of extra PEZ so you can munch while you fill it up.

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Classic/Creative Candy Advertising

According to the article linked bellow, the company that makes PEZ used to cater to the adult market extensively.  The image above is only an example, but I can assure you that some of the advertising was much more risque.  This just goes to show that in some parts of the world, at certain times, candy really isn't just for kids.

Click here to read the article, see some other risque PEZ advertising, but keep in mind that some of it is NSFW.

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Friday's Candy Links

Under the headline "Sneakers that make you fit and 7 other allegedly misleading products", almost half of them are snacks.

I hate cilantro, how about you?  Well if you hate the stuff too, there's science to support your distaste.

Check out this awesome Alien Pez dispenser from Boing Boing.

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Wednesday's Candy Links

Here's a look at why nostalgic candy continues to be so popular.

Want to visit the Pez head office in Connecticut? Make sure to check out their new visitors center.

Why does Roger Ebert think that movie revenues are going down into the dumps?  Number 4 is one I'll agree with 100%

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Monday's Candy Links

Check out Wythe Candy & Gourmet Shop in Williamsburg, it's been open for 50 years.

New Cars 2 Pez dispensers actually roll away from you.

How much can you make selling candy?  Well if you sell it on the New York Subway you can make up to 55 grand.

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Fruit Blend Pez Makes Me Happy and Sad

According the post I found on the NCA site, Pez has decided to introduce fruit blend packs in the US.  This is great, I love the idea that some of the great treats from Europe will be available to my US friends.  I am however a little saddened by the statement made by the folks at Pez "we have modified the flavors accordingly for the U.S. market".  Seriously, why do they have to change anything, if they're so successful in Europe, I'm sure Americans will like them too.

Click here to read the post.

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Royal Pez

Apparently not only are the soon to be wed royals fans of candy, but apparently the candy world has become fans of theirs.  Pez has decided to release special edition Pez dispensers in their honor.  That means you could turn your Pez collection into a reenactment of the big event, except the best man might have to be Santa Clause, and the bride might have to be given away by the Pink Panther.

Click here to read more about the Pez dispensers.

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What The World Needs, Is More Pez

For the first time Pez is going to be made in more than one location. Before the only Pez factory was found in New York, but now they've just opened a new plant in Hungary as well. More Pez for us all, YAY!

Click here to read about this new Pez plant.

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The Chive Posted Some Funny Candy Pictures

Here’s a little roundup of some funny candy related pictures I’ve found on the Chive recently. The first one (pictured above) is a great example of why candy companies should be sure to pay attention when they paint faces on the edible characters they create. Also here are a couple of candy related tattoos that are just so wrong. Sure I’m a candy fanatic too but I have my limits.

Click here to see the bunnies.

Click here to see the worst M&M Tattoo ever.

Click here to see a man that loves Pez a whole lot.

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Pez Song

Rock out to the Pez Song!

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Pez Problem

I just heard that the makers of PEZ are suing the PEZ museum for copyright infringement. I’m not sure about the details but as a guy who works hard spreading the fine word of the candy gospel to sweet tooth’s all over the world I worry a little.

Click here to read more.

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