Candy News

Black licorice, love it or hate it?  The Finnish people love it, and they love it more when it's extreme.

Drunk guy eats popcorn at a football game, hilarity ensues.

Here's a great list of 65 Amazing Facts from Mental Floss, and there are a few candy related ones worth mentioning.

The history of candy, and why you think it's bad for you.  This is a must read for candy fanatics whom are constantly defending the health problems associated with sweet treats.

If you think I don't ever publish articles that are against candy, you can always read this article convincing us that a candy tax is necessary to keep our children safe.

Huffington Post published the "The Best 25 Candy Bars Of All Time", but keep in mind they're all American, and they're missing some pretty great smaller candy companies.

If your name is "Fudge" and you steal ice cream, you're pretty much asking for a headline in the newspaper.

According to a recent study, shape can make you're chocolate taste better.  But it's still no excuse to make it smaller.

The story of how William Wrigley Jr. became a gum super star is pretty impressive.

Here are some facts about the words "Fat Free" that's all over that healthy food you're eating.

Did you know that people still bootleg things other than DVDs?  Say for example... Maple syrup?

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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Candy News

With the Superbowl just around the corner, you're going to have to know how to make some serious layered dips, how about 47 layers?

It's perfect!  Someone built a huge model of the Colosseum out of Tim Tams. As a bonus it's filled with gummy warriors.

What do you do if you're an American artist and your medium is Twinkies?  Move to Canada.

Folks in Massachusetts might find their candy to be a little bit more expensive soon.

Heat resistant chocolate?  Why is science worrying about this when there are bigger issues to think about, like making chocolate taste better.

Are you thinking of going to a candy show this year?  Well here's a list of three that you probably shouldn't miss.

60 years after lodging a complaint about finding a stick in his Nut Roll, Dave Bell finally gets his free chocolate bar.

I collect candy, but it doesn't age very well, so my collection isn't that big, maybe I should get into collecting candy paraphernalia instead.

Here's a great tip to help you keep your ice cream easy to scoop.

I'm still not sure if I like the idea of the woman I love devouring an exact replica of my head in chocolate form.

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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Thursday's Candy Links

Hey all you Canadian Pizza fanatics, Pizza Hut has made the perfect cologne for you.

Mexico is thinking of a 50% gum tax, you'd think that wouldn't mean much until you learn that Mexicans are the 2nd largest consumers of gum in the world.

An eighth grade girl is asking Hasbro to create an Easy-Bake Oven that her brother will feel comfortable using.  Gordon Ramsay might want to look into some kind of cross promotion on this one.

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Wednesday's Candy Links

Twinkie Update: It appears that Hostess may not actually be out of business, rumors of a mediation are in the mix.

Have you ever been to Burger King and not felt completely full, well in Japan that's no longer a problem, thanks to the burger buffet.

The Danish government had all these ideas about a fat and sugar tax, well surprise-surprise, it didn't work out.

Couldn't make it to the Chicago Chocolate Festival?  Here's some pictures to make you feel bad about it.

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Monday's Candy Links

Should I be happy or sad that I'm not in North America, and I can't sample Candy Corn Oreos? (They come out today!)

Are you eating a Skittle or an M&M?  Science can now tell you the best way to enjoy it.

Candy tax in Lakewood, Colorado, let me tell you one place that's not on my "to visit" list right now.

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Tuesday's Candy Links

According to this article "Hitler Plotted to Kill Churchill With Exploding Chocolate".  Killing a man with candy, that's just low.

Wrigley's is officially against a new gum tax that's planned in the Wales, I would have to agree.

Get your chocolate loving taste buds ready Dallas, DallasChocolate.org is having their annual chocolate event on September 29th.

The razor blade in the bag of Jolly Ranchers... can this be true?

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Thursday's Candy Links

How would you like to feel guilty about eating chocolate?

Candy taxes don't make people healthier, they just make candy more expensive.

Why is science awesome?  "Chewing Gum Cuts Ear Infection Risk in Kids."  That's why.

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The War On Soda Continues

Some legal folks in Colorado are trying to repeal a tax aimed at Sodas.  I'm pretty much against taxing any particular type of food over another because it never works.  I'm not against trying to fight obesity or making people healthier, I just think over taxing is not the answer.  A good point made in this article is the fact that there are some "soda" beverages that are healthier than some "juice" beverages.  So really you're taxing the wrong thing for the wrong reason.

Click here to read more.

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More Tax = Smaller Candy

This might be a prediction for the future of candy in the world if a sweet tax is put into effect.  In Europe with the financial problems they've decided to restructure their taxing system (the VAT).  This is going to lead people to have to start spending more money on food (a higher food tax) as well as higher prices for manufactures.  So apparently some candy companies are going to start shrinking the size of their treats in order to deal with the financial issues they're going to have to deal with.

Click here to read about candy bars getting smaller.

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Sugar Tax, Might Not Work

Well Duh!  I could have told you that a sugar tax on beverages, or candy wouldn't work.  Although people do think about the price of foods such as sweets, with the huge range of treats available there's always a treat that will fit into any budget.  If you make sweet treats expensive people will just resort to finding a cheaper sweet treat.  If you want to control obesity in the world you have to change the way you look at the problem.  Hidden sugars in "healthy foods" and teaching people about portion controls will work much better than simply increasing the price.

Click here to read more about the sugar tax issues.

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Let The People Decide What Should Be Taxed

Here's a perfect example of cooler head prevailing.  In Washington state the government wanted to put a tax on soda and candy treats.  Then an election happened and they put the idea to a vote and the people of Washington thought it wasn't a good idea and voted the tax down.  The wise people of Washington state understand that this tax doesn't make any sense and there has to be another way to deal with obesity and health problems.

Click here to read more.

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Candy Tax In Europe

I knew this was going to happen, I knew the minute a couple of states in the US started talking about a candy tax that things would start to spiral out of control.  The two problems with a candy tax are that it's almost impossible to define what is a candy (trust me I've been trying for 10 years) and secondly people think obesity will disappear if you tax candy.  Obesity isn't just a single sourced problem, candy is a part of people's diets, and only a small part that has to be examined with the obesity issue.

Candy is, in my mind, one of the most honest sectors of the food industry on the subject.  No decent candy maker in the world would say that their product is healthy on it's own and a great way to lose weight.  Candy is a treat that should be eaten in moderation and is not the answer to all health problems.  You may think it's odd to make this claim, that candy is "not the answer to all health problems", however many food companies make this claim.  It's ridiculous to assume any one food can make you healthy, and it's ridiculous to assume that any one food can make you unhealthy as well.

Click here to read about the possibility of a candy tax in Europe.

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Finland Planing To Tax Candy

I always thought of Europeans as being really liberal and easy going. I also thought of them as being great lovers (and experts) in candy. I can't understand why in the world they would want to tax chocolate, candies and other sweet treats. It just seems wrong.

Click here to read more about Finland's new tax idea.

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I'm Not The Only One That Doesn't Understand Candy Tax

It appears that no one really understands the candy tax system. More importantly no one seems to be able to define what is candy and what is not. Here at Candy Critic we have probably the most loose definition of candy ever, and it gets us some slack. I'd love to contribute into defining candy for the US federal government but frankly that might be a conflict of interest since I'm generally opposed to the idea of taxing candy over other foods.

Click here to read more about defining candy for tax purposes.

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Battle Over Soda Tax Goes To...

Although the battle is not over there seems to be a push towards getting rid of the tax in Washington state. There is an aggressive campaign to eliminate the tax and they're should be a vote on it this November. Strangely enough I'm 0k with taxing food and drinks, I just think the tax has to be fair, and the money has to go towards real working initiatives to eliminate obesity.

Click here to read about the tax and the battle.

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Sweet Tax Spreads

I said when the whole tax on candy started about a year ago that it was going to spread. I figure it's a matter of time until many more countries jump on board and start to tax certain sweet treats. It just doesn't seem fair.

Click here to read about Finland's sweet treat tax.

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The People Of Maine Want Cheap Candy

According to this article they've voted against the tax hike on sweet treats. Good Work!

Click here to read about it.

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Some Details On Candy Tax

This article is a very simple explanation about how the candy tax works and why there might be a few problems. Fortunately at this point I'm not affected personally by these candy taxes, but with increased costs and lowered profit the candy companies will be soon.

Click here to read more about this tax.

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Candy Tax Got You Down

Well this isn't going to help you at all. The National Confectioners Association has compiled a list of the treats that are taxable according to the new tax law in Washington State.

Click here, read it, and cry a little.

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Candy and Sugar Taxes Affect You

Here's an article about the jump in price for some vending machines in Colorado because of the new sweet tax. There is some argument that some vending machine companies may be increasing more than the taxes to make a few extra bucks. It's not surprising that this kind of thing happens and it reminds us once again that this tax hike is a bad idea.

Click here to read about these vending machines.

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