This Post Isn't So Much About Candy

I'm sick, and it's food poisoning. In the candy world it's very rare to get food poisoning, but I often travel/live in places where food hygiene isn't the best. That means that I suffer from fairly regular bouts of food poisoning. The reason I mention this here is that I wanted to point out that I'm still posting a new review, even though I'm not really eating solid foods. I can do this because the truth is I have a pretty big collection of pre-written reviews. There are many advantages to having this list of reviews, one of them being that I can still post a new review when I'm not even eating solid foods.  I'm at the point where things are getting better, but I think it's going to be a while till I write a new review.

Check out this new review, from my archives?

Is Xylitol Perfect?

I'm often very pessimistic about sugar substitutes. I find that they often fit into one of two categories, they either have some kind of awful aftertaste, or they turn out to be really bad for you. Xylitol is one of the newer sweet substitutes out there and so far it seems like in certain uses it really works, taste wise. The thing I hope never happens is that we find out that it's actually not very good for you.

Check out this interesting Xylitol based gum that I reviewed.

Make sure to check out Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as I just got back from an adventure and found some interesting treats.

You can also check out my new book called Treats and Beasts, pick up a copy for yourself or someone you know who love sweet treats.

Opening Footage For My Canadian Video

We’re still here in Canada and I’m collecting all kinds of treats, photos and videos. I’m working on a piece about the food in Canada that I feel represents Canada to me, and I found the perfect piece of footage for then start of the video.

Click here to check out this great footage.

Make sure to keep up with all our Canadian adventures on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram too.

CC

This New Candy Review Might Cure Your Cold, But Does Nothing For Your Tastebuds - Renesse "Red Ginseng Candy"

I think there's a belief that colds are afraid of things that taste bad. It's not always the case, but most of the time any kind of food that notionally makes a cold go away tastes awful. There are a few cold relief treats that I've had that aren't bad, but I don't think there are any that taste good. I don't think  I've ever been walking down the aisle of my local drug store, while feeling completely healthy, and thought about buying a lozenge.

Click here to read about the latest cold relief candy that we sampled.

You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook to find out whenever one of us is sick.

And why not follow us on Tumblr as well, unless you don't do that kind of thing.

CC

Candy In The Media

A simple way to find out how much sugar you've been eating.

CC

This may shock you, but I support Jaime Oliver

I believe that people eat too much sugar. I believe there is an obesity problem, and I believe it's getting worse. No I haven't decided to retire from Candy Critic, and this isn't written to be sarcastic or ironic. I truly believe that we have to worry about our weight and sugar is one of the biggest enemies.

So how can I say this without being a hypocrite? I believe that candy is not the biggest enemy in this battle, at least not always. Neither is junk food, at least not always.

Let's start with candy. Candy is sugar, or at the very least it contains a lot of sugar. Candy (most of the time) does not hide this fact. You don't walk into a store called "Sugar Mountain" and not know what you're getting yourself into. I believe that enjoying an indulgence now and again is not a problem. Eating an entire king sized chocolate bar is not enjoying an indulgence, that's pigging out. I believe that it's fine to enjoy something sweet, as long you exercise portion control.

Junk food (things like hamburgers and pizza) are another indulgence, but one where you can eat, as long as you know what you're getting. I support fast food restaurants giving out information about what's in their food and whenever possible using less sugar and saturated fats. While these places aren't perfect, some are getting better.

So where is the problem in my book? Hidden sugar. Walk into any grocery store and you will find "healthy" foods that are loaded with sugar. Cereals, granola bars, and pre-made meals loaded with sugar, sometimes more sugar than the candy bar in the next aisle. Worse yet, many of these foods claim to be healthy because they don't contain fat or other "bad" ingredients. It's as if they're saying it's OK to eat a lot of sugar, as long as you don't know about it.

I also believe that healthy low sugar options have to be available everywhere. Schools and workplaces need to offer quick healthy food such as nuts and vegetables. They can offer something for the quick indulgence, but healthy options must be available as well. We must also educate kids and adults about healthy eating. Your first lesson, 90% of what I feature on this site is full of sugar and should be eaten in moderation.

I believe enjoying candy responsibly is fine, and responsibly depends on you and your lifestyle. Between the occasional sweet treat you must get balanced meals and even a few healthy snacks. Celebrate sweet treats and junk food the same way you celebrate a birthday, not every day. Get the best sweet indulgence you can because you shouldn't do it all the time.

The Candy Critic supports Jaime Oliver and his #FoodRevolution.

CC

A Take Care Of Your Lips Candy Thing - Part 4 - Candy (Seriously Just Candy)

If you want to kiss a candy fanatic, this is the way to do it.

CC

This Week In Candy

The food poisoning from last week is finally gone.  I can't say that we're 100% healthy, but we're (Allison got sick too) getting stronger every day.  We're also finally eating regular meals, and regular desserts as well. This is perfect timing, because we're just about to head off on our next adventure, India.  I've never been to India before, but it is a foodie destination, and there are lots of sweet treats that I'm very excited to try. I can't say that I'm not a little worried about getting food poisoning again, but I'll just have to be a little bit careful.  Anybody out there have any suggestions on must try treats in India?

This week we're making up for lost time.  First and foremost we're going to post a new episode of Junk Fud On the Road.  It should have been online two week's ago, but talking about food when you have food poisoning is no fun at all.  Because of the food poisoning incident, we won't have a new episode of Junk Fud History this month.  This week however we're going to post a special article, possibly the first in a sporadic series where we compare marshmallows to Circus Peanuts.  For this article we're comparing the two soft treats in how well they work in Rice Krispie Treats.  Check back later this week to see how the Circus Peanuts compared.

This week on Snack Facts, our Instagram feed, we're looking at Tim Horton's.  Every day this week we'll post a new fun fact about my favorite doughnut shop.  You can follow Snack Facts on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

This week's review was a gift from some friends of mine who just returned from a trip to Australia.  They picked me up a few treats, but these "Pods" intrigued me.  In the end they turned out to be the most disappointing treat I've ever loved.  Click here to find out why.

CC

A Take Care Of Your Lips Candy Thing - Part 3 - Caramel Apple

I think that this would be the perfect lip balm for Trick or Treaters.

CC

A Take Care Of Your Lips Candy Thing - Part 2 - Cupcake

What's the difference between cupcake lip balm and regular cake lip balm, let me know?

CC

The 3rd Episode of the Junk Fud podcast is Here!

The third episode of the Junk Fud podcast is here, and for this episode we're talking ingredients.  Since recording this episode several of the guests have complained to me that they've been suffering with post podcast confusion as to what exactly an "ingredient" might be.  So check out this fun episode of Junk Fud where me and my friends look at "what is an ingredient".

Click here to check it out.

CC

Candy In The Media

This history of sugar, and why we may be addicted to the stuff.

CC

Candy In the Media

Have you ever wondered how many Doritos it would take to kill you?  Well wonder no longer.

CC

This Week In Candy

We have two interesting pieces of news here at Candy Critic.  First of all, we've decided to look a little closer at candy and health.  We believe that although candy is fun, it's also important to eat healthy and take care of yourself.  So we got FitBits all around, and we're going to spend some time looking at our diet, our exercise, and our lifestyle, to find a way to make sure that candy and health can co-exist.  In the next few months we'll have a few blog posts on the subject, as well as fairly regular check ins on how we're doing, health wise.

Secondly, it looks like yet another adventure is upon us, this time to Africa.  In the next few weeks we're heading to Africa to check out all the cool stuff from this awesome continent.  As always we expect to find all kinds of cool food treats along the way, and we'll be sharing our finds on Facebook and Twitter.  We also hope to collect a few African candies and treats to review, since this is the continent with the fewest reviews so far.  We're not leaving yet, but it's happening soon.

This week on Snack Facts, our Instagram feed, we're looking at British candy.  All this week we're going to look at our favourite candy making nation.  Follow us on Instagram to get a British candy fact sent to you every day this week. If you don't use Instagram, don't worry, you can follow Snack Facts on our Facebook page and Twitter feed as well.

This week's new review is a cake treat made by the same people who like to stick small toys into chocolate eggs.  Without giving away too much about this review, I can tell you that this company should probably stick to what they're good at.  Click here to read the review.

CC

Candy News

I love candy and snacks, but I'm not sure if I love them enough to have them permanently embedded on my skin.

A food tech company has discovered that the best way to take the edge off of cocoa may not be milk or sugar, instead it's mushrooms.

It appears that Mars is going to increase the price of their chocolate, but don't worry, many smaller companies are not following suit.

Summer is here, and that means state fairs and carnivals are happening, and that means food like this is available.

Trendy foods are both good and bad.  They're good because they can promote creativity and innovation, they're bad because you find yourself in line for 30 minutes just to eat a crappy donut.

Last week I mentioned that I wanted to try this new "raw chocolate" trend, well this week I've learned that maybe I don't.

Dark chocolate keeps gaining in popularity, it's no milk chocolate yet,  but some day it might be more popular.

Apparently Chupa Chups are branching out into clothing, I wonder if they have special pockets to hold lollipops?

In the 1900s a German chocolate company decided that they would distribute cards depicting what the year 2000 would be like with their chocolate. The results are awesome.

Over the next few weeks I'm going to be traveling a lot, and I'm not really sure how well I'll be able to keep up the weekly Candy News posts.  I will however be updating the Twitter feed as regularly as I can, so you can still keep up with the news there. The news feed should return to normal in about 6 weeks.

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

CC

Gummy Bear Shirts - Gummy Bear Weight Loss

Gummy Bear Weight Loss T-shirts by candycritic
Shop for another shirt at zazzle.com

For the next few weeks every Tuesday we're going to feature one of our many cartoon themed gummy bear t-shirts.  The irony of this shirt is that if you help gummy bears lose weight, then you yourself might have to lose weight.

CC

Stuff I Want To Try

Raw Chocolate - Various Companies - This is the way chocolate can become a health food. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

CC

Classic/Creative Candy Advertisement

The statement on this advertisement is true, but only before I've started to eat any popcorn.  Popcorn is one of those snacks that when you smell it, and when you know you're only minutes away from enjoying it, something in the back of your mind is saying that you can eat unlimited amounts of it.  Then, after about 5 handfuls of popcorn my mind changes, suddenly it was the dumbest idea ever to get the super large popcorn.

I found this ad here.

CC

Candy News

The animation fan, and sweet cereal fan in me shed a tear this week when I heard about the passing of Lee Marshall, voice of Tony the Tiger.

If you want to get some cookies, and you find yourself in the UK, you want to be sure you use the word biscuit. And if you want a biscuit, in the UK, make sure you ask for a scone.

Have you ever tried "Hagelslag" or "Stroopwafel"?  Then you don't really know you're Dutch snacks do you.

Trying to eat healthy, figure a granola bar is a much better choice than a Krispy Kreme doughnut?  Think again.

Someone has invented a chocolate flavoured film that lets you get all the satisfaction of filling your chocolate craving, without any of the sugar or fat. Why would you want to do that?

Edible rainbowy chocolate holograms, welcome to the future of candy.

Apparently all it takes is the Premier of China to endorse your candy to have a sales bonanza, well Mr Premier, what about a little endorsement for candycritic.org?

Looks like Dylan's Candy Bar might be coming to my hometown, my Mom has another argument for me to visit more often.

The mysteries of why Magic Shell hardens on your ice cream uncovered.

Finnish artist makes some really impressive art with pins and candy.

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

CC

Candy News

Could this be the new internet snacking sensation that's taking over the world?  Unicorn Barf???

Making gum that can actually make people's life better is truly one of the greatest candy inventions ever.

Beautiful blown glass art, oh yeah, it's also made of sugar and completely edible.

The candy business is a really serious place, fortunately it can also be kind of fun too.  Here's a look at the business side of Bazooka Gum.

I'm sure I don't have to explain to you again why cocoa and some chocolates are good for you, but you can always send this link to any skeptical friends.

Have you ever wondered what it means when a package says "natural" or "artificial" flavours?

I've always known why they put the M's on the M&M's, but I'd never thought about how they do it.

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

CC