This Week In Candy

I'm getting ready to go on an epic journey, and I'm worried. I always worry before I go on a trip.  Will I pack the right things, will our plans go well, but most importantly will I find some interesting foods?  Every time I step foot into a new place I go into a panic mode.  Even in the airport I check out every store and restaurant to try and get an idea about what the foods of this country or place might be.  The first thing I want to do when I visit a place is head to a grocery store to check out what the locals buy.  I spend at least 20 minutes in the candy aisle of these stores just scoping things out.  I get nervous that I'll miss the important foods, the foods that I can't miss. In the end, I've never missed out on anything.  I eventually learn that the foods you find on your journey are the foods you need to try. They'll be obvious, or they're not really the foods of that country.

This week on Snack Facts we're looking at the gumball.  It's round, colourful, and is probably one of the most iconic candies ever.  Make sure to check our Instagram feed to keep up with all the Snack Facts fun.  If you don't use Instagram, don't worry, Snack Facts can also be found on our Twitter feed and Facebook page as well.

This week's new review is a classic candy that's been around my entire life.  Orange Tic Tacs played a pretty vital role in my childhood, and that's pretty obvious in this week's review.  Click here to read more.

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Tic Tac Syndrome

Tic Tac Syndrome is what I call it when you can't eat just one of a particular type of candy.  Actually it's a little more serious than that, the Tic Tac Syndrome is what happens when you can't help but dump an entire package of candy in your mouth all at once.  The name comes from the candy (Tic Tac) that consists of a package of small mints that are simply unsatisfying to eat individually.

While Tic Tac’s are the best example of a candy you can't eat slowly, there are many others.  Pixie Sticks, (Canadian and UK) Smarties, and Chiclets gum, are a few other examples of candies that cause people to down an entire package in one go.  These treats just have a certain flavour and texture that is satisfying when it fills up your mouth.

While I believe that I suffer from this syndrome in a fairly bad way, I'm not the only one.  I've spoken to many candy fanatics all over the world that have had problems with the Tic Tac Syndrome.  These people have told me tails of stuffing their faces with all kinds of bite-sized treats.  Some are proud of how many of a particular treats they can shove in their mouths; while others are ashamed at how quickly they go through an entire package of candy.

For those that want to defeat the Tic Tac Syndrome, it can be a great challenge.  The best way to regulate the problem is with novelty candy dispenser, such as a PEZ dispenser.  These can slow down your face stuffing habits, but they're not perfect.  First of all, most of these dispensers are cumbersome to fill.  There's also nothing to stop you from just emptying the entire contents of these dispensers into your hand and simply eating all the candy in one gulp.

The only other cure I've heard of is an unplanned accident.  Say for example your tasting a new mint, and each mint is made up of a tiny mouth pleasing little round ball.  Many people suffering from the Tic Tac Syndrome would have a hard time just eating one or two.  Now if these mints were super-powerful, or spicy, this would leave you in a great deal of discomfort.  Having this happen enough times, or having a serious enough trauma, might kick you of the habit.  But it doesn't always work, and I'm proof of that.

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This Week In Candy

Last week I wrote a review, this review is not going to be posted on candycritic.org for about 9 months, I wrote my Halloween review.  It just happened to be one of those situations where I was given a treat that fits the Halloween theme, so I wanted to take advantage.  Strangely enough, a few days after writing this review, I went out shopping and came across a great Christmas candy that was on sale.  I bought it, and that means I'll be writing my Christmas review later this week as well.

This morning I mentioned that Candy Critic now has 861 candy reviews online.  It's not a particularly celebratory number, but we're pretty proud that the number went so high.

Later this week I'll be posting a piece I wrote on something I call the "Tic Tac syndrome".  I think this is something that many people can relate to, so make sure to check back later.  I'm also working on a few secret projects that I hope to be able to announce in the future.

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Some sites of late

Just when you thought having a site all about candy was a little silly someone comes along and tops you with a blog dedicated to cereal monsters.

Click here to check out this site.

Candy and photography are really my passion so whenever I come across another person with my kind of passion and my kind of insanity I love to post it here. Here’s a collection of photos of Tic Tacs stuck in their boxes.

Click here to check this site out.

Are you looking for a mint condition bottle cap from Fresca circa 1960? Me nether but I’m sure someone is.

Click here to check this site out, and be sure to turn up the volume.

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