Every once in a while I go through the search logs either on this site or the ones that refer people here from the search engines.

Sometimes I know that their questions aren’t actually answered when they arrive, so I’ll take a stab at it here!

Question: Why is my tongue is irritated from sour foods?

Answer: Sour foods are acidic. Many very sour candies contain high levels of acids such as malic acid and citric acid. At higher levels this can irritate the tongue and tender mouth parts. Luckily the irritation is temporary for most people.

Malic acid is naturally occurring and usually found in apples, more highly concentrated in green (unripe) apples.

Citric acid is also occurs naturally and is found in citrus fruits such as lemons and limes and in lower concentrations in oranges.

Question: What flavor is the red Skittle?

Answer: Red Skittles are strawberry flavored when found in the classic Fruits mix.

Question: What’s the difference between Hershey’s Mounds and Almond Joy candy bar?

Answer: I think the jingle for the candy bars answers that best:

Sometimes you feel like a nut
Sometimes you don’t
Almond Joy’s got nuts
Mounds don’t

Almond Joy’s got real milk chocolate
Coconut and munchy nuts too.
Mound’s got deep dark chocolate
and chewy coconut .... oooh

Sometimes you feel like a nut
Sometimes you don’t

Related Candies

1. Sour Extinguisher
2. Skittles (Fruits, Wild Berry, Tropical, Smoothies & Sour)
3. Mounds Island Orange
4. Warheads Juniors Extreme Sour
5. Almond Joy Chocolate Chocolate

Each day a the All Candy Expo I balanced my sense of discretion with each candy booth’s generosity.

I think the candy companies won.

Each attendee was given a small bag to put their samples in on the floor. The same bag was used each day and it was about the size of a shoe box for some nice women’s dress shoes. Basically, not too big.

Many booths had “eat it here” samples, little cups or sections of their products for sampling. I generally didn’t eat much while on the floor of the show, so I didn’t go for those often. (I couldn’t bring them home, they didn’t have the ingredients and nutrition info on them.)

I was pretty picky about what I picked up, but often when I’d get into conversations with the candy purveyors, they’d offer me full sized samples. A 6 ounce bag of some new gummi spiders, a stack of six 3.5 ounce chocolate bars, a 5 ounce bag of delicious dark chocolate coated toffee almonds or a half a dozen full-sized Ritter Sport bars. It adds up. So somewhere around the middle of the morning my bag would be full and probably weigh about five pounds. I had a benefit over most attendees, somewhere to stash the contents of my bag. I’d go to the press room and empty it out and leave it with my other stuff (my jacket, etc.) and go back out onto the floor.

At the end of the day I’d be hoofing it back to the hotel with 15 or so pounds of candy along with a sampling of press kits which are also heavy in their own right.

So with a little math you can tell where this is going. At the end of the show I had at least 45 pounds of candy, probably closer to 55 pounds (if you include the press kits, which as I said in my defense, are heavy).

I planned well, or at least I thought. I brought one large suitcase to Chicago. I packed my 8 days worth of clothes (I was heading to visit family in the Midwest when I was done) and another smaller, collapsible suitcase in the bottom. I had my laptop messenger bag and a purse. Once back at the hotel I tried to pack all my stuff. It all technically fit, but I was concerned that the large bag was going to be over the weight limit. If figured if I could carry the large suitcase down the three flights of stairs to the lobby, it couldn’t be that heavy. Certainly not over 50 pounds.

I got to the airport dragging things behind me (may I thank the fellow who invented the wheel at this moment?) I found that I was correct ... my luggage weight 101.5 pounds. However, the large bag was 61 pounds and the little one was over 39. (The good news, apparently, is that I can carry 61 pounds down three flights of stairs!)

Luckily the nice agent at American Airlines said I could take a moment and transfer some things around instead of charging me for being overweight (that’d be $50). She even helped me by pointing out the items she thought were heaviest. I stuffed some of the heavier things into my carry on and in the end each of my bags was balanced at 47 pounds each. (Yes, I was now toting an additional seven pounds in my carry ons.) I thanked the ticket agent for her patience and help and gave her a full-sized Hershey’s Cacao Reserve nibby bar. This was when she told me that she only worked part time for American Airlines. Her day job was as a dental hygienist. She said she would have given me a toothbrush if she had one on her!

At my brother’s (where the guest room is sadly on the third floor, but happily he carries my bags up for me) I took all my candy out and organized it and repacked it, using a bathroom scale to make sure that each bag was 45 pounds. I left plenty of chocolate and candy there, too. I gave my mother three full sized dark bars plus a box of Russell Stover Private Reserve chocolates that I just wasn’t going to get to review anytime soon (but I’ll go buy at some point). I left only a few things at my brothers ... sadly I didn’t find his new perfect candy bar for him at the Expo. He was a Snickers Cruncher fan. I’ll have to keep working on it.

It took about three days after I got home for the sore shoulders to go away (carry forty pounds on them regularly takes a while to get over). It’s been 10 days since the Expo ended and I can now say that my feet don’t hurt any longer. Maybe next year I won’t walk that mile to and from the convention center and just splurge on a cab.

In case you’re wondering, this is what 50 pounds of candy looks like, all dumped out on my dining room table (which is 50 inches around, by the way).

In case you’re wondering the result of this trip on my weight ... I’ve lost four pounds. Don’t worry, I have a notion of where to find them.

Related Candies

1. Candy Blog is Munchcast!
2. All Candy Expo - Wednesday Noon Update
3. Navigating a Candy Expo
4. All Candy Inventory 2006

If you’ve already entered my candy drawing, you should definitely go enter Candy Addict’s. He has far more candy that I’ve got, so it should be a windfall for all FOUR winners.

Chocolate Bytes is also running a drawing for some cute See’s Foil Wrapped Autumn Leaves. Check that out and enter! (Deadline is Sunday.)

X-Entertainment marks the beginning of Candy Season with their first haul of Halloween Candy. If that’s not enough to get you through to the sales that start on the day after, check out their huge archives that go back years and years. 

Buzzle has up a list of the 10 Great Moments in the History of Chocolate. Of course any top ten list will generate comments. I’m pretty sure Hershey should be on there, mostly because it was when chocolate became accessible to the masses and large-scale production techniques were applied to what had been a rather upscale artisan product. But there are other things left out of there as well.

Tasty Show (mostly chocolate) attended the Chocolate and Beer pairing sponsored by Cote d’Or at All Candy Expo. (I would have put this in my roundup, but it was posted on the same day and I didn’t see it.)

Jessica posts on Su Good Eats about a new chocolate maker in the US called Askinosie ... definitely on my list now!

I didn’t do a This Week roundup last week, I was traveling and having spent all that time and money to get across the country to see my family, I thought it best to spend time with them! I had a great trip and my mother and I went to visit Daffin’s Candy Factory in Farrell, PA and then to the Daffin’s Candy Store (the World’s Largest, they say). I’ll have a complete write up on that soon and tell you what’s in that box.

I also got to watch my niece and nephew try out a bunch of the All Candy Expo candies. The biggest hit with the two of them seemed to be the Candy Stampers that Concord makes. They’re a compressed dextrose disk that has a little shape on it and lots and lots of food coloring. You wet it on your tongue and then stamp the shape on your skin, or paper, or whatever. They seemed most interested in stamping their tongues.

Here’s what I know my niece doesn’t like: Razzles, Russell Stover’s Mocha Truffle (I don’t know why she wanted to open it), Trolli Gummi Bears or Concord Bananas. She seemed happiest when I opened my bag of Swedish Fish Aqua Life and she picked out all the red fish. They both got a couple of Pez as well, and seemed to like them. My nephew is more mellow about candy and seemed happy with most of the stuff I gave him. He likes sour, but not super sour. Sour Patch Kids are just about his speed.

I’m so happy to be home but haven’t even really looked at all my candy yet, I’ve just been trying to respond to your requests for the new candies revealed at the All Candy Expo.

Monday: Tootsie Rolls & Fruit Rolls (5 out of 10)

Tuesday: Chewy Lemonheads & Atomic Fireballs (7 out of 10 & 8 out of 10)

Wednesday: Skittles Chocolate Mix (5 out of 10)

Thursday: Pop Rocks Milk Chocolate Bar (7 out of 10)

Friday: Junior Mints Deluxe (7 out of 10)

Average rating: 6.27 ... 29% chocolate content.

Related Candies

1. This Week in Candy - Chicago Bound
2. This Week in Candy - Naturally!
3. This Week in Candy - Too Hot
4. This Week in Candy - A Giant Craving
5. This Week in Candy - Elvis is in the Cupcake!

Mars has many new products in store for us in the coming months, most in the limited edition realm:

Name: Wildly Cherry M&Ms
Brand: Mars
Description: Cherry was rated the #1 fruit flavor by consumers in M&Ms brand research.
Release Date: March 2008
Notes: Wow, my “market research” revealed Strawberry to be the favorite red fruit flavor. (Of course I probably drive cherry fans away.)

Name: Twizzlers Pull n Peel Cinnamon Fire Candy
Brand: Hershey’s
Description: You’ll be sizzling and twizzling
Release Date: February 29, 2008
Notes: I’m not sure they’ll get as much sizzle in there as I want (I find Twizzlers a little bland), but I’m certain to give them a whirl. (UPDATE: Here’s the review.)

Name: Batman Reese’s Peanut Butter Bats in Dark Chocolate
Brand: Hershey’s
Description: Bat shaped Reese’s in dark chocolate (probably like the Reese’s Egg for Easter).
Release Date: Summer 2008 (attached to the Batman: The Dark Knight premiere)
Notes: People have been clamoring for the return of the dark chocolate Reese’s, so this seems like a good tie in.

Name: Indiana Jones Crispy Mint M&Ms
Brand: Mars
Description: Tie in with the new Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull ... they’ll have little skulls printed on them just like the Pirate Pearls
Release Date: May 2008
Notes: These could be interesting ... of course bringing back the original Crispy M&Ms would be more interesting. (UPDATED: Here’s the review.)

Name: Snickers Adventure Bar
Brand: Mars
Description: a hint of chai and coconut in association with Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull
Release Date: May 2008
Notes: According to Brandweek the wrapper won’t say what the adventurous new flavors will be in this bar ... I think that’s too many flavors, but you know I’ll give it a whirl. (UPDATED: Here’s the review.)

(All photos courtesy of the respective companies’ press kits.)

Related Candies

1. Candy Teases - New Products
2. Snickers Shrek
3. M&M Pirate Pearls

Yes, I have way too much candy from the All Candy Expo, so I’m going to share some of the extra booty with you. I have a nice package set aside of some of the new product previews, including a package of Chocolate Mix Skittles, Mike and Ike Lemonade Stand Mix, TicTac Bold! Apple Sour, Junior Mints Deluxe, Chewy Lemonheads, Chewy Atomic Fireballs, Welch’s Fruit ‘n Yogurt Snacks as well as packs of your favorite existing products.

I’ll ship anywhere in North America. You may only enter once.

Just leave a comment here using a real email address in the comment form (don’t worry, I’m the only one who sees it). Tell me your three favorite candies of all time and what products you’re looking forward to. Don’t be alarmed if your post doesn’t show up, my system only shows 250 comments at a time on the blog, but I can see them via email and in my system ... if you think I didn’t get it, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), don’t post it over and over again.

Entries will be accepted until September 30th, 2007 at 11 PM Pacific. I’ll notify the winner within 48 hours (if the winner does not respond within 48 hours after that, then I’ll draw again).

UPDATE: Entries are closed at this time. Keep reading, I’ll have more giveaways at some point.

I’m busy packing and repacking today for my trip to Chicago to the All Candy Expo. Stop by all next week for daily coverage of what’s on the show floor, new products, things I spit out, and all the other insider info from the candy business.

The most exciting thing is that there are going to be many candy and food bloggers attending. I’ll try to have roundups of that coverage as the week goes on but you can check out Candy Addict, Chicagoist and Metroblogging Chicago.

In other global candy news, Bloomberg reports that the German chocolate market is saturated. So saturated that Germany is positively busting at the seams with great quality chocolate and will be forced to sell it to other countries. So expect to see more German chocolate in your local store.

The story also quotes that Germans consume an average of 19.8 pounds each. Americans average only 12 pounds. I can see why we look like a tempting target.

In other good news for dieters and diabetics, another report has confirmed that Aspartame (sold as

Nutrasweet) is safe for use. Personally, I don’t care for the stuff, it nauseates me and gives me a headache. I don’t think otherwise healthy children should be given artificial sweeteners, because I think natural is best as children learn their eating habits for life. But it’s good to know that if you do eat it (whether on purpose or by accident) that it’s safer than previously thought.

If my week in review isn’t enough for you, check out the Wandering Eater’s week in review ... be sure to scroll down to the awesome photos and descriptions of the Christopher Norman shop.

This week in review:

Monday: Candy Corn Kisses (4 out of 10)

Tuesday: Lake Champlain Organic Dark Bars (8 out of 10 & 9 out of 10)

Wednesday: Frey Supreme White, Lemon & Lime and Lemon & Pepper (6 out of 10)

Thursday: Walkers Nonsuch Toffee Original & Treacle (8 out of 10 & 9 out of 10)

Friday: M&Ms Razzberry - Limited Edition (4 out of 10)

Average for this week: 6.86 with 43% chocolate content.

Related Candies

1. This Week in Candy - Naturally!
2. This Week in Candy - Too Hot
3. This Week in Candy - The Vacation
4. This Week in Candy - A Giant Craving
5. This Week in Candy - Elvis is in the Cupcake!

Many parents have suspected for a long time that candy may contribute to hyperactivity in children. While sugar has been exonerated, it appears that the problem may be with preservatives and artificial colors.

I pulled together a list of candies which parents may want to consider when eliminating those elements from their diet, after all, kids deserve to be, well, kids. This is not a complete list of all natural candies, just a little something for now if you were wondering. I’ll pull something more complete together for Halloween.

Gummis & Fruit Sours
Katjes Tropical Gummis & Yogurt Gums
Jelly Belly All Natural Jelly Beans
St. Claire’s Organic Mints & Tarts
Organic Surf Sweets (Gummis, Fruity Bears & Jelly Beans)
Florida’s Naturals Sour Strings

Hard Candies
College Farm (Lollipops & Hard Candies)
Yummy Earth (Lollipops & Hard Candies)
Pure Fun (Cotton Candy & Hard Candies)

Chocolate
Most chocolate is all natural, except for the artificial flavor vanillin which is present in Hershey’s, Nestle, Mars, Palmer’s, World’s Finest and others. Some candy bars, however, contain additional preservatives such as Sodium Benzoate, TBHQ or BHA and Potassium Sorbate. So read labels carefully. Generally, stay away from colorful candy coatings to reduce the likelihood of running ot problematic chemicals.

Nestle Smarties (from the UK)
Sun Drops
Thompson Organics & All Natural Line
Endangered Species Chocolate
Equal Exchange (Fair Trade & Organic)
Green & Black’s (Fair Trade & Organic)
Guittard
Dagoba
Terra Nostra (Dairy Free “Milk” Chocolate & other organic goodies)
Theo

Licorice
Black Ace Licorice
Panda Bars

Gum & Mints
Glee
Anis de Flavigny
VerMints
St. Claire’s Organic Mints & Tarts

In most cases, I don’t miss the unnatural elements. Yes, the colors might not be as bright, but the flavors are usually the same or better. Without preservatives you have to get fresh candy. But that’s what you wanted anyway, right?

What’s your favorite all natural candy?

Related Candies

1. This Week in Candy - Naturally!
2. Green Halloween Final Thoughts
3. Green Halloween

I’m getting so excited. In a little over a week the All Candy Expo starts, I’ve got my travel plans locked in and my lists of candy companies to visit.

I’ll be posting every day starting next Monday with notes and news.

In the mean time, there are other things to look forward to if you’re in Indiana ... you’re getting a See’s! Okay, it’s just at the Indianapolis Airport, so if you live in Indianapolis, you’ll have to buy a plane ticket, go through security in order to enjoy the deliciousness.

Bunrab has an awesome posting on the new Charles Chocolates cafe & store at their factory in Emeryville, CA.

There’s a lot of talk in the news lately about the new study out of the United Kingdom that links artificial colors and preservatives to hyperactivity. Many parents have noticed this connection and have found that an all natural diet makes a huge difference.

To that end, I’m going to try to list those things more often, or at least post when a product is all natural. In the mean time, it looks like Europe is doing a pretty good job of eliminating artificial colors (Nestle Smarties are the most notable).

In case you didn’t notice, Candy Blog got a little update on the layout over the weekend. I’m still tweaking things a bit (which is why there are two blogrolls at the moment). Hopefully it will end some of the endless scrolling and organize things a little better.

Here’s last week’s candy reviews in review:

Monday: Milk Maid Caramel Candy Corn (3 out of 10)

Tuesday: Caramilk Maple (6 out of 10)

Wednesday: Niederegger Marzipan Orange (8 out of 10)

Thursday: Zip Bomb (4 out of 10)

Friday: Shockers Squeez Lemon & Berry (5 out of 10)

5.2 weekly average ... 40% chocolate content.

Related Candies

1. This Week in Candy - Too Hot
2. This Week in Candy - The Vacation
3. This Week in Candy - A Giant Craving
4. This Week in Candy - Elvis is in the Cupcake!
5. This Week in Candy - The FDA Stuff Continues (as does my obsession with nougat)