A year ago I started posting the monthly top search strings that brought people to Candy Blog.

1. carnival skittles
2. m&ms
3. tronky
4. japanese candy
5. balisto
6. maya gold
7. bonkers candy
8. choxie
9. skittles carnival
10. white rabbit candy

Not much has changed in the past year. Tronky and Balisto are new to the top 10, though they’re always in the top 25. I feel bad for folks still looking for Bonkers, since they’re long gone. White Rabbit has had a scare this past month with some tests in the Philippines indicating the candy is contaminated with formalin. China insists it’s not.

One year ago people were looking for Ice Cream Skittles ... this year that search was #12 ... still kinda funny.

I need to find some more Balisto bars, judging from the more recent comments, it deserves a second look (and there are other varieties).

Related Candies

1. Skittles Carnival Flavors
2. Tronky
3. Bonkers
4. Skittles Ice Cream

I got up early this morning to do an interview on NPR‘s “Here and Now” with David Boeri and his guest from The Grocery Manufacturers Association. You can listen online. (Read through all my other chocolate change and the FDA stuff here for background.)

Robert Earl, Senior Director of Nutrition Policy for the GMA was rather strong in his position that changing technology is a benefit to us both economically (cheaper food) and to the nutrition profile of foods (healthy!). It’s odd, I’ve never heard “technology” thrown around so much in conjunction with our food. It’s food ... I’d always thought it was low-tech. But I’m kidding myself.

My major beef, and of course I brought it up, was that Mr. Earl stated that the swapping of cocoa butter for vegetable fat was not covered in the petition (at about 1:50 in the timecode):

“Well, that is not something that’s articulated in the petition at all. The petition would apply to the standard for chocolate and that’s one of the over 260 food standards that the Food and Drug Administration [covers], but there is not a specific request to change the chocolate standard of identity contained in this petition.”

Seriously? Then why ask for the Chocolate Manufacturers Association’s endorsement? He does go on to make the point that consumers are demanding good quality chocolate, and I don’t argue that’s what we look for in our “chocolate bars”, but this will be very muddy with the lax permissions when you go to the ice cream shop and think you’re getting actual chocolate chips in your chocolate chip ice cream or actual chocolate in your chocolate croissant at the bakery. Anything that uses chocolate as an ingredient will become fair game for the cheaper vegetable fat substitutes.

If you haven’t listened to it (it’s only in RealPlayer, so I totally understand), I made the point that whether or not the GMA specifically laid out that the petition includes chocolate, it is in Appendix C (PDF) and statements from Hershey & the Chocolate Manufacturers Association have indicated that they think that they would be able to under the “safe and suitable vegetable fats.”

In my discussions with the producer before the interview I found out that no one else in the Chocolate Manufacturers Association or Hershey’s wanted to take part in the interview. The Chocolate Manufacturers Association has posted plenty of documents on their site giving their position (PDF) as well as the National Confectioners Association (link), and of course Guittard at Don’t Mess with Our Chocolate has posted a point by point analysis of that (PDF #1 & PDF#2).

In much funner news, I just got a big package of stuff I bought from ArtisanSweets.com. Full picture array here. I got: - Romanego Panned Sweets (cordials, jordan almonds, panned pistachios & pine nuts and coral cinnamon & orange peel), Fig & Almond Nougat from Montelimar, Nutpatch Nougat (already reviewed that!), Alemany egg yolk marzipan with a burn sugar crust, Alemany lavender honey, Hammond’s hand made candy sticks (cola, strawberry, and blackberry/apple). Some of it I’ll review, some of it’s just for eatin’!

The cool thing is that Artisan Sweets is running a sale right now, all Nougat is 10% until Wednesday, August 1st - just enter the coupon code NOUGAT at checkout. One thing I have to say, everything is so wonderfully packaged, it’s like it’s gift-wrapped. Each item is wrapped either in colored tissue and/or purple bubble wrap, all nested in recyclable kraft paper.

Here’s the Weekly Recap of Reviews:

Monday: Dots (5 out of 10)

Tuesday: Jujyfruits & Jujubes (5 out of 10)

Wednesday: Sour Gummi Bears (7 out of 10)

Thursday: The Simpsons Fruit Snacks (5 out of 10)

Friday: Cherry Almondine M&Ms (6 out of 10)

Weekly Average: 5.5 ... 0% chocolate content.

Related Candies

1. Nutpatch Nougats
2. The Apothecary’s Garden: Herbs (and some Bees)
3. The Apothecary’s Garden: Spices
4. Nougat de Montelimar

Food safety (and Easy Bake Oven safety as well) has become a large issue not just in the United States but also in China. There’s a lot of fur flying around between the US and China on the issue, but I thought I’d just address a few things as they pertain to candy.

First, there’s White Rabbit, a beloved vanilla taffy with a rice paper wrapper from China. Earlier this week the Philippines declared that they detected formalin (a nasty carcinogen) in the candy (even in the candy made in the Philippines) and ordered it to be removed from the shelves.

Then China said that they tested the candy and found no such traces of formalin. (And another test.)

Now, it’s entirely possible that the contamination is true and that it’s happening somewhere along the supply chain, perhaps in the warehousing or the repackaging for particular markets. I don’t know what to make of it and if you put one of the candies in front of me, I might eat it. But I sure wouldn’t eat more than one. I’ll keep eye on the story. (Here’s my White Rabbit review ... one of the very early ones from the archives.) There was a food contamination hoax earlier this week.

In other news domestically Artisan Confections has recalled some lots of the Scharffen Berger Kumasi Sambriano bar because of possible milk contents that aren’t marked on the wrapper. My feeling on that is if you don’t have a problem with milk, go ahead and eat the bar, but if you are in a household with folks that do, be sure to return it.

In a follow up to the Cadbury Salmonenlla contamination in the UK, the chocolate manufacturer was fined 1 million pounds (about two million dollars American) for their negligence in the matter. I’m sure it also cost them a lot in lost sales.

Just to cleanse our palate, here’s a completely unrelated and absolutely safe photo of an almond chocolate cluster from Charles Chocolates. (Think of it as the Candy Blog equivalent of a Unicorn Chaser.)
Here’s a review of this week’s reviews!

Monday: L’Artisan du Chocolat (7 out of 10)

Tuesday: Flamigni Torrone (9 out of 10)

Wednesday: Rum Cordials (8 out of 10)

Thursday: KitKat Inside Out (5 out of 10)

Friday: Charms Blow Pops & Zip-a-Dee (7 out of 10)
Ratatouille Push Pops (4 out of 10)
Bazooka Bubble Gum Pops (4 out of 10)

Weekly Average: 6.375 ... 25% chocolate content.

Related Candies

1. Salmonella spurs Hershey’s Canada Recall
2. Cadbury May Face Charges
3. Factory Follow-Ups
4. Mars Factory Closed by Health Inspectors
5. Cadbury Recall

There are a lot of silly official days declared out there and National Lollipop Day is really no different. The lollipop isn’t terribly significant as a confection. It’s just a hard candy on a stick. But we love them.

So today I’ll review a bunch of pops I have sitting around: Charms Zip-a-Dee, Charms Blow Pops, Bazooka Bubble Gum Filled Pops and even some little novelty push pops themed with Ratatouille characters.

Though the lore of manufactured lollipops says that they were only invented in 1908, I reckon that lollipops were one of the earliest improvised sweets as people boiled honey and scooped it out with sticks. More at CandyUSA on that subject. I’ve got lollipops to eat!

Related Candies

1. Tootsie Pops - Regular & Super Sized
2. Vertigo Pops
3. Jelly Belly: Lollibeans
4. Jolly Rancher Fruitas Enchiladas
5. Yummy Earth Organic Pops
6. College Farm Organic Naturepops
7. Repost: CraniYUMS!
8. Whistle Pops
9. Light Lollipops
10. Starburst Chew Pops

There are two challenges going on right now from candy companies that are engaging consumers to get involved.

New Flavor Selection

The first comes from Just Born and Mike and Ike. They’re looking to add a new flavor assortment to their current repertoire that includes:

The items up for a vote are:

There’s no listing for what flavors are actually in any of those assortments (for all I know, they’re the same assortment of flavors, they’re just calling them different names!).

You can vote at the Mike and Ike website. By voting you’re giving them an email address ... and you don’t really win anything, except perhaps the satisfaction of the flavors you want.

New Mascots

Endangered Species is prepping a new bar and are looking for an animal to feature on the package.

You can vote here. Give your top three choices. For more about endangered species, check here at the IUNC Red List. And of course don’t suggest an animal they’ve already covered, so check those out here and here.

I’m not gonna say what my votes were for, but there weren’t any whales or dolphins on my list (as you might think).

Over the past few weeks I’ve been seeking out items other folks have mentioned in the comments section, I thought I’d share the results.

The first is the Storck Chocolate Riesen in the individual pack (thanks so much for the heads up on their existence!). I finally found these at the Shell station on Hollywood where I fill up when I want a car wash. The pack looks a little bit like a roll of Starburst, it’s long and narrow. It holds five unwrapped caramels. They were tasty, though I think they might have been softer than the individually wrapped ones (or it could be the candy-unfriendly heat around here).

I picked up the Sour Patch Fruits because many folks recommended the assortment after my Sour Patch Kids review. The big difference here is the addition of grape and watermelon and the substitition of Raspberry for Cherry. If you know me, you’ll know where I’m going with this.

The watermelon is rather true feeling but the grape is very odd. I usually like SweeTart type grape items, but when I first tried this one I’d just brushed my teeth and for some reason that combination made it taste of sulphur. (Of course there are very few candies which do well after a hefty serving of toothpaste and it shouldn’t be a requirement.)

That aside, the great thing about the assortment in Sour Patch Kids for me was that my least favorite flavor in the mix was lime. In the Sour Patch Fruits the lime ranks as the third favorite flavor ... right in the middle. (Watermelon, Grape and then Cherry fall below.) So there’s just not enough flavors that I like here to keep the assortment in balance. I think it’s great though that they offer both assortments to satisfy folks who prefer one assortment over the other. (And yes, you can get all watermelon if you like!)

In other posts I’ve seen around the other candy blogs, here are the other reviews I’m going to try to track down the candy for:

Terry at The Chocolate Review has an array of Niederegger Marzipan. I’ve always been fond of the idea of the stuff, but not the actual flavor (amaretto just doesn’t do anything for me). But I did try the Niederegger capuccino marzipan bar a couple of years ago and think that this assortment would be similarly enjoyable for me.

Rebecca at Sugar Hog had a similarly lovely assortment from Europe called the Ferrero Garden. I know they’ll probably never sell these in the States, but there are always friends that are willing to pick up stuff for me at Duty Free.

The week in reviews:

Monday: Trader Joe’s Espresso Chocolates (9 out of 10)

Tuesday: 3 Musketeers Mint with Dark Chocolate (7 out of 10)

Wednesday: Dogs versus Cats ... fruit snacks that is (5 out of 10)

Thursday: Jelly Belly - All Natural (8 out of 10)

Friday: Baby Bottle Pacifier Tarts (6 out of 10)

Weekly Average: 6.67 ... 33% chocolate content.

Coming up this week, I took at little tour of the new Valerie Confections store (write up on Chowhound & photos here) and also finally visited L’Artisan du Chocolat (a high end chocolatier here in my neighborhood in Los Angeles).

Earlier this week I got an email from someone looking for a local source for the Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. In my brief research (I already knew two places that carried them, but did some more digging to be thorough), I found a local store that sells more than Bertie’s Every Flavor, but it seems every flavor of Jelly Belly too!

They’re called the Jelly Bean Factory and have been selling Jelly Belly since the very early years of the brand (Fosselman’s Ice Cream Store was the first place to sell them, then I’m guessing Jelly Bean Factory was the first actual candy store). In addition, they run a webstore called JellyBeans4U.com.

The vast majority of their inventory is Jelly Belly. From the beans sold in prepacks, novelties or assortments to the pick-a-mix beans, they’ve got just about everything. They candy counter is just like an ice cream shop, with tubs of each bean on display and you can even request a taste of any flavor you like!

I picked up a box of the Bertie Bott’s. I’ve resisted them until now. I’ve tried a few of the more normal flavors (Soap,  Grass, Black Bepper - all very good) but have avoided things like Sausage (I don’t eat pork anyway), Pickle, Ear Wax and Earthworm. I’m going to see the movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix tonight, so I figured that was an appropriate item to sneak in.

The other items I’ll be sneaking in are some Rum Cordials and they also had some little “overrun sample packs” of different items for $1 (most are about 2 ounces) so I got some licorice pastilles and gummi grapefruit slices. In general prepackaged bulk candy irritates me, because I’d really like to be able to pick my own portion size, but if you want fresh candy, it’s often better to go for the prepack. I don’t mind buying a half pound of the cordials in this instance. But they do let you pick your portions on the Jelly Belly, so they’ve got their priorities and marketing position straight.

The staff was helpful and friendly. The only caveat is if you want to pay by credit card they have to run next door to the pet shop to run it. In a way I found that charming (I ended up scraping together the $10 in cash for my purchases) but I can see it being a little irritating if you’re in a hurry. 

All Jelly Belly are $6.79 a pound (they’re $8 a pound at the Jelly Belly site ... I’ve seen them cheaper sometimes at the grocery store, but I’ve also found them stale there).

The Original Jelly Bean Factory
927 N. Hollywood Way
Burbank, California 91505
(818) 848-4806
website

Hours: Monday-Saturday 10:30 am - 6:00 pm

Parking is on the street or your can park in the Rite Aid parking lot on the corner and hope they don’t tow you.

The New York Times breaks the news that British candy bars are better than American ones. Whatever.

There are a bazillion candy bars in the world because people have different preferences and determinations of why they buy & eat them (dietary restrictions, politics, price, availability). While I review candy, I’m giving my opinion with information about all my other preferences as a touchstone and I respect other people’s opinion (that’s why there’s a comment section on this blog!). I don’t think I’ve ever gotten in someone’s face and said “this bar is better than that one and you’re a fool if you believe otherwise.” (Okay, I’ve been a bit harsh on Arcor.)

The funny thing about the whole article was the comparison between Cadbury made in the UK and the American Cadbury chocolate manufactured with some UK ingredients here by Hershey’s.

It’s a different bar from the Cadbury bar available in the United States. According to the label, a British Cadbury Dairy Milk bar contains milk, sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, vegetable fat and emulsifiers. The version made by the Hershey Company, which holds the license from Cadbury-Schweppes to produce the candy in the United States under the British company’s direction, starts its ingredient list with sugar. It lists lactose and the emulsifier soy lecithin, which keeps the cocoa butter from separating from the cocoa. The American product also lists “natural and artificial flavorings.”

Anyone who’s been following along with the story about the FDA considering the dilution of the definition of chocolate will recognize that the stuff that Cadbury sells as “chocolate” in the UK doesn’t even qualify as such in the US. (So it’s good that the article is titled best candy bars and not best chocolate bars.) Also that last bit about soy lecithin makes it look like there aren’t any emulsifiers in the UK version, which are listed quite clearly right after that vegetable fat. (Honestly I’d like to see the complete lists side by side.)

I have to give it to the Brits though, they still have the Curly Wurly ... what a sad country we are that the Marathon bar is gone. Here’s my roundup of English candy ... which I generally like quite a bit! (I don’t think it’s better or worse than American and I’m glad that so many of the traditional English candies are still around ... Allsorts & Barley Sugar anyone?)

As for Hershey bars tasting like ear wax as Kevin Ellis was quoted in the article, well I’ve never tasted Kevin Ellis’ ear wax, so I can’t comment about his opinion, but I’ve always likened Hershey’s to being like a yogurty chocolate (the tangy milky taste) instead of the dried milk flavor of Cadbury. To each his own.

(I haven’t done many head to heads, but here’s one on the Milky Way/Mars bars from UK, Canada and US.)