Candy Blog

You thought Pink Grapefruit and Licorice Mentos were exotic? How about these flavors from the Philippines ... sent to me by Santos of Scent of Green Bananas. They’re both citrus flavors: Dalandan Fresh and Juicy Ponkan.

Dalandan Fresh comes in green, yellow and blue wrappers, but the candy itself is a lovely sherbet orange. A dalandan is a citrus commonly known in the Philippines as the Sweet Orange. They’re likened to Valencia oranges, but the main difference is in the appearance. A ripe dalandan has a green peel (hence the wrapper is green).

The candy has a nice chew, of course, and a good sweet burst of orange essence with a bit of a tangerine or clementine note and maybe a little pomelo thrown in. It’s more sweet than tangy, but the flavor is pretty intense. I miss the sour notes that are in the Pink Grapefruit but this is much better than the plain orange available in the mixed fruit box.

The Juicy Ponkan flavor comes in an intense orange wrapper but the candy inside is a soft orange. Like the dalandan, the ponkan is a citrus but this one is in the tangerine/mandarin family and has an orange rind that’s leathery and easy to peel. It’s a bit more tangy than the dalandan and has a more robust flavor with floral notes, tartness and a zesty essence that lingers.

I really liked this one, but they’re both a great change from plain old orange. Every once in a while one would have a slight minty or menthol taste, which made me wonder about the manufacturing process. Both varieties were manufactured in Indonesia for the Philippino market. (More about ponkan here.)

I know that it’s going to be hard for readers to go out and find these (I couldn’t even find a source online), so I’m happy to put together a prize package for Mentos Adventurers that will include an assortment of these and some other hard-to-find Mentos. To enter simply .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with the subject line “MENTOS” by October 9th, 2006 at 12 noon Pacific. One lucky winner will get an all-expense paid package of Mentos from around the world. (The fine print: North America addresses only. No need to give me your address unless you win. One entry per person. Failure to follow rules will result in disqualification for drawing and general irritation.)

UPDATE (10/9/2006 - 3:02 PM) - No more entries, please… we have a winner! (To be announced shortly.)

Here’s how to decode the code on a Hershey’s wrapper. Hershey uses a two digit alpha-numeric code to denote the month and year of the expiration date. Here’s what the Hershey’s site says:

There is an ink stamped code on Hershey’s products. Within that code, usually at the end, there is a two character code that represents the year and the month until which the product is expected to be within its peak freshness. The first character is a number, (0-9) that represents the year. The second character is a letter, (A-L) that represents the month. A=Jan., B=Feb., etc. For example, a code of 7D is best before until April 2007.

My Hershey’s Twosomes Almond Joy (Limited Edition) bar has a code that’s on two lines:
1BE
7C K2

I’m guessing the 7C is the one I want, so that means that the bar is considered fresh until March 2007.

My York Peppermint Patties:
13NYU
6K

This would expire in November 2006, so I got in just under the wire.

A Heath bar:
14HR2
D 6L

This one would expire in December 2006. Just remember, L is the LAST month!

Related Candies

1. What does that Nestle code mean?
2. What does that Mars code mean?

In the continuing series for a Green Halloween, I’m on the lookout for no-compromise treats for kids and adults.

Endangered Species is offering up party packs of their individually wrapped tablets of milk & dark chocolate called “Halloween Treats” - I got a package of the Dark Chocolate ones as a sample directly from Endangered Species. 

The package contains 24 fall colored treats that look tasty and should appeal to trick-or-treaters. The cool thing about the dark chocolate ones is that they’re certified vegan, kosher and are ethically traded. Here’s my full review of this product under the name of “Bug Bites.” The dark chocolate is rather dark and intense, so I’d recommend the milk chocolate for trick-or-treaters (unless you want to go vegan).

That all comes at a price though, they’re on the expensive side at $5.50 a bag online but I saw them at Whole Foods for only $3.29. (The display was near the bulk foods, not by the registers or with the rest of the chocolate near the bakery in my store.) They’re a bit cheaper than the Bug Bites, I’m guessing because they don’t have the trading cards. Though that’s a bit much by the pound, the pieces are kind of small which means you get 24 in there. Mix it in with a few hard candies (College Farm - review next week) or lollies (College Farm or YummyEarth - review later this week) and the kids won’t be tempted to egg your house. Ethically traded means that you’re not taking advantage of families in Africa and South America, so it really can be a Happy Halloween all around.

To learn more about Fair Trade (and the difference between Ethically Traded and Fair Trade Certified) check out GreenLAGirl ... October is Fair Trade Month!

Following up on decoding the Mars code, here’s the Nestle code, thanks to Reader Dave.

Nestle uses something called the Julian code. The first four digits of the code on the wrapper will give you the date the product was manufactured.

Julian code is rather difficult to read on the fly, but here goes: the first digit represents the last digit of the year. The next three numbers represent the day of the year.

My Baby Ruth bar says:
602557471 D/A

That means that it was made on the January 25, 2006. (That was an easy one.)

My Nestle Crunch bar says:
52941211 A5 7A

Hmm, anything that begins with a 5 sounds kind of bad in October. This one was made on October 21, 2005. Almost a year old.

My 100 Grand bar says:
5334574823 6L

Again with the 2005 ... but at least the second number “334” is pretty large. That’d be November 30, 2005.

A quick way to calculate the month is to divide the three digit number by 30. If you can’t do that in your head, try dividing by 10 (moving the decimal place once slot) and then by 3. For the last one it gives you the approximation of November ... which is probably all you really wanted to know anyway.

For the record, the true Julian day number is a lot more complex and tracks the number of days since 4713 ... kinda like stardates!

Related Candies

1. What does that Hershey’s code mean?
2. What does that Mars code mean?

As I’m often found eating expired (or at least past prime) candy, it was a wonderful comment on the Skittles Fresh Mint post that breaks the code on the package of Mars products. Reader Dave posted the code in the comments and I’m putting it here for everyone to use.

Here’s how do figure out when that candy was made:

The date of packaging is within the first three digits of the code - the first digit is the last number of the year and the next two are the week of the year.

So, the Milky Way bar I have in front of me says:
620AB02

That means it was made in the 20th week of 2006 - or sometime between May 14th to the 21st. Pretty fresh.

The Milky Way Dark I have says:
614EFELZ02

That means it was made in the 14th week of 2006 - or sometime between April 2nd to the 9th. Not bad.

This seems to work with Canadian Mars products too, as this is what the Mars Dark says:
535CFELZ03

That means it was made the 35th week of 2005 ... hmm, sometime between August 26th and September 2nd. That’s a little old. But I it must have been stored properly as it was still fresh and tasty.

The week of the year thing is a little tricky unless you have a payroll calendar nearby, so a quick and easy way to approximate the month is to divide the week by four (it gets less reliable the higher the number because there’s usually a fraction of a week left in the month).

The UK Mars bar I have simply has an expiration date on it (12-11-06). I’m not sure if that’s the European date style (November 12th, 2006) or the American (December 11, 2006) but at least neither of them have passed yet.

Related Candies

1. What does that Hershey’s code mean?
2. What does that Nestle code mean?