Candy

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Candy

Candy, specifically sugar candy, is a confection made from a concentrated solution of sugar in water, to which flavorings and colorants are added. Candies come in numerous colors and varieties and have a long history in popular culture.

The word "candy" comes from Arabic qandi, derived from Persian

Persian language

name=Persian|nativename=|pronunciation=[f??r'si]|image=|caption=Farsi in Perso-Arabic script |states= Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Bahrain....
qand, meaning "sugar." In North America, candy is a broad category that includes candy bar

Candy bar

A chocolate bar is a confection in bar form comprising some or all of the following components: cocoa solids, cocoa butter, sugar, milk. The relative presence or absence of these components form the subclasses of dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate....
s, chocolate

Chocolate

Chocolate comprises a number of raw and processed foods that are produced from the seed of the tropical cacao tree.Chocolate has become one of the most popular flavors in the world....
s, licorice, sour candies, salty candies, tart candies, hard candies, taffies

Taffy (candy)

Taffy is a type of chewy candy. Taffy is made by stretching or pulling a sticky mass of boiled sugar, butter, flavorings, and coloring until fluffy....
, gumdrop

Gumdrop

Gumdrops are a type of confectionery . They are usually brightly-colored gelatin- or pectin-based pieces, shaped like a truncated cone and coated in granulated sugar....
s, marshmallow

Marshmallow

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Persian language

Candy bar

Chocolate

Taffy (candy)

Taffy is a type of chewy candy. Taffy is made by stretching or pulling a sticky mass of boiled sugar, butter, flavorings, and coloring until fluffy....
, gumdrop

Gumdrop

Gumdrops are a type of confectionery . They are usually brightly-colored gelatin- or pectin-based pieces, shaped like a truncated cone and coated in granulated sugar....
s, marshmallow

Marshmallow

The Marshmallow is a confection that, in its modern form, typically consists of sugar or corn syrup, water, gelatin that has been softened in hot water, dextrose, and flavorings, whipped to a spongy consistency....
s, and more. Vegetables, fruit or nuts glazed and coated with sugar are called candied.

Outside North America, the generic name for candy is sweets or confectionery
Confectionery

Confectionery is the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well....
(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and other Commonwealth countries). In Australia and New Zealand, sweets are, in normal usage, further categorised as either chocolate or lollies (for all other non-chocolate candies).

In North America, the UK, and Australia, the word lollipop
Lollipop

A lollipop, pop, lolly, sucker, or sticky-pop is a type of confectionery consisting mainly of hardened, flavored sucrose with corn syrup mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking....
refers specifically to sugar candy on a stick. While not used in the generic sense of North America, the term candy is used in the UK for specific types of foods such as candy floss (cotton candy
Cotton candy

Cotton candy , candy floss , or fairy floss is a form of spun sugar. Since it consists of mostly air, servings are large. Many people consider eating cotton candy part of the quintessential experience of a visit to a fairground or circus....
in North America and fairy floss in Australia), and certain other sugar based products.

Boiled sugar flavoured candy sticks are commonly referred to as 'Sticks of Rock' or simply 'Rock' and come in many varieties all with a common trend to have bright colours and distinctive flavours that make them a common sight along the seaside resorts of the UK. The popularity of Rock sticks has led to many inventive applications and the skill has even been adapted to create lettering which appears throughout the entire stick as it is eaten - this aspect of Rock makes it an attractive tourist gift as it displays the name of the area visited throughout the cross section of the stick.

Other applications of 'Sticks of Rock' include Barley Sugar Sticks, Aniseed & Sarsaparilla Twists and Coltsfoot Rock

Coltsfoot Rock

Coltsfoot Rock is a confectionery product created from Coltsfoot extract by the UK confectioners Stockley's Sweets, based in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, England....
, which provide an easy to hold/consume product with medicinal benefits for ailments such as sore throats or low energy levels.

Manufacture

Candy is made by dissolving sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many other sources....
in water or milk to form a syrup

Syrup

In cooking, a syrup is a thick, viscous liquid, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars, but showing little tendency to deposit crystals....
, which is boiled until it reaches the desired concentration or starts to caramelize

Caramelization

Caramelization is the oxidation of sugar, a process used extensively in cooking for the resulting nutty flavor and brown color. As the process occurs, wikt:volatile chemicals are released, producing the characteristic caramel flavor....
. The type of candy depends on the ingredients and how long the mixture is boiled. Candy comes in an endless variety of textures from soft and chewy to hard and brittle. Some examples of candy are: caramel

Caramel

Caramel refers to a range of confectionerys that are beige to dark brown in color and derived from the caramelization of sugar. Caramel is often made when cooking sweets....
, toffee

Toffee

Toffee is a confection made by boiling molasses or sugar along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of 150-160?C ....
, fudge

Fudge

Fudge is a type of confectionery which is usually very sweet, extremely rich and sometimes flavored with cocoa. It is made by mixing sugar, butter, and milk and heating it to the soft-ball stage at , and then beating the mixture while it cools so that it acquires a smooth, creamy consistency....
, praline

Praline

Praline is a family of confections made from nut s and sugar syrup....
, tablet, gumdrop

Gumdrop

Gumdrops are a type of confectionery . They are usually brightly-colored gelatin- or pectin-based pieces, shaped like a truncated cone and coated in granulated sugar....
s, jelly bean

Jelly bean

Jelly beans are a type of confectionery that comes in many different flavors. They are small and generally have a hard candy shell and gummy interior....
s, rock candy

Rock candy

File:Brauner Kandiszucker.jpgFile:Kandiszucker_wei?.jpgRock candy is a type of confectionery composed of relatively large sugar crystals.Homemade rock candy is commonly formed by allowing a Supersaturation solution of sugar and water to crystallize onto a string or some other surface suitable for crystal nucleation....
, lollipop

Lollipop

A lollipop, pop, lolly, sucker, or sticky-pop is a type of confectionery consisting mainly of hardened, flavored sucrose with corn syrup mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking....
s, taffy

Taffy (candy)

Taffy is a type of chewy candy. Taffy is made by stretching or pulling a sticky mass of boiled sugar, butter, flavorings, and coloring until fluffy....
, cotton candy

Cotton candy

Cotton candy , candy floss , or fairy floss is a form of spun sugar. Since it consists of mostly air, servings are large. Many people consider eating cotton candy part of the quintessential experience of a visit to a fairground or circus....
, candy cane

Candy cane

A candy cane is a hard cane-shaped candy stick. It is traditionally white with red stripes and flavored with peppermint or cinnamon ; however, it is also made in a variety of other flavors and may be decorated with stripes of different colors and thicknesses....
s, peppermint sticks

Candy cane

Chocolate-coated raisin

Chocolate-coated raisins are a popular bulk vending product. They consist, as the name suggests, of raisins coated in a shell of either milk chocolate or dark chocolate....
s or peanut

Peanut

The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume Fabaceae native to South America, Mexico and Central America. It is an annual plant herbaceous plant growing to 30 to 50 cm tall....
s, hard candy (called boiled sweets in British English) and candy bar

Candy bar

Sugar stages

The final texture of candy depends on the sugar concentration. As the syrup is heated, it boils, water evaporates, the sugar concentration increases, and the boiling point rises. A given temperature corresponds to a particular sugar concentration. In general, higher temperatures and greater sugar concentrations result in hard, brittle candies, and lower temperatures result in softer candies. These "stages" of sugar cooking are:

Stage	Temperature in °F Fahrenheit Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit , who proposed it in 1724. Today, the scale has largely been replaced by the Celsius scale; it is still in use for non-scientific purposes in the United States and a few other countries such as Belize....	Temperature in °C Celsius Celsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death....	Sugar concentration
thread	230-233°F	110-111°C	80%
soft ball (e.g., fudge Fudge Fudge is a type of confectionery which is usually very sweet, extremely rich and sometimes flavored with cocoa. It is made by mixing sugar, butter, and milk and heating it to the soft-ball stage at , and then beating the mixture while it cools so that it acquires a smooth, creamy consistency.... )	234-240°F	112-115°C	85%
firm ball	244-248°F	118-120°C	87%
hard ball	250-266°F	121-130°C	92%
soft crack	270-290°F	132-143°C	95%
hard crack (e.g., toffee Toffee Toffee is a confection made by boiling molasses or sugar along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of 150-160?C .... )	295-310°F	146-154°C	99%
clear liquid	320°F	160°C	100%
brown liquid (caramel Caramel Caramel refers to a range of confectionerys that are beige to dark brown in color and derived from the caramelization of sugar. Caramel is often made when cooking sweets.... )	338°F	170°C	100%
burnt sugar	350°F	177°C	100%

The names come from the process used to test the syrup before thermometers became affordable: a small spoonful of syrup was dropped into cold water, and the characteristics of the resulting lump were evaluated to determine the concentration of the syrup. Long strings of hardened sugar indicate "thread" stage, while a smooth lump indicates "ball" stages, with the corresponding hardness described. The "crack" stages are indicated by a ball of candy so brittle that the rapid cooling from the water literally causes it to crack.

This method is still used today in some kitchens. A candy thermometer

Candy thermometer

A candy thermometer, also known as a sugar thermometer, is a thermometer used to measure the temperature and therefore the stage of a cooking sugar solution....
is more convenient, but has the drawback of not automatically adjusting for local conditions such as altitude, as the cold water test does.

Once the syrup reaches 340°F or higher, the sucrose molecules break down into many simpler sugars, creating an amber-colored substance known as caramel

Caramel

Caramel refers to a range of confectionerys that are beige to dark brown in color and derived from the caramelization of sugar. Caramel is often made when cooking sweets....
. This should not be confused with caramel candy, although it is the candy's main flavoring.

Candy and vegetarianism

Some candy, including marshmallow

Marshmallow

Gelatin

Gelatin is a translucent, colorless, brittle, nearly tasteless solid, derived from the collagen inside animals' skin and mostly bones. It has been commonly used as a gelling agent in food, pharmaceutical, photography, and cosmetic manufacturing....
derived from animal keratin, a protein found in skin, hair, nails, hooves, horns, and teeth, and is thus avoided by vegetarians

Vegetarianism

File:Foods.jpgVegetarianism is the practice of a diet that excludes meat , fish and poultry.There are several variants of the diet, some of which also exclude egg and/or some products produced from animal labour such as dairy products and honey....
and vegans

Veganism

Veganism is a diet and lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Vegans endeavor not to use or consume animal products of any kind....
. "Kosher gelatin

Gelatin

Gelatin is a translucent, colorless, brittle, nearly tasteless solid, derived from the collagen inside animals' skin and mostly bones. It has been commonly used as a gelling agent in food, pharmaceutical, photography, and cosmetic manufacturing....
" is also unsuitable for vegetarians and vegans, as it is derived from fish bones. Other substances, such as agar

Agar

Agar or agar agar is a gelatinous substance derived from seaweed. Historically and in a modern context, it is chiefly used as an ingredient in desserts throughout Japan, but in the past century has found extensive use as a solid substrate to contain Growth medium for microbiology work....
, pectin

Pectin

Pectin is a structural heteropolysaccharide contained in the primary cell walls of terrestrial plants. It was first isolated and described in 1825 by Henri Braconnot....
, starch

Starch

File:Amylose2.svgFile:Amylopektin Sessel.svgStarch or amylum is a polysaccharide carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds....
and gum arabic

Gum arabic

Gum arabic, also known as gum acacia, chaar gund or char goond, is a natural gum made of hardened sap taken from two species of the acacia tree; Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal....
may be used as gelatin replacers, although the texture of final product may differ from the original.

Other ingredients commonly found in candy that are not vegetarian or vegan friendly include: carmine

Carmine

Carmine , also called Crimson Lake, Cochineal, Natural Red 4, C.I. 75470, or E120, is a pigment of a bright red color obtained from the carminic acid produced by some scale insects, such as the cochineal and the Polish cochineal, and is used as a general term for a particularly deep carmine ....
, which is a dye made from the cochineal

Cochineal

'Cochineal' is a scale insect insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the crimson-colored dye, carmine, is derived. There are other species in the genus Dactylopius which can be used to produce cochineal extract, but they are extremely difficult to distinguish from D....
; and confectioner's glaze, which may contain wings or other insect parts.

Shelf life

The shelf life

Shelf life

Shelf life is that length of time that food, drink, medicine and other decomposition items are given before they are considered unsuitable for sale or Eating....
of candy can be anywhere from two weeks to more than a year. This may be shortened, if the candy is not stored in a cool, dry place.

Health aspects

Cavities

Candy generally contains sugar, and sugar can lead to damaged teeth. However, it is not sugar itself that damages the teeth. Several types of bacteria

Bacteria

The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
, particularly Streptococcus mutans
Streptococcus mutans

Streptococcus mutans is a Gram-positive, Facultative anaerobic organism bacteria commonly found in the human oral cavity and is a significant contributor to dental caries....
, are present in the mouth, and these feed on sugar. When they metabolize the sugar, they create acid

Acid

An acid is traditionally considered any chemical compound that, when dissolved in water, gives a solution with a hydrogen ion Activity greater than in pure water, i.e....
s in the mouth, which lower its pH

pH is a measure of the Acid or Base of a solution. It is defined as the cologarithm of the Activity of dissolved hydrogen ions . Hydrogen ion activity coefficients cannot be measured experimentally, so they are based on theoretical calculations....
value. In response to the acidic environment, the tooth enamel

Tooth enamel

Tooth enamel is the hardest and most highly mineralized substance of the body, and with dentin, cementum, and Pulp is one of the four major tissues which make up the tooth in vertebrates....
begins to demineralize, which can cause dental caries

Dental caries

Dental caries, also known as tooth decay, is a disease where bacterial processes damage hard tooth structure . These tissues progressively break down, producing dental cavities ....
. To help prevent this, dentists recommend that individuals should brush their teeth regularly, particularly after every meal and snack.

Glycemic index

Candy has a high glycemic index

Glycemic index

The Glycemic index or GI is a measure of the effects of carbohydrates on blood glucose levels. Carbohydrates that break down rapidly during digestion releasing glucose rapidly into the bloodstream have a high GI; carbohydrates that break down slowly, releasing glucose gradually into the bloodstream, have a low GI....
(GI), which means that it causes a high rise in blood sugar

Blood sugar

Blood sugar concentration, or glucose level, refers to the amount of glucose present in a mammal's blood. Normally, the blood glucose level is maintained at a Reference_ranges_for_blood_tests#Electrolytes_and_Metabolites between about 4 and 6 mM ....
levels, after ingestion. This is chiefly a concern for people with diabetes, but could also be dangerous to the health of non-diabetics.

External links

- History and News of Candy Industry Manufacturers and Suppliers
- information on a variety of candies
- Descriptions and videos of hardness stages
- Listing by state
- Old Time Barley Candy history and pictures.

Candy

Manufacture

Sugar stages

Candy and vegetarianism

Shelf life

Health aspects

Cavities

Glycemic index

See also

External links