WTF - The History of Candy Corn In A Cornhusk

Pausing, with the handful halfway to my mouth, I look at my children.

"What? Do I have to share?"

"Because there isn't enough."

Who doesn't love candy corn? That sugary confection defining FALL! Like most items that go from your mouth straight to your hips many have that love hate relationship with this candy. I thought I'd help you fall in love with it again with a few interesting facts!

Did you know Candy Corn was originally called "chicken feed?" There is no real inventor of the recipe, just oral tradition until it was picked up by the Goelitz Confection Company and marketed as Chicken Feed. I guess low sales made the change to a more appetizing name Candy Corn!

The Goelitz Confectionary Company also makes another addictive candy! They changed their name to Jelly Belly so technically they've been making candy corn since the 1880's. That's a lot of sugar!

 What exactly is in Candy Corn you ask?

Sugar, of course!

Candy Corn's basic recipe is Sugar, sugary corn syrup, carnauba wax and water, mixed with Fondant for texture and Marshmallows for the soft bite. The mixture is dyed different colors then poured into molds on a three pass process. The original labor process used large vats with workers pouring the different colored mixtures three different times, that's a lot of lifting. Now they have machines that mix the sugar concoction before pouring it into the molds.

Based on the success of Candy Corn, companies went on to make Candy Pumpkins (way too much sugar for me) and Candy Turnips (Oh how appetizing!)

If you are staring at the bag, like me, remember, eating 19 pieces of Candy Corn is the sugar equivalent of drinking one can of Coke. Your hips and teeth will thank me later.

But who only stops at 19 pieces when there is a WHOLE bag?

In a recent survey, Candy Corn is one of the most hated confections of Halloween. Brach's begs to differ, selling between 9 billion and 15 billion kernels of the stuff yearly. That's what's keeping dentists in business because someone obviously likes this stuff.

If you need a reason to eat Candy Corn without feeling guilty, the day before Halloween is National Candy Corn Day, I'm pretty sure it doesn't have any calories on that day.

Just when everyone sighs in relief putting the Candy Corn away for another year, Candy Companies have now come up with Reindeer Corn, Cupid Corn, and of course, Rabbit Corn!  You're welcome.

Finally, kids don't read this part. If you're needing some fresh cash, you can always bite off the white part of the Candy Corn, tell your parents you lost a tooth, place it under your pillow. Apparently the tooth fairy has a sweet tooth because this worked for me when I was a kid, oh, and last week also!

The weather's turning cooler, change in the air, the leaves are falling. Go ahead, take that handful of Candy Corn, it is a fall rite after all. Just make sure you share!

Where do you stand? TeamCandyCorn or TeamReeseCup?