Candy and Sweets

[This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Food Studies. Please check back later for the full article.] Everyone knows candy. In every culture, every land, just about every person indulges in candy at some point—usually innumerable points—in their lives. The modern impression of candy is both gleeful and condescending; candy is delicious, but is it really food? People enjoy candies, but are they healthy? And its relevance in the historical food timeline? What relevance? What is known is that candy, whether hard candies, chocolates, or gummies, is unique. While other foods promise nutritional value, the essential purpose of candy is to make consumers happy, to accentuate experiences of fun. Just think of cotton candy at carnivals: happy shades of blue, reds, and yellow strands melting in our mouths. Candy is also uniquely dynamic: historically, rarified creams and sugar plums were available to the wealthy few while cheap hard candies were sold at saloons to mask the smell of alcohol on the breath. Industrial candy of the late 1800s gave working-class children an opportunity to become consumers, and a promise that they, too, could be part of the middle class. Candy was affordable, fun, and made just for them. Yet beneath the tip of this food-based iceberg, candy has a complex history. Many candies are both ritualistic and symbolic, unbeknownst to those who enjoy them today. Consider sugar-coated almonds. Romans threw at weddings as a fertility charm, a symbol in keeping with the almond tree’s flowering cycle as one of the first trees to flower in spring. In 2024, it is still common to serve Jordan almonds at weddings. Hard candies, toffees, and mints found a place in the candy bowls of 20th-century grandmothers in the United States, who had experienced sugar shortages during economic downturns and the two world wars. When candy, an embodiment of sugar, returned, it was a symbol of affluence and a sign that everything was alright again. Conversely, in the mid-1800s through the early 1900s, candy also became a symbol of the hazards of industrial foods. As they were often made with adulterants whose safety and effect on health had never been checked, such claims certainly had validity. Some, on the other hand, were unlikely: candy consumption was said to incite undesirable behavior ranging from setting fires to murder. Most surprising is the fact that candies were also born of necessity, as they were used for health and healing. Chewing gum, for example, originated with tree resins, which were chewed to clean the teeth and heal dental issues. The fun and fruity latex-based gums that followed are still used for health-related issues, whether to ease dry mouth or cleanse the breath. Even sugar, in its candy form as rock candy or candy drops, has long been used to ease sore throats. The trajectory of candy history takes us to a salient point: the confluence of people, places, and customs. Candy bars, for example, contain chocolate (from Mesoamerica), cane sugar (Asia), peanuts (South America), nougat (Europe), and various dried fruits. As people age and their sense of taste recedes, they crave sweetness. Candy offers both the sweet flavor their bodies demand and a visceral reminder of candy shared with others, many of whom may be dear and have long since passed. On another front, scientists recently discovered that strands of cotton candy mimic human capillaries. So close is the connection, researchers are using cotton candy machines in their efforts to develop artificial organs which may well enable people to live longer than they could have dreamed.