How is candy made?

1 00:00:20,220 --> 00:00:23,685 Jane: This is But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids from Vermont

2 00:00:23,685 --> 00:00:27,285 Public. I'm Jane Lindholm. On this show, we take questions

3 00:00:27,285 --> 00:00:30,045 from kids all over the world just like you, and we find

4 00:00:30,045 --> 00:00:33,525 interesting people to answer them. Do you have a sweet tooth?

5 00:00:33,885 --> 00:00:38,325 Do you love lollipops and sour candies? Gummies? Maybe

6 00:00:38,325 --> 00:00:41,985 chocolates, sweets, candy, lollies, whatever you call them,

7 00:00:42,045 --> 00:00:46,245 many of us find these sweet treats irresistible. And here in

8 00:00:46,245 --> 00:00:49,470 the United States, the holiday many people celebrate on October

9 00:00:49,470 --> 00:00:54,330 31, Halloween, has basically become an excuse to collect and

10 00:00:54,330 --> 00:00:57,990 eat a lot of candy. So at this time of year, when many young

11 00:00:57,990 --> 00:01:01,710 minds turn to thoughts of sweets, we thought we'd learn a

12 00:01:01,710 --> 00:01:04,890 little bit more about what candy actually is.

13 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:10,360 Craig Montgomery: Candy comes in all sorts of shapes, sizes and

14 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:15,760 textures. Usually it has a sugar base, or it's made out of sugar

15 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:18,880 most of the time, or different forms of sugar, like honey or

16 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:23,320 natural sugars from apples and fruits. But typically what I

17 00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:26,680 think of when I think about candies, like chocolate or

18 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:30,325 gummies or like hard candies, like lollipops and stuff like

19 00:01:30,325 --> 00:01:35,005 that. My name is Craig Montgomery, owner of Sticky here

20 00:01:35,005 --> 00:01:36,025 in the United States.

21 00:01:36,025 --> 00:01:39,505 Jane: Sticky is a candy company, so Craig is a good person to

22 00:01:39,505 --> 00:01:42,925 help answer a few of your candylicious questions. The

23 00:01:42,925 --> 00:01:46,165 definition of candy is actually a little complicated, because it

24 00:01:46,165 --> 00:01:49,345 can mean different things in different cultures. What's a

25 00:01:49,345 --> 00:01:54,190 candy to you might be considered a dessert to me, and some people

26 00:01:54,190 --> 00:01:58,930 think of chocolate as candy, but others consider chocolate a sort

27 00:01:58,930 --> 00:02:02,530 of separate category altogether. One thing, though, is for

28 00:02:02,530 --> 00:02:06,070 certain: at the heart of all candy is sugar.

29 00:02:06,550 --> 00:02:11,290 Ashton: Hi, my name is Axton from Edmonton, Canada. I'm seven

30 00:02:11,290 --> 00:02:14,875 years old, and my question is who created candy?

31 00:02:15,595 --> 00:02:18,835 Jane: Humans have always sought out sweetness, so there's no way

32 00:02:18,835 --> 00:02:23,515 to say who created the first candies. Humans found sweetness

33 00:02:23,515 --> 00:02:27,415 in natural substances like honey, maple syrup, sugar cane

34 00:02:27,415 --> 00:02:31,735 and sugar beets. And ancient cultures created many treats out

35 00:02:31,735 --> 00:02:35,995 of honey and nuts. So people have been making candy, I guess

36 00:02:35,995 --> 00:02:39,640 you could call it, for thousands of years. But the kind of candy

37 00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:43,240 we think about in modern times only became possible when humans

38 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,540 developed a reliable source of sugar they could grow or

39 00:02:46,540 --> 00:02:50,140 cultivate as a crop, and then when sugar could be shipped

40 00:02:50,140 --> 00:02:53,500 around the world, that was another milestone in the candy

41 00:02:53,500 --> 00:02:57,520 story. Candy used to be something only very wealthy

42 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:01,165 people could afford to buy, but over time, sugar became much

43 00:03:01,165 --> 00:03:05,125 more readily available and a lot cheaper. And the modern candy

44 00:03:05,125 --> 00:03:09,025 industry was born. Some of the earliest candy available for

45 00:03:09,025 --> 00:03:13,465 people to purchase for fun was very hard candy. It was so hard

46 00:03:13,465 --> 00:03:17,005 it was kind of like sucking on a rock. That's the kind of candy

47 00:03:17,005 --> 00:03:20,185 Sticky, the company Craig Montgomery runs, still makes

48 00:03:20,185 --> 00:03:20,725 today.

49 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:23,540 Craig Montgomery: we make traditional, handmade rock

50 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,900 candy. A lot of people these days say this is like that candy

51 00:03:26,900 --> 00:03:31,400 my grandma used to have on our coffee table. It was pretty much

52 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:37,640 created a long time ago. Came to popularity in the UK in seaside

53 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:41,420 towns, where they would sculpt the seaside town name like

54 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:45,785 Blackpool or Brighton, inside of the candy, and sell it as sticks

55 00:03:45,785 --> 00:03:50,945 of rock. It's made up of sugar and glucose. And we put little

56 00:03:50,945 --> 00:03:56,225 pictures of different designs, like fruits or animals or

57 00:03:56,465 --> 00:03:59,945 skeletons and Frankenstein's monsters, different things like

58 00:03:59,945 --> 00:04:02,525 that, inside of the candy, and we make them a little bit

59 00:04:02,525 --> 00:04:05,165 smaller and more bite size and delicious.

60 00:04:05,525 --> 00:04:08,630 Richard: My name is Richard. I live in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

61 00:04:09,830 --> 00:04:14,510 I'm five years old, and I want to know how is candy made?

62 00:04:15,110 --> 00:04:17,630 Jane: There are lots of ways to make candy, because there are

63 00:04:17,630 --> 00:04:20,690 lots of different kinds of candy, but let's use the rock

64 00:04:20,690 --> 00:04:23,450 candy they make it Sticky as our example.

65 00:04:23,540 --> 00:04:25,940 Craig Montgomery: for us to make candy. Essentially, we're just

66 00:04:25,940 --> 00:04:33,080 glorified sugar boilers. We boil about 18 pounds of sugar and

67 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:38,060 then we add a sugar syrup, because crystal sugar wants to

68 00:04:38,060 --> 00:04:41,960 be a crystal, and it needs some sort of a doctor, like a glucose

69 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:45,440 which we use other companies use high fructose corn syrup, or a

70 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:50,645 tapioca, which prohibits the crystals in the sugar to

71 00:04:50,645 --> 00:04:55,385 recrystallize. And so we're able to kind of work with those where

72 00:04:55,385 --> 00:04:59,105 we'll add different colors, we cool it down until it's kind of

73 00:04:59,105 --> 00:05:03,605 like play-doh. Or clay. And then we work on a heated table that

74 00:05:03,605 --> 00:05:08,825 keeps the candy kind of squishy, malleable for us to kind of

75 00:05:09,050 --> 00:05:13,790 sculpt each element of the design in three dimensions.

76 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:17,680 Jane: Let's break this down. Craig starts with sugar crystals

77 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:20,680 and water and heats them together to make a boiling hot

78 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:24,580 liquid. He also adds another kind of sugar to keep those

79 00:05:24,580 --> 00:05:27,760 sugar crystals from turning back into crystals when they cool

80 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:31,780 down. You can actually make your own rock candy without that

81 00:05:31,780 --> 00:05:35,440 other type of sugar, and you'll find your finished candy looks

82 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:39,265 like, well, crystals. It has lots of little crystals attached

83 00:05:39,265 --> 00:05:42,925 to one another. But Craig and other candy makers want a hard

84 00:05:42,925 --> 00:05:46,705 candy that is smooth, so they add that other type of sugar,

85 00:05:46,765 --> 00:05:50,005 glucose, or corn syrup, for example, to help make sure it

86 00:05:50,005 --> 00:05:52,585 stays smooth as it cools down and hardens.

87 00:05:52,885 --> 00:05:56,065 Craig Montgomery: Fun fact, back in the day when they would do

88 00:05:56,065 --> 00:05:59,785 like old Western movies and the stuntmen would jump through that

89 00:05:59,830 --> 00:06:04,270 pane of glass, it was actually sugar cooked up this way because

90 00:06:04,270 --> 00:06:06,790 it is very transparent and it looks like glass, but with

91 00:06:06,790 --> 00:06:09,670 stuntman's glass, and so they could jump through a window,

92 00:06:09,670 --> 00:06:14,170 it'd have that breaking effect, but it wouldn't be stuck in

93 00:06:14,170 --> 00:06:17,710 their skin to where they'd have to be having it removed. So it

94 00:06:17,710 --> 00:06:20,710 would basically kind of turn into something like glass.

95 00:06:20,950 --> 00:06:24,055 Jane: But Craig doesn't want a thin sheet of glass. So when the

96 00:06:24,055 --> 00:06:27,595 candy is in that hot lava or play-doh stage, they take it out

97 00:06:27,595 --> 00:06:30,475 of the pot and mix in food coloring to make the candy lots

98 00:06:30,475 --> 00:06:34,435 of different colors. And then they stretch and pull it to mix

99 00:06:34,435 --> 00:06:38,275 in air bubbles and make it nice and shiny. This is when they

100 00:06:38,275 --> 00:06:41,575 start building the candy pieces with words or pictures in the

101 00:06:41,575 --> 00:06:44,875 middle. You might eventually pop one little piece of candy into

102 00:06:44,875 --> 00:06:48,160 your mouth, but when they start building the candy pictures,

103 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:52,120 they make them really big, way too big to fit in your mouth.

104 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:55,840 Craig Montgomery: As we make it, it's probably about six to eight

105 00:06:55,840 --> 00:07:00,520 inches in size, and we typically try and work in squares or

106 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:06,100 circles. So if we're creating, like, say, an apple shape, we

107 00:07:06,100 --> 00:07:09,640 start out with it round as like a cylinder, or almost like a

108 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:14,020 pipe with unstretched candy wrapped around stretched candy,

109 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:18,985 to give it kind of this, like apple skin definition. And then

110 00:07:18,985 --> 00:07:22,045 we put a little indent in the bottom, like your normal apple

111 00:07:22,045 --> 00:07:24,565 has a little apple bottom, and then we put a little bit of

112 00:07:24,565 --> 00:07:30,205 white inside of that crease to then create that shape. So for

113 00:07:30,205 --> 00:07:37,825 every shape we make, we have to put an inverse negative space in

114 00:07:37,825 --> 00:07:42,490 that, so that, because the candy always wants to kind of go flat

115 00:07:42,850 --> 00:07:43,870 because it's hot.

116 00:07:44,230 --> 00:07:47,470 Jane: So then they have a giant pipe of candy with that picture

117 00:07:47,470 --> 00:07:51,310 in the middle, but it's still way too big to eat. So quickly,

118 00:07:51,310 --> 00:07:55,510 before the candy gets hard, they pull and stretch that cylinder

119 00:07:55,510 --> 00:08:00,250 or pipe of soft sugar until it's really, really thin. I guess you

120 00:08:00,250 --> 00:08:03,475 could kind of imagine, like how you roll out dough to make a

121 00:08:03,475 --> 00:08:07,015 pretzel, or maybe if you play with play-doh until it's a thin

122 00:08:07,015 --> 00:08:11,875 snake, they're kind of doing that. The picture in the candy

123 00:08:11,875 --> 00:08:16,135 gets stretched and shrunk down as the candy gets pulled out,

124 00:08:16,435 --> 00:08:19,915 and what you're left with is a rock hard candy with little

125 00:08:19,915 --> 00:08:23,515 letters or pictures in it. You can cut that stick of candy into

126 00:08:23,515 --> 00:08:28,000 bite-sized pieces, and voila, you've got your rock. Coming up,

127 00:08:28,060 --> 00:08:30,280 more answers to your questions about candy.

128 00:08:30,060 --> 00:08:34,980 I'm Jane Lindholm, and this is But Why, a Podcast for Curious

129 00:08:34,980 --> 00:08:38,640 Kids. We are learning about delicious candy and how it's

130 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:42,240 made. Today we have another candy maker joining us? Well,

131 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:43,260 actually. two.

132 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:47,100 Steve Andrianos: I'm Steve Andrianos, owner and candy

133 00:08:47,100 --> 00:08:47,640 maker.

134 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:50,400 Julia Jackson: I'm Julia I'm a candy maker as well. At Steve's

135 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:51,420 place of business.

136 00:08:52,740 --> 00:08:56,925 Jane: Steve Andrianos owns Hercules Candy. The company was

137 00:08:56,925 --> 00:09:00,345 started over a hundred years ago by Steve's grandfather in East

138 00:09:00,345 --> 00:09:03,585 Syracuse, New York. Julia Jackson is one of the candy

139 00:09:03,585 --> 00:09:04,905 makers who works with Steve.

140 00:09:05,085 --> 00:09:08,865 Steve Andrianos: We basically make candy the old fashioned

141 00:09:08,865 --> 00:09:11,745 way. A lot of things are made by hand. A lot of things. We have

142 00:09:11,745 --> 00:09:16,530 some in robers, which chocolate cover things, and we make hard

143 00:09:16,530 --> 00:09:21,630 candies and clusters and sorted chocolates and ribbon candy and

144 00:09:21,750 --> 00:09:22,710 all kinds of things.

145 00:09:22,710 --> 00:09:25,890 Jane: They even use many of Steve's grandfather's recipes.

146 00:09:26,310 --> 00:09:28,470 Julia describes the process for us.

147 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:31,120 Julia Jackson: It's pretty simple, actually. You just take

148 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:35,440 sugar, corn syrup and water, and you heat it up. It's called like

149 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,860 a hard crack stage, which you heat it up to 310 and then we

150 00:09:38,860 --> 00:09:42,580 just manipulate it until little pieces that we want add the

151 00:09:42,580 --> 00:09:46,060 flavor that we want. Once it's heated up to the temperature we

152 00:09:46,060 --> 00:09:49,900 want, it's like this really hot, like liquid lava, and then you

153 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:53,845 pour it onto a cold surface, and eventually, over time, minute by

154 00:09:53,845 --> 00:09:57,565 minute, it gets more moldable, kind of like play-doh-ish, for

155 00:09:57,565 --> 00:10:01,645 people who don't look at it and. So it's at a point where you can

156 00:10:01,645 --> 00:10:04,825 handle it and you can cut it into the little pieces. So it's

157 00:10:04,825 --> 00:10:07,645 basically just, it's basically just cooling off.

158 00:10:08,305 --> 00:10:11,725 Jane: Some candy gets bent or folded or molded into special

159 00:10:11,725 --> 00:10:14,305 shapes that can take some practice.

160 00:10:14,485 --> 00:10:17,170 Julia Jackson: My favorites is candy canes. I love making candy

161 00:10:17,170 --> 00:10:20,470 canes. No one else likes it because it's hard and difficult.

162 00:10:20,470 --> 00:10:22,510 But I love the little challenge.

163 00:10:22,750 --> 00:10:27,790 Steve Andrianos: Ribbon candy, that's, we all, that's all made

164 00:10:27,790 --> 00:10:31,390 with our fingers, making ribbon candy because we pull it out

165 00:10:31,390 --> 00:10:35,110 really nice and thin, like a ribbon, and we cut it off, and

166 00:10:35,110 --> 00:10:39,475 then the next person takes it with their fingers. They twist

167 00:10:39,475 --> 00:10:41,275 it so it looks like a ribbon.

168 00:10:41,275 --> 00:10:43,555 Julia Jackson: And it's hard candy, so you bring up little

169 00:10:43,555 --> 00:10:44,575 pieces and crunch on it.

170 00:10:44,575 --> 00:10:49,615 Steve Andrianos: It hardens up within five to 10 seconds so you

171 00:10:49,615 --> 00:10:50,995 gotta do it fast.

172 00:10:51,055 --> 00:10:56,695 Ava: Hi. My name is Ava. I live in Syosset, and my I'm eight,

173 00:10:56,695 --> 00:11:01,255 and my question is, why is candy so sweet? I'm asking this

174 00:11:01,300 --> 00:11:05,260 because it's Halloween. When I recorded this.

175 00:11:05,500 --> 00:11:08,260 Steve Andrianos: most candies made with corn syrup, which is

176 00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:13,660 sugar, yeah, and then more sugar. So basically it's just...

177 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:14,800 Julia Jackson: A sugar, sugar....

178 00:11:16,540 --> 00:11:17,500 Steve Andrianos: Sugar concoction.

179 00:11:17,540 --> 00:11:24,320 Meera: Yeah. My name is Meera. I'm three years old. I live in

180 00:11:24,740 --> 00:11:31,880 Cary, North Carolina. And my question is how are gummies

181 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:32,420 made?

182 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,440 Steve Andrianos: Gummies and jelly beans are made starch

183 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:37,580 casting, they call it.

184 00:11:37,460 --> 00:11:40,789 Jane: Starch casting is the method for making a mold for the

185 00:11:40,850 --> 00:11:44,611 shape of a gummy so you don't have to try to get a gummy bear

186 00:11:44,673 --> 00:11:48,187 out of a tricky silicone or metal mold. You just push the

187 00:11:48,248 --> 00:11:51,701 shape you want to make into cornstarch, which is a nice,

188 00:11:51,762 --> 00:11:55,646 smooth edible powder. The candy itself is heated up liquid made

189 00:11:55,708 --> 00:11:59,099 from sugar and water and flavorings and some gelatin or

190 00:11:59,161 --> 00:12:02,675 pectin that gives the gummy a nice gummy texture. Gelatin

191 00:12:02,736 --> 00:12:06,559 contains proteins that will hold the little sugar molecules in

192 00:12:06,620 --> 00:12:10,319 suspension. So you pour that nice hot mixture into the molds

193 00:12:10,381 --> 00:12:14,327 you made out of cornstarch, let them cool down and harden into a

194 00:12:14,388 --> 00:12:18,149 gummy texture. And then when they're all cooled down, you can

195 00:12:18,211 --> 00:12:22,280 just take them out and let that powder be used for something else.

196 00:12:23,050 --> 00:12:27,970 Knox: Hi. My name is Knox. I'm six years old. My question is,

197 00:12:28,390 --> 00:12:33,790 how does Candy Corn get made?

198 00:12:34,090 --> 00:12:37,090 Jane: Candy Corn are tri colored, triangle shaped candy

199 00:12:37,090 --> 00:12:40,390 you often see around Halloween. Their shapes are made through

200 00:12:40,390 --> 00:12:43,930 starch casting as well. Candy Corn includes an ingredient

201 00:12:43,930 --> 00:12:47,410 called mallowcreme, which gives it that kind of pasty feeling

202 00:12:47,410 --> 00:12:51,655 and color. Candy Corn actually first appeared in the 1880s in

203 00:12:51,655 --> 00:12:54,895 Philadelphia, and back then it was called chicken feed!

204 00:12:55,375 --> 00:12:59,575 Oliver: Hi, my name is Oliver, and I'm six years old, and I

205 00:12:59,575 --> 00:13:05,035 live in Millersburg, Ohio, and my question is, why does hard

206 00:13:05,035 --> 00:13:06,775 candy melt in your mouth?

207 00:13:07,435 --> 00:13:10,240 Stella: Hello. My name is Stella. I'm seven years old. I

208 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:13,960 live in Long Valley, New Jersey. And my question is, why does

209 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:15,880 cotton candy dissolve when it's wet?

210 00:13:16,420 --> 00:13:18,760 Steve Andrianos: That's just like take, if you just took a

211 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:23,740 tablespoon of sugar and put it in a cup of water, it will just

212 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,520 dissolve, dissolve away. So the same effect will happen in your

213 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:29,920 mouth. Or when the hard candy, it will just dissolve.

214 00:13:30,220 --> 00:13:33,985 Julia Jackson: Yes, bigger likes warm, wet areas, yeah, it just

215 00:13:33,985 --> 00:13:35,785 dissolves, just the sugar.

216 00:13:35,965 --> 00:13:38,245 Jane: What's happening in your mouth when you put a piece of

217 00:13:38,245 --> 00:13:41,845 hard candy in there is that saliva breaks down the bonds

218 00:13:41,845 --> 00:13:45,445 between the sugar molecules and they dissolve. Okay, a few more

219 00:13:45,445 --> 00:13:46,465 candy questions.

220 00:13:46,705 --> 00:13:50,425 Evan: My name is Evan. I'm almost five years old, and my

221 00:13:50,425 --> 00:13:52,645 question is, what are Nerds?

222 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:56,140 Jane: If you're unfamiliar with Nerds, they're tiny, colorful

223 00:13:56,140 --> 00:14:00,040 pieces of candy that come in small boxes, usually one flavor

224 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:02,800 on one side of the box and a second flavor on the other side,

225 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:05,560 so you can eat them one at a time or mix the flavors,

226 00:14:05,560 --> 00:14:09,460 whatever you prefer. Nerds are made from a sugar crystal that

227 00:14:09,460 --> 00:14:13,360 is coated with multiple layers of liquid corn syrup. It then

228 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:17,485 gets spun in a pan so that more layers grow on it. They then

229 00:14:17,485 --> 00:14:20,965 take on all the odd shapes you expect from nerds, and they get

230 00:14:20,965 --> 00:14:25,765 colored. If you like, Nerds Ropes and Nerds gummy clusters,

231 00:14:25,885 --> 00:14:29,485 that's just gummy candy with a lot of Nerds spread onto it.

232 00:14:29,905 --> 00:14:33,445 Sometimes the nerds are stuck to a small gummy ball. For ropes,

233 00:14:33,445 --> 00:14:36,445 they're stuck to a longer piece of gummy... How do they even

234 00:14:36,445 --> 00:14:37,645 come up with these things?

235 00:14:38,305 --> 00:14:41,530 Daisy: My name is Daisy, and I'm four and a half years old, and

236 00:14:41,530 --> 00:14:47,770 I'm from Florida. I want to know why popping candy pops in your

237 00:14:47,770 --> 00:14:48,550 mouth.

238 00:14:48,790 --> 00:14:52,930 Will: Hi, my name is Will. I'm eight years old. I live in

239 00:14:52,930 --> 00:14:57,430 Richmond, Virginia, and my question is, how do Pop Rocks

240 00:14:57,430 --> 00:14:58,030 pop?

241 00:14:58,870 --> 00:15:02,215 Jane: Have you ever heard a popping candy like Pop Rocks?

242 00:15:02,575 --> 00:15:05,875 That's a candy that creates a fizzy, popping sensation when

243 00:15:05,875 --> 00:15:09,115 you put it on your tongue. I actually have a packet right

244 00:15:09,115 --> 00:15:13,555 here with me. I'm going to eat some and see if you can hear

245 00:15:13,555 --> 00:15:14,215 them popping.

246 00:15:24,700 --> 00:15:29,020 They're definitely fizzing on my tongue. It's pretty cool. So how

247 00:15:29,020 --> 00:15:32,260 does this actually work? Well, Pop Rocks are made from the same

248 00:15:32,260 --> 00:15:36,100 thing as hard candy: sugar, corn syrup, water and flavoring all

249 00:15:36,100 --> 00:15:40,000 heated up, so the candy all melts. But popping candy is then

250 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:44,020 infused with carbon dioxide, which is trapped in the cooling

251 00:15:44,020 --> 00:15:47,965 candy in lots of little bubbles. In fact, if you look closely,

252 00:15:47,965 --> 00:15:50,365 you can probably even see the bubbles, though you might need a

253 00:15:50,365 --> 00:15:53,665 magnifying glass. When you put the candy in your mouth, the

254 00:15:53,665 --> 00:15:57,385 sugar dissolves and the carbon dioxide bubbles pop and the gas

255 00:15:57,385 --> 00:16:01,165 is released. Don't worry, it's perfectly safe... and pretty

256 00:16:01,165 --> 00:16:01,525 cool.

257 00:16:02,605 --> 00:16:05,425 Jordi: My name is Jordi. I'm from Somerville, Massachusetts.

258 00:16:05,785 --> 00:16:11,845 I'm six years and my question is, why can't we eat candy all

259 00:16:11,845 --> 00:16:12,445 day?

260 00:16:13,140 --> 00:16:16,320 Jane: I like the way you asked this question, Jordi, why can't

261 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:21,180 we eat candy all day? Most of the experts in human nutrition,

262 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:24,780 that's the study of food and the nutrients in food, agree that

263 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:27,780 occasional candy is fine if you're otherwise feeding your

264 00:16:27,780 --> 00:16:31,440 body all of the other things it needs to function. But if you're

265 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:34,800 filling up on a lot of candy, your body isn't getting all the

266 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:38,865 stuff it needs, and too much sugar in your body isn't great.

267 00:16:39,285 --> 00:16:42,225 A few years ago, we talked with a nutritionist named Wesley

268 00:16:42,225 --> 00:16:45,525 Delbridge about why eating too much sugar isn't such a good

269 00:16:45,525 --> 00:16:47,325 idea. Here's what he told us.

270 00:16:48,140 --> 00:16:51,140 Wesley Delbridge: It's because, if you're only eating sugar,

271 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:56,120 like let's let's call sugar sweetened beverages like soda or

272 00:16:56,120 --> 00:17:01,520 candy, all it has is sugar, and so when you eat that, your body

273 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:05,900 absorbs it very quickly, and your blood sugar jumps up, and

274 00:17:05,900 --> 00:17:09,020 you get this shot of energy, and you feel good, and maybe you're

275 00:17:09,020 --> 00:17:13,025 a little hyper, but then the body gets rid of that energy

276 00:17:13,025 --> 00:17:17,465 very quickly. And then when we get what we call low blood

277 00:17:17,465 --> 00:17:20,465 sugar, and that's where you feel really tired and really

278 00:17:20,465 --> 00:17:23,645 sluggish, and you don't want to do anything, and you can't

279 00:17:23,645 --> 00:17:27,905 concentrate. And so even though you're getting that energy,

280 00:17:27,965 --> 00:17:32,405 there's nothing else with it. And so your body gets it,

281 00:17:32,645 --> 00:17:35,990 absorbs it, feel good, and then all of a sudden you feel really

282 00:17:35,990 --> 00:17:39,830 bad. And so that's why we want to have a healthy, balanced diet

283 00:17:39,950 --> 00:17:43,730 with, you know, those "sometimes foods," but if you only eat high

284 00:17:43,730 --> 00:17:47,030 sugar items, you're not going to feel good at all. You're not

285 00:17:47,030 --> 00:17:50,030 going to get the nutrients that you need. You're not going to be

286 00:17:50,030 --> 00:17:53,090 able to concentrate in school. You're not going to be able to

287 00:17:53,090 --> 00:17:57,170 do well in sports or play on the playground. You're not going to

288 00:17:57,170 --> 00:18:00,395 feel good even though the things that you're eating taste good.

289 00:18:00,815 --> 00:18:05,735 Nora: My name is Nora, and I'm five, and I live in Grand

290 00:18:05,975 --> 00:18:10,115 Rapids, Michigan, and my question is, why is candy be bad

291 00:18:10,115 --> 00:18:10,955 for your teeth?

292 00:18:11,380 --> 00:18:14,560 Jane: Yeah, sugar isn't great for your teeth, either. Certain

293 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:18,580 bacteria love sugar, and they create something called acid in

294 00:18:18,580 --> 00:18:22,720 your mouth when you eat it. Acid makes holes or cavities on the

295 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,780 enamel, the outer coating on your teeth. That's why it's

296 00:18:25,780 --> 00:18:28,900 important to brush those germs away after you have a treat.

297 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:32,740 Okay, that's it for this episode. Thanks so much to Craig

298 00:18:32,740 --> 00:18:36,325 Montgomery at Sticky and Steve Andrianos and Julia Jackson at

299 00:18:36,325 --> 00:18:40,225 Hercules Candies. As always, if you have a question about

300 00:18:40,285 --> 00:18:44,725 anything, send it to us. We get lots of questions, and we can't

301 00:18:44,725 --> 00:18:48,445 answer all of them. But even if we can't answer your question,

302 00:18:48,505 --> 00:18:51,025 we love to hear what's on your mind and what you're curious

303 00:18:51,085 --> 00:18:54,505 about. You can have an adult help you record you asking a

304 00:18:54,505 --> 00:18:58,090 question using a free app on a smartphone or tablet, then have

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306 00:19:03,430 --> 00:19:06,430 like our show, please leave us a review or some stars on whatever

307 00:19:06,430 --> 00:19:09,490 platform you use to listen. It helps other kids and families

308 00:19:09,490 --> 00:19:13,270 discover us. Our show is produced by Sarah Baik, Melody

309 00:19:13,270 --> 00:19:16,930 Bodette and me, Jane Lindholm at Vermont Public and distributed

310 00:19:16,930 --> 00:19:21,055 by PRX. Our video producer is Joey Palumbo, and our theme

311 00:19:21,055 --> 00:19:24,835 music is composed by Luke Reynolds. We'll be back in two

312 00:19:24,835 --> 00:19:29,515 weeks with an all new episode. Until then, stay curious.