Fun Facts Of Fun Candy, Jelly Bean

By Author: Bob Monk
Total Articles: 11
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Jelly Beans have been with us for almost 100 years and they are the favorite of young and old alike. The first jelly bean was created by an unknown American candy maker in the 1800s. The earliest known appearance of the modern jelly bean was probably during the Civil War when William Schrafft of Boston started and actively promoted sending candies to soldiers in the Union Army. However it was not until 1930 or so that jelly beans became an Easter candy, because of their resemblance to Easter eggs. Their egg-like shape was then associated with the Easter Bunny.
One of the most famous fan of Jelly Bean was president Ronald Regan, who kept a jar of jelly bean at his desk. That might have helped increase the popularity of the Candy.
Now a days most Jelly Beans are sold in an assortment of eight flavors. They are Red for Cherry, Orange for Orange, Yellow for Lemon, Green for Lime, Blue for Blueberry, Black for Licorice, White for Vanilla and Pink for Cotton Candy. But it is only now that we find an assortment of different colors of Jelly Beans. In the earlier days, Jelly Beans were sold by mostly by single color.
The ...
... basic ingredients of jelly beans are sugar, gelatin, corn syrup, and food starch. Relatively small amounts of lecithin (an emulsifier), anti-foaming agents, beeswax or carnauba wax, salt, and confectioner's glaze are also added to the mix.
The shell coating is an offspring of a process called panning, first invented in 17th century France to make Jordan Almonds. The panning process, while done primarily by machine today, has remained essentially the same for the last 300 years. The French began by rocking almonds in a bowl filled with sugar and syrup until the almonds were coated with a candy shell. Today, large rotating pans do the heavy work, while master confectioners apply their true art in adding the ingredients to create just the right shell.
( Source: National Confectioners Association).
Here are some interesting trivia about your favorite candy:
- Red or Cherry remains the most popular flavor of Jelly Beans till date.
- The Blue or Blueberry flavor was created during the inauguration of President Ronald Regan in the year 1981.
- A portrait of President Ronald Reagan made from 10,000 jelly beans. The portrait now hangs in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
- Belly beans were the first jelly beans in outer space when President Reagan sent them on the 1983 flight of the space shuttle Challenger.
- April 22 is the National Jelly Bean day.
- On October 15, 1999, the world's largest jar of jelly beans was unveiled. It weighed 6,050 pounds
- Each year, U.S. manufacturers produce more than 16 billion jelly beans for Easter, that's enough to completely fill a plastic Easter egg 89 feet high and 60 feet wide (about the height of a nine-story office building).
- Jelly Belly makes about fifty (50) varieties of Jelly Beans.
- It takes almost 1 week to make a Jelly Bean.
- Another fun fact is that you can mix different flavors of Jelly Belly Jelly Beans to create a whole new flavor.
- Each Jelly Belly Jelly Bean only has 1 calorie, which is very good news for the Candy lovers.


Whatever is your fancy, you will find them all in the web store of Giftswish.com
So sit back, pop in a hand full of your favorite candy and have fun.
Bob Monk writes on the huge range of gourmet foods available with http://www.giftswish.com the biggest online retailer of gourmet foods.
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