CANDY

also called confectionery, sweet food product. The application of the terms candy and confectionery varies among English-speaking countries. In the United States candy refers to both chocolate products and sugar-based confections; elsewhere chocolate confectionery refers to chocolates, sugar confectionery to the various sugar-based products, and flour confectionery to such products as cakes and pastries. This article is primarily concerned with sugar confectionery. Other types of confections are discussed in the articles baking and cocoa. also called Confection, sweet food product. In the United States, the word candy refers to both sugar- and cocoa-based confections and is differentiated from sweetened baked goods; elsewhere the terms sugar confectionery, chocolate confectionery, and flour confectionery (meaning goods such as cakes and pastries) are used. A brief article on confectionery and candy products follows. For full treatment, see Food Processing: Confectionery products. Written and pictorial records of candy were left by the Egyptians, and from these it is learned that early candymakers used honey as a sweetener, sugar being unknown, and added figs, dates, nuts, and spices. There is little reference to the manufacturing of candy until about the middle of the 14th century, when sugar shipped into Venice was used for making confections. It was not until the cultivation of sugarcane spread throughout the world and the refining of sugar was developed that the confectionery industry began to grow. Prior to this time, a confection was an item sold or dispensed only by pharmacists and spice stores. By the 16th century, confectioners were making many kinds of sweetmeats and candy by molding sugar, nuts, and fruits of various kinds into fanciful forms. Only hand methods were employed, and the few utensils and appliances used were primitive and crude. They were used principally in cooking or boiling the sugar and molding or shaping the candies. In the late 18th century the first candy-manufacturing machinery was developed; by the late 20th century annual worldwide production totaled millions of pounds. More than 70 agricultural products are used in making candy; they include sugar, corn (maize) products, chocolate, eggs, fruits, nuts, butter, milk, and cream. The main ingredients used for manufacturing candy are cane and beet sugars combined with other carbohydrate foods such as corn syrup, cornstarch, honey, molasses, and maple sugar. To the sweet base are added chocolate, fruits, nuts and peanuts, eggs, milk products, flavours, and colours. In food value, candy is a concentrated source of food energy; milk, fruits, and nuts, when used, supply additional nutritive value. The more than 2,000 types of candy are generally divided into the categories of high-boiled, or hard, candy; caramels and toffee; nougats; fondants; jellies; marshmallows; pastes, such as marzipan; gums and pastilles; coated, or panned, sweets, also called drages; truffles; flavoured popcorn; cotton candy; licorice; and chewing gum. Additional reading R. MacRae, R.K. Robinson, and M.J. Sadler (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Food Science, Food Technology, and Nutrition, 8 vol. (1993); and Y.H. Hui (ed.), Encyclopedia of Food Science and Technology, 4 vol. (1992), are general works that cover all aspects of the science of food. P. Fellows, Food Processing Technology: Principles and Practices (1988), is an introductory text. R. Paul SinghBernard W. Minifie, Chocolate, Cocoa, and Confectionery: Science and Technology, 3rd ed. (1989), deals with candy production methods, machinery, and formulations with scientific explanations. C. Trevor Williams, Chocolate and Confectionery, 3rd ed. (1964), is a general survey of the industry with details of processes, machinery, and recipes in some sections. E. Skuse, Complete Confectioner, 13th ed., rev. and edited by W.J. Bush & Co. (1957), deals mainly with sugar confectionery. Ernest J. Clyne, A Course in Confectionery, 2 vol. in 1 (1955), also deals mainly with sugar confectionery. Journals such as Confectionery Production (monthly); and The Manufacturing Confectioner (monthly), contain useful current information. Herbert B. Knechtel Bernard W. Minifie