One of the great mysteries of life, next to "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" is said to be: "IS CANDY CORN REALLY MADE FROM CORN?"
Each year, Favorite Brands International receives hundreds of letters and calls from kids who want to know the details about how candy corn is made.The Chicago-area company produces billions of pieces of candy corn annually, marketing them under the Farley's and Sathers brand names.
The Favorite Brands Co. is the leading manufacturer of candy corn for the fall holiday season. They're the folks who are also the largest non-chocolate candy maker in the United States (gummies, fruit snacks, marshmallows to name a few).
Favorite Brands produces 13.4 million pounds in the fall season alone. And some poor clerk in Chicago has figured that if the kernels were laid end-to-end, they would stretch around the world one-and-a-half times.
Candy corn is made from "mellow-creme," the same mixture that Indian corn and candy pumpkins are made of. When candy corn production is on schedule, workers churn out millions of kernels each day.
Before the candy assumes its trademark orange, yellow and white look, 50,000 pounds of corn syrup, honey, and sugar must first be mixed with a giant beater and then heated in bathtub-sized kettles until it forms a creamy syrup.
The mixture is then transferred into large vats where the colors are slowly added to the gooey sugar mix. Two identical containers are used for the yellow and orange colors, but a special vat is needed to create the white mixture.
Gwen Stansu, PR manager for Favorite Brands, explains that "the candy corn's orange and yellow sections are made from the same mixture - just the colors are different. We give the white tip special treatment and make it firmer by adding other ingredients."
The next step is piping the neon-colored mixtures into a large machine called a "mogul"(which has nothing to do with skiing). The equipment deposits the separate colors into triangular-shaped molds made of cornstarch. The yellow band is laid down first, followed by the orange, and finally the white tip. The process used to be done by hand, but due to consumer demand, machines now do the work.
After molding, the candy moves to a separate room for drying. After "curing" for 24-36 hours, the kernels are removed from the molds and dropped into chutes that send them to a sifter. The candy is shaken vigorously (the noisy process is said to sound like an airplane at takeoff) and dropped onto a board where it receives a final glaze.
After packaging, shipping and local purchase, kids can invent all sorts of uses for the candy. Favorites are pushing candy corns onto front teeth - like fangs. Or dissecting each corn, by color.
Of course, the best thing about candy corn is the faint hint of Halloween and Thanksgiving mixed in with the sweetness.