With Halloween around the corner, it’s only natural our minds shift to candy. Smarties® is a candy that has been around for more than 70 years having been invented in 1949 by Edward Dee, a candy maker from London who settled in New Jersey and founded the company Ce De Candy, Inc. The company officially changed its name to Smarties® Candy Company in 2011. The first “National Smarties® Day” was celebrated on October 2, 2022, to honor the birthday of the man who founded the candy. Since Dee valued education so much and was proud to have graduated from Cambridge University, he decided to name his candy Smarties® as a way to encourage others to never stop learning.
So, what are Smarties®? They are self-described as “The Perfect Candy,” “Fun for the Smartie-est Kids,” and “Has a PhD in Scrumptious.” They are small in size, come in combinations of six different pastel colors within their wrapped rolls, and each color represents a different fruity flavor. For instance, white = orange cream, yellow = pineapple, pink = cherry, green = strawberry, purple = grape, and orange = orange.
So, will they make you smart? While they may not make you smart, they are a smart choice when it comes to choosing a candy. Smarties® are free from the nine major food allergens—all products are free of milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy and sesame. This alone makes it a safe choice for most children and for those with peanut allergies too as the candy is manufactured in an entirely peanut-free facility. They are also gluten-free and vegan. For those calorie conscious individuals, Smarties® are only 25 calories per roll.
Some lesser-known facts about Smarties® you might be interested in are:
- The Company is now run by three women—the granddaughters of the founder.
- In Canada, Smarties are known as Rockets.
- Original Smarties® machines were used for compressing gunpowder.
- Employees are gifted 30 pounds of Smarties® to help celebrate the holidays after working hard all year prepping for Halloween candy sales.
To celebrate “National Smarties Day” why not try some of these suggestions:
- Incorporate them in your favorite sweet treats, such as, a topping on ice cream, jello, or cake. Or bake them in cookies, cakes, and brownies.
- Craft a thank you note for a teacher and tape a Smarties roll to it.
- Help children learn to count, identify colors, match items, and build shapes to assist with their motor skills.
Whether you like the taste of Smarties® or not, one thing is very clear, they have been one of the leading Halloween treats for over 50 years! Another thing that is very clear, is you are now smarter than you were before reading this blog; therefore, it can be said that Smarties® have made you smarter…
