Pop Rocks facts for kids
Pop Rocks is a candy, owned by Zeta Espacial S.A. Pop Rocks ingredients include sugar, lactose (milk sugar), and flavoring. It differs from typical hard candy in that pressurized carbon dioxide gas bubbles are embedded inside of the candy, creating a small popping reaction when it dissolves in one's mouth.
Background and history
The concept was patented by General Foods research chemists Leon T. Kremzner and William A. Mitchell on December 12, 1961 (U.S. patent #3,012,893), but the candy was not offered to the public until 1975 by General Foods, which in 1983 withdrew it, citing its lack of success in the marketplace, and its relatively short shelf life.
Distribution was initially controlled to ensure freshness; but with its increasing popularity, unauthorized redistribution from market to market resulted in out-of-date product reaching consumers. After that, Kraft Foods licensed the Pop Rocks brand to Zeta Espacial S.A. who continued manufacturing the product under Kraft's license. Eventually Zeta Espacial S.A. became the brand's owner and sole manufacturer. Pop Rocks is distributed in the U.S. by Pop Rocks Inc. (Atlanta, Georgia) and by Zeta Espacial S.A. (Barcelona, Spain) in the rest of the world. Zeta Espacial S.A. also sells popping candy internationally under other brands including Peta Zetas, Wiz Fizz, and Magic Gum.
In 2008, Dr. Marvin J. Rudolph, who led the group assigned to bring Pop Rocks out of the laboratory and into the manufacturing plant, wrote a history of Pop Rocks development. The book, titled Pop Rocks: The Inside Story of America's Revolutionary Candy, was based on interviews with food technologists, engineers, marketing managers, and members of Billy Mitchell's family, along with the author's experience. In the book, Dr. Rudolph points out that the Turkish company HLEKS Popping Candy flooded the market with popping candy in the year 2000.
A similar product, Cosmic Candy, previously called Space Dust, was in powdered form and was also manufactured by General Foods.
In 2012, Cadbury Schweppes Pty. Ltd. (in Australia) began producing a chocolate product named "Marvellous Creations Jelly Popping Candy Beanies" which contains popping candy, jelly beans and beanies (candy covered chocolate). By 2013 Whittakers (New Zealand) had also released a local product (white chocolate with a local carbonated drink "Lemon and Paeroa' or "L&P" for short). Prominent British chef Heston Blumenthal has also made several desserts incorporating popping candy, both for the peculiar sensory experience of the popping and for the nostalgia value of using an ingredient popular in the 1970s.
Manufacturing
As described by a 1980 patent, the candy is made by dissolving sugars in water and is evaporated at 320 °F (160 °C) until the water content is 3% by mass. The water and sugar mixture is then cooled to 280 °F (138 °C), and while being intensely stirred it is pressurized with carbon dioxide at 730 pounds per square inch [psi] (50 atm). The mixture is then kept under pressure and allowed to cool and solidify, embedding the carbon dioxide bubbles in candy. The majority of the resultant carbon dioxide bubbles are between 225–350 nanometres (8.9×10−6–1.38×10−5 in) in diameter. When the pressure on the cooled and solidified candy is released, it shatters into pieces that vary in size.
See also
In Spanish: Peta Zetas para niños
