Americans consumed more than twenty billion hot dogs in 2000

Hot dog stands and trucks sell hot dogs at street and highway locations. Wandering hot dog vendors sell their product in baseball parks. At convenience stores, hot dogs are kept heated on rotating grills. 7-Eleven sells the most grilled hot dogs in North America — 100 million annually. Hot dogs are also common on restaurants’ children’s menus.

In the US, “hot dog” may refer to just the sausage or to the combination of a sausage in a bun. Many nicknames for hot dogs have popped up over the years. A hot dog can often be seen under the names of frankfurter, frank, red hot, wiener, weenie, durger, coney, or just “dog”.

The Top selling candy in the world is the M&M's with annual sales above the $1,8 billion.

The candy shells, each of which has the letter “m” printed in lower case on one side, surround a variety of fillings, including milk chocolate, dark chocolate, crisped rice, mint chocolate, peanuts, almonds, orange chocolate, coconut, pretzel, wild cherry, cinnamon, raspberry, and peanut butter. M&M’s originated in the United States in 1941, and are now sold in as many as 100 countries. They are produced in different colors, some of which have changed over the years.

In 1908, the first machine to make lollipops opened for business in New Haven, Connecticut

The idea of an edible candy on a stick is very simple, and it is probable that the lollipop has been invented and reinvented numerous times. The history of the first lollipops in America appears to have been distorted over time. There is some speculation that lollipops were invented during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Others believe some version of the lollipop has been around since the early 1800s. George Smith claimed to be the first to invent the modern style lollipop in 1908 and trademarked the lollipop name in 1931. He used the idea of putting candy on a stick to make it easier to eat and reportedly named the treats after a popular racing horse, Lolly Pop. It initially referred to soft, rather than hard candy. The term may have derived from the term “lolly” (tongue) and “pop” (slap). The first references to the lollipop in its modern context date to the 1920s. Alternatively, it may be a word of Romany origin being related to the Roma tradition of selling toffee apples sold on a stick. Red apple in the Romany language is loli phaba.

The first confectioneries that closely resemble what we call lollipops date to the Middle Ages, when the nobility would often eat boiled sugar with the aid of sticks or handles. The invention of the modern lollipop is still something of a mystery but a number of American companies in the early 20th century have laid claim to it. According to the book Food For Thought: Extraordinary Little Chronicles of the World, they were invented by George Smith of New Haven,Connecticut, who started making large boiled sweets mounted on sticks in 1908. He named them after a racehorse of the time, Lolly Pop.

The term ‘lollipop’ was recorded by the English lexicographer Francis Grose in 1796.

The most popular treat for Halloween trick-or-treaters are candy bars with Snickers being the most popular

Although some popular histories of Halloween have characterized trick-or-treating as an adult invention to rechannel Halloween activities away from vandalism, there are very few records supporting it. Des Moines, Iowais the only area known to have a record of trick-or-treating being used to deter crime. Elsewhere, adults, as reported in newspapers from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s, typically saw it as a form of extortion, with reactions ranging from bemused indulgence to anger. Likewise, as portrayed on radio shows, children would have to explain what trick-or-treating was to puzzled adults, and not the other way around. Sometimes even the children protested: for Halloween 1948, members of the Madison Square Boys Club in New York City carried a parade banner that read “American Boys Don’t Beg.” The National Confectioners Association reported in 2005 that 80 percent of adults in the United States planned to give out confectionery to trick-or-treaters, and that 93 percent of children, teenagers, and young adults planned to go trick-or-treating or participating in other Halloween activities. In 2008, Halloween candy, costumes and other related products accounted for $5.77 billion in revenue.

Thirty to forty gallons of sugar maple sap must be boiled down to make just one gallon of maple syrup

Production methods have been streamlined since colonial days, yet remain basically unchanged. Sap must first be collected and boiled down to obtain pure syrup without chemical agents or preservatives. Maple syrup is made by boiling between 20 and 50 litres (5.3 and 13 US gal) of sap (depending on its concentration) over an open fire until 1 litre (0.26 US gal) of syrup is obtained, usually at a temperature 4.1 °C (7.4 °F) over the boiling point of water. Syrup can be boiled entirely over one heat source or can be drawn off into smaller batches and boiled at a more controlled temperature.

Boiling the syrup is a tightly controlled process, which ensures appropriate sugar content. Syrup boiled too long will eventually crystallize, whereas under-boiled syrup will be watery, and will quickly spoil. The finished syrup has a density of 66° on the Brix scale (a hydrometric scale used to measure sugar solutions). The syrup is then filtered to remove sugar sand, crystals made up largely of sugar and calcium malate. These crystals are not toxic, but create a “gritty” texture in the syrup if not filtered out. The filtered syrup is graded and packaged while still hot, usually at a temperature of 82 °C (180 °F) or greater. The containers are turned over after being sealed to sterilize the cap with the hot syrup. Packages can be made of metal, glass, or coated plastic, depending on volume and target market. The syrup can also be heated longer and further processed to create a variety of other maple products, including maple sugar, maple butter or cream, and maple candy or taffy.

Iceland consumes more Coca-Cola per capita than any other nation, and they have it with lemon.

Coca-Cola with Lemon is popular in Iceland. It is a soft drink brand owned by The Coca-Cola Company, launched to compete with Pepsi Twist. It is produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company’s bottlers. Diet Coke with Lemon was introduced in the U.S. in 2001 and is still available in Coca-Cola Freestyle machines.

Coca-Cola Light with Lemon is still available in:

American Samoa Hong Kong Macau Austria Belgium China Denmark New Zealand Bosnia and Herzegovina France Germany Iceland Israel Luxembourg Mongolia

Netherlands New Caledonia Portugal Philippines Korea Reunion Singapore South Africa Spain Switzerland Taiwan Tunisia West Bank-Gaza

Coca-Cola Light with Lemon has been discontinued in:

• Norway (2005)
• Australia
• Brazil (as Coke light lemon, discontinued in late 2004)
• Mexico
• New Zealand
• United Kingdom (as Diet Coke with Lemon discontinued early 2006)
• Chile
• Sweden
• Finland

The reason why bubble gum is pink is because the inventor only had pink colouring left. Ever since then, the colour of bubble gum has been predominantly pink

In 1928, Walter E. Diemer, an accountant for the Fleer Chewing Gum Company in Philadelphia, was experimenting with new gum recipes. One recipe was found to be less sticky than regular chewing gum, and stretched more easily. This gum became highly successful and was eventually named by the president of Fleer as Dubble Bubble. The original bubble gum was pink because that was the only dye Diemer had on hand at the time and it was his favorite colour.

To test his recipe, Diemer took samples of the new gum to a local store where it sold out in a single day. To help sell the new Dubble Bubble gum, Diemer taught salespeople how to blow bubbles so that they could teach potential customers. Dubble Bubble remained the only bubble gum on the market until Bazooka entered after World War II.

In modern chewing gum, if natural rubber such as chicle is used, it must pass several purity and cleanliness tests. However, most modern types of chewing gum use synthetic gum based materials. These materials allow for longer-lasting flavour, a better texture, and a reduction in tackiness.

Chewing gum has rubber as an ingredient

Modern chewing gum was first developed in the 1860s when chicle was imported from Mexico for use as a rubber substitute. Chicle did not succeed as a replacement for rubber, but as a gum it was soon adopted and due to newly established companies such as Adams New York Chewing Gum (1871), Black Jack (1884) and “Chiclets” (1899), it soon dominated the market. Synthetic gums were first introduced to the U.S. after chicle no longer satisfied the needs of making good chewing gum. The hydrocarbon polymers approved to be in chewing gum are styrene-butadiene rubber, isobutylene, isoprene copolymer,paraffin wax, and petroleum wax.

One of the best known chewing gum manufacturers worldwide is Wrigley. Wrigley was founded by William Wrigley, Jr. in 1892 in Chicago. It was known as Wrigley’s Spearmint Gum in 1906 and within four years was the bestselling gum in the U.S. and is still the largest market for gum in the world. According to Wrigley surveys, the average American chews 300 sticks per year. Historically, during and after World War II, the image of an American soldier chewing a piece of Wrigley’s gum became an icon in the American media. Wrigley began donating their gum to the troops, and it was regarded as a stress reliever and a healthier alternative to smoking.

Every second there are 418 Kit Kat fingers eaten in the world

Use of the name “Kit Kat” or “Kit Cat” for a type of food goes back to the 18th Century, when mutton pies known as a Kit-Kat were served at meetings of the political Kit-Cat Club in London.

The origins of what is now known as the “Kit Kat” brand go back to 1911, when Rowntree’s, a confectionery company based in York in the United Kingdom, trademarked the terms “Kit Cat” and “Kit Kat”. Although the terms were not immediately utilised, the first conception of the Kit Kat appeared in the 1920s, when Rowntree launched a brand of boxed chocolates entitled “Kit Cat”. This continued into the 1930s, when Rowntree’s shifted focus and production onto its “Black Magic” and “Dairy Box” brands. With the promotion of alternative products the “Kit Cat” brand decreased and was eventually discontinued. The original four-finger bar was developed after a worker at Rowntree’s York Factory put a suggestion in a recommendation box for a snack that “a man could take to work in his pack”. The bar launched on 29 August 1935, under the title of “Rowntree’s Chocolate Crisp” (priced at 2d), and was sold in London and throughout Southern England.

The product’s official title of “Rowntree’s Chocolate Crisp” was renamed “Kit Kat Chocolate Crisp” in 1937, the same year that ‘Kit Kat’ began to incorporate “Break” into its recognisable advertising strategy. The colour scheme and first flavour variation to the brand came in 1942, owing to World War II, when food shortages prompted an alteration in the recipe. The flavour of “Kit Kat” was changed to “dark”; the packaging abandoned its “Chocolate Crisp” title, and was adorned in blue. After the war the title was altered to “Kit Kat” and resumed its original milk recipe and red packaging.

Following on from its success in the United Kingdom, in the 1940s “Kit Kat” was exported to Canada, South Africa, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. In 1958, Donald Gilles, the executive at JWT Orland, created the iconic advertising line “Have a Break, Have a Kit Kat”. The brand further expanded in the 1970s when Rowntree created a new distribution factory in Germany to meet European demand, and established agreements to distribute the brand in the USA and Japan through the Hershey and Fujiya companies, respectively. In June 1988 Nestlé acquired Kit Kat through the purchase of Rowntree’s. This gave Nestlé global control over the brand, except in North America, and production and distribution increased with new facilities in Japan and additional manufacturing operations set up in Malaysia, India and China.

Variants in the traditional chocolate bar first appeared in 1996 when “Kit Kat Orange”, the first flavour variant, was introduced in the United Kingdom. Its success was followed by several varieties including mint and caramel, and in 1999 “Kit Kat Chunky” was launched and received favourably by international consumers. Variations on the traditional “Kit Kat” have continued to develop throughout the 2000s. In 2000 Nestlé acquired Fujiya’s share of the brand in Japan, and also expanded its marketplace in Japan, Russia, Turkey and Venezuela, in addition to markets in Eastern and Central Europe. Throughout the decade ‘Kit Kat’ has introduced dozens of flavours and line extensions within specific consumer markets, and celebrated its 75th anniversary on 10 October 2009.

The traditional bar has four fingers which each measure approximately 1 centimetre (0.39 in) by 9 centimetres (3.5 in). A two-finger bar was launched in the 1930s, and has remained the company’s best-selling biscuit brand ever since. The 1999 “Kit Kat Chunky” (known as “Big Kat” in the US) has one large finger approximately 2.5 centimetres (0.98 in) wide. Kit Kat bars contain varying numbers of fingers depending on the market, ranging from the half-finger sized Kit Kat Petit in Japan, to the three-fingered variants in Arabia, to the twelve-finger family-size bars in Australia and France. Kit Kat bars are sold individually and in bags, boxes and multi-packs. In Ireland, the UK and America Nestlé also produces a Kit Kat Ice Cream, and in Australia and Malaysia, “Kit Kat Drumsticks”.

In 2010 a new £5 million manufacturing line was opened by Nestlé in York, UK. This will produce more than a billion Kit Kat bars each year.

Chicago has the largest cookie factory, where Nabisco made over 4.6 billion "Oreo" cookies in 1997

The “Oreo Biscuit” was first developed and produced by the National Biscuit Company (today known as Nabisco) in 1912 at its Chelsea factory in New York City, which was located on Ninth Avenue between 15th and 16th Streets. Today, this same block of Ninth Avenue is known as “Oreo Way.” The name Oreo was first trademarked on March 14, 1912. It was launched as an imitation of the Hydrox cookie manufactured by Sunshine company, introduced in 1908.
The original design of the cookie featured a wreath around the edge of the cookie and the name “OREO” in the center. In the United States, they were sold for 25 cents a pound in novelty cans with clear glass tops.
The Oreo Biscuit was renamed in 1921, to “Oreo Sandwich.” A new design for the cookie was introduced in 1924. A lemon-filled variety was available briefly during the 1920s, but was discontinued.
In 1948, the Oreo Sandwich was renamed the “Oreo Creme Sandwich”; it was changed in 1974 to the Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookie. The modern-day Oreo design was developed in 1952 by William A. Turnier, to include the Nabisco logo.
The modern Oreo cookie filling was developed by Nabisco’s principal food scientist, Sam Porcello. Porcello held five patents directly related to his work on the Oreo. He also created a line of Oreos covered in dark chocolate and white chocolate. Porcello retired from Nabisco in 1993.
In the mid-1990s, health concerns prompted Nabisco to replace the lard in the filling with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.

The name "Snickers" for the popular candy bar was named after a horse that the Mars family owned

Snickers is a brand name candy bar made by Mars, Incorporated. It consists of nougat topped with caramel and peanuts, enrobed in milk chocolate. Snickers has annual global sales of $2 billion.
In the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and Ireland, Snickers was sold under the brand name Marathon until 1990. More recently, Snickers Marathon branded energy bars have been sold in some markets.

If Wal-Mart was classified as a country, it would be the 24th most productive country in the world

Nestle was accused in Canada for price fixing their competitors, Mars and Hershey

In Canada, the Competition Bureau raided the offices of Nestlé Canada (along with those of Hershey Canada Inc. and Mars Canada Inc) in 2007 to investigate the matter of price fixing of chocolates. It is alleged that executives with Nestlé, the maker of KitKat, Coffee Crisp and Big Turk, colluded with competitors in Canada to inflate prices.

The Bureau alleged that competitors’ executives met in restaurants, coffee shops and at conventions and that Nestlé Canada CEO, Mr. Leonidas once handed a competitor an envelope stuffed with his company’s pricing information, saying: “I want you to hear it from the top – I take my pricing seriously.”

Nestlé and the other companies were subject to class-action lawsuits for price fixing after the raids were made public in 2007. “Nestlé recently agreed to pay $9-million, without admitting liability, in a settlement subject to court approval in the new year. But a massive class-action continues in the United States”.

Nestlé CEO Robert Leonidas is under threat of a criminal charge for his role in the price fixing of chocolates in Canada when he was at the helm of Nestlé Canada from 2006 to 2010.

Source

The Baby Ruth candy bar was actually named after Grover Cleveland's baby daughter, Ruth.

Although the name of the candy bar sounds like the name of the famous baseball player Babe Ruth, the Curtiss Candy Company traditionally claimed that it was named after President Grover Cleveland‘s daughter, Ruth Cleveland. The candy maker, located on the same street as Wrigley Field, named the bar “Baby Ruth” in 1921, as Babe Ruth‘s fame was on the rise, over 30 years after Cleveland had left the White House, and 17 years after his daughter, Ruth, had died. The company did not negotiate an endorsement deal with Ruth, and many saw the company’s story about the origin of the name to be a devious way to avoid having to pay the baseball player any royalties. Curtiss successfully shut down a rival bar that was approved by, and named for, Ruth, on the grounds that the names were too similar.

In the trivia book series Imponderables, David Feldman reports the standard story about the bar being named for Grover Cleveland‘s daughter, with additional information that ties it to the President: “The trademark was patterned exactly after the engraved lettering of the name used on a medallion struck for the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, and picturing the President, his wife, and daughter Baby Ruth.” He also cites More Misinformation, by Tom Burnam: “Burnam concluded that the candy bar was named … after the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Williamson, candy makers who developed the original formula and sold it to Curtiss.” (Williamson had also sold the “Oh Henry!” formula to Curtiss around that time.) The writeup goes on to note that marketing the product as being named for a company executive’s granddaughter would likely have been less successful, hence their “official” story.

There are some ice creams that are 75% air

Source

When Burger King introduced the Whopper Sandwich in 1957, it cost only thirty-seven cents

Source