Circus Peanuts is a peanut

Peanut

The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume or "bean" family , so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing tall...

-shaped marshmallow

Marshmallow

The marshmallow is a confection that, in its modern form, typically consists of sugar, corn syrup, water, gelatin that has been softened in hot water, dextrose, vanilla flavourings, and sometimes colouring, whipped to a spongy consistency. Some marshmallow recipes call for egg whites...

 candy

Candy

Candy, specifically sugar candy, is a confection made from a concentrated solution of sugar in water, to which flavorings and colorants are added...

. Although the most popular variety of mass-produced

Mass production

Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...

 Circus Peanuts today is orange-colored with an artificial banana

Banana

Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....

 flavor, confectioners originally distributed an orange

Orange (fruit)

An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....

-flavored variety that was only available seasonally due to a lack of packaging capable of preserving the candy; in the spring, five-and-dimes sold Circus Peanuts as penny candy. In the 1940s, Circus Peanuts became one of the many foods to become available year-round owing to the industrial proliferation of polyethylene

Polyethylene

Polyethylene or polythene is the most widely used plastic, with an annual production of approximately 80 million metric tons...

 packaging.

Today, mass-produced Circus Peanuts are made from sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

, corn syrup

Corn syrup

Corn syrup is a food syrup, which is made from the starch of maize and contains varying amounts of maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to soften texture, add volume, prevent crystallization of sugar, and enhance flavor...

, gelatin

Gelatin

Gelatin is a translucent, colorless, brittle , flavorless solid substance, derived from the collagen inside animals' skin and bones. It is commonly used as a gelling agent in food, pharmaceuticals, photography, and cosmetic manufacturing. Substances containing gelatin or functioning in a similar...

, soy protein

Soy protein

Soy protein is a protein that is isolated from soybean. It is made from dehulled, defatted soybean meal. Dehulled and defatted soybeans are processed into three kinds of high protein commercial products : soy flour, concentrates, and isolates. Soy protein isolate has been used since 1959 in foods ...

, food coloring

Food coloring

Food coloring is a substance, liquid or powder, that is added to food or drink to change its color. Food coloring is used both in commercial food production and in domestic cooking...

 and artificial flavor. Over the years, confectioners have also offered Circus Peanuts colored yellow, pink, and white, including a variety of flavors, though orange is still the most predominant color and banana the most common flavor, by far. The leading producers of Circus Peanuts are Melster Candies, Spangler Candy Company

Spangler Candy Company

The Spangler Candy Company is a privately owned international confectioner that has been manufacturing and marketing candy since 1906.Headquartered in Bryan, Ohio, Spangler’s products include lollipops, candy canes, and marshmallow circus peanuts...

, and Brach's

Brach's

Brach's Confections is a candy and sweets company which produces and invented many modern icons of the sugary world; it is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. In November 2007, Brach's Confections was sold to Farley's & Sathers Candy Company and the corporate office moved to Round Lake,...

, but they produce an essentially identical product. Circus Peanuts sold in generic label bags in retail stores such as convenience stores, grocery stores, and drug stores are almost always manufactured by one of the three candy companies listed above, simply sold in a generic package. Publix

Publix

Publix Super Markets, Inc. is an American supermarket chain based in Lakeland, Florida.Founded in 1930 by George W. Jenkins, it is an employee-owned, privately held corporation. Publix is currently ranked No. 86 on Fortune magazine's list of 100 Best Companies to Work For 2010 and was ranked No...

 stores sell generic Circus Peanuts under their own label, but they are manufactured by Farley and Sathers.

In 1963, General Mills

General Mills

General Mills, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 corporation, primarily concerned with food products, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totinos, Jeno's, Pillsbury, Green...

 vice president John Holahan inventively discovered that Circus Peanuts shavings yielded a tasty enhancement to his breakfast cereal. General Mills formalized the innovation and created Lucky Charms

Lucky Charms

Lucky Charms is a brand of cereal produced by the General Mills food company of Golden Valley, Minnesota, United States. It first appeared in stores in 1964. The cereal consists of two main components: toasted oat-based pieces and multi-colored marshmallow bits in various shapes, the latter making...

, the first breakfast cereal to contain marshmallow bits (or "marbits"). Others have expressed disgust for Circus Peanuts and question their popularity.

External links

• Brach's Circus Peanuts
• Spangler Candy's Circus Peanuts—Features historical information