Pop Rocks
Encyclopedia
Pop Rocks is a carbonated
candy
with ingredients including sugar
, lactose
(milk sugar), corn syrup
, and flavoring. It differs from typical hard candy in that it creates a fizzy reaction when it dissolves in one's mouth.
research chemist
William A. Mitchell
in 1956. The candy was first offered to the public in 1975. In 1983, General Foods stopped selling the candy. Some believed that this was because of an urban legend
that mixing Pop Rocks with carbonated beverage could result in a person's stomach exploding. In fact, the candy was withdrawn owing to its lack of success in the marketplace and to its relatively short shelf life
.
Though the confection had been extensively tested and found safe, the carbonated candy still alarmed residents in Seattle. The Food and Drug Administration set up a hotline
there to assure anxious parents that the fizzing candy would not cause their children to choke. General Foods was battling the "exploding kid" rumors as early as 1979. General Foods sent letters to school principals, created an open letter to parents, took out advertisements in major publications and sent the confection's inventor on the road to explain that a Pop Rocks package contains less gas (namely, carbon dioxide
, the same gas used in all carbonated beverages) than half a can of soda.
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to ensure freshness; but with its increasing popularity, unauthorized redistribution from market to market resulted in out-of-date product reaching consumers. In 1985, Kraft Foods
bought the rights to the candy product and remarketed it as Action Candy through a company called Carbonated Candy. Since 1979, Zeta Espacial S.A., a company based in the municipality of Rubí in Barcelona
, Spain
, has manufactured, sold, and exported the product under the brand name "Fizz Wiz" or "Peta Zeta" in some markets http://www.zetaespacial.com/indexEN.html. Kraft sold their production machines and distribution rights for Asian countries to Jeong Woo Confectionery, a company based in Korea, in 1985.
Before Jeong Woo Confectionery produced the popping candy, the product was always sold in powder form. Jeong Woo's product, on the other hand, was sold in crystal form with a boiled sugar lollipop, which was intended to be moistened with the mouth and dipped into the candy crystals—a form of dipping powder. This product was imported into USA in 1988 by UniConfis, a subsidiary of Chupa Chups
in the USA, under the name "Crazy Dips
".
In 2006, 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, and have since become the international market leader, with more advanced and own patents making a lot of innovative products with popping candy.
A similar product, Cosmic Candy, previously called Space Dust, was in powdered form and was also manufactured by General Foods.
gas (about 600 pounds per square inch
; approx. 41.37 Bar
) and allowing it to cool. The process causes tiny high pressure bubbles to be trapped inside the candy. When placed in the mouth, coming into contact with saliva
the candy breaks and dissolves, releasing the carbon dioxide from the tiny atmosphere
bubbles, resulting in a popping and sizzling sound and leaving a slight tingling sensation. The bubbles in the candy pieces can be viewed when aided by a microscope.
would cause a person's stomach to explode. The company spent large sums sending out flyers to debunk the rumor. This is, in part, caused by the false assumption that Pop Rocks contain an acid/base mixture (such as baking soda and vinegar
) which produces large volumes of gas when mixed through chewing and saliva. One of these myths
involved a child named Mikey
from the Life cereal
commercials. Mikey was rumored to have died after eating a Pop Rocks and cola mixture. This rumor is false and the actor John Gilchrist, who played Mikey, is alive.
Because of the unique flavor of the legend, and the duration of its perpetuation, the story has appeared in many other forms of media and fiction. The U.S. TV series MythBusters
examined the rumor by mixing Pop Rocks and cola inside a pig's stomach, and concluded that an explosion was impossible while eating pounds of the material.
In the TV series Supernatural
, a boy with reality-warping capabilities also believed in this myth and, given his abilities, actually caused several people to become ill from eating Pop Rocks and coke.
The Simpsons
spoofed the urban legend in an episode wherein Homer Simpson
mixes Pop Rocks and cola to create an improvised explosive device
.
Carbonation
Carbonation is the process of dissolving carbon dioxide in water. The process usually involves carbon dioxide under high pressure. When the pressure is reduced, the carbon dioxide is released from the solution as small bubbles, which cause the solution to "fizz." This effect is seen in carbonated...
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...
with ingredients including 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...
, lactose
Lactose
Lactose is a disaccharide sugar that is found most notably in milk and is formed from galactose and glucose. Lactose makes up around 2~8% of milk , although the amount varies among species and individuals. It is extracted from sweet or sour whey. The name comes from or , the Latin word for milk,...
(milk sugar), 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...
, and flavoring. It differs from typical hard candy in that it creates a fizzy reaction when it dissolves in one's mouth.
Background and history
General FoodsGeneral Foods
General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the USA by Charles William Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The name General Foods was adopted in 1929, after several corporate acquisitions...
research chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
William A. Mitchell
William A. Mitchell
Dr. William A. "Bill" Mitchell was an American food chemist who, while working for General Foods Corporation between 1941 and 1976, was the key inventor behind Pop Rocks, Tang, quick-set Jell-O, Cool Whip, and powdered egg whites. During his career he received over 70 patents.He was born in...
in 1956. The candy was first offered to the public in 1975. In 1983, General Foods stopped selling the candy. Some believed that this was because of an urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
that mixing Pop Rocks with carbonated beverage could result in a person's stomach exploding. In fact, the candy was withdrawn owing to its lack of success in the marketplace and to its relatively short shelf life
Shelf life
Shelf life is the length of time that food, drink, medicine, chemicals, and many other perishable items are given before they are considered unsuitable for sale, use, or consumption...
.
Though the confection had been extensively tested and found safe, the carbonated candy still alarmed residents in Seattle. The Food and Drug Administration set up a hotline
Hotline
In telecommunication, a hotline is a point-to-point communications link in which a call is automatically directed to the preselected destination without any additional action by the user when the end instrument goes off-hook...
there to assure anxious parents that the fizzing candy would not cause their children to choke. General Foods was battling the "exploding kid" rumors as early as 1979. General Foods sent letters to school principals, created an open letter to parents, took out advertisements in major publications and sent the confection's inventor on the road to explain that a Pop Rocks package contains less gas (namely, carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
, the same gas used in all carbonated beverages) than half a can of soda.
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. In 1985, Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods Inc. is an American confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It markets many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earn more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, Tang...
bought the rights to the candy product and remarketed it as Action Candy through a company called Carbonated Candy. Since 1979, Zeta Espacial S.A., a company based in the municipality of Rubí in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, has manufactured, sold, and exported the product under the brand name "Fizz Wiz" or "Peta Zeta" in some markets http://www.zetaespacial.com/indexEN.html. Kraft sold their production machines and distribution rights for Asian countries to Jeong Woo Confectionery, a company based in Korea, in 1985.
Before Jeong Woo Confectionery produced the popping candy, the product was always sold in powder form. Jeong Woo's product, on the other hand, was sold in crystal form with a boiled sugar lollipop, which was intended to be moistened with the mouth and dipped into the candy crystals—a form of dipping powder. This product was imported into USA in 1988 by UniConfis, a subsidiary of Chupa Chups
Chupa Chups
Chupa Chups is a lollipop company founded by the Catalan Enric Bernat in 1958, and currently owned by the Dutch-Italian multinational corporation Perfetti Van Melle. The name of the brand comes from the Spanish verb chupar, meaning "to suck."- History :...
in the USA, under the name "Crazy Dips
Crazy dips
Crazy Dips is a brand of candy produced by Chupa Chups in Spain. They come with a 16 g packet filled with popping candy and a lollipop for dipping. This lollipop is often shaped like a foot and is dipped in a pouch of Pop Rocks...
".
In 2006, 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, and have since become the international market leader, with more advanced and own patents making a lot of innovative products with popping candy.
A similar product, Cosmic Candy, previously called Space Dust, was in powdered form and was also manufactured by General Foods.
Manufacturing
The candy is made by mixing its ingredients and heating them until they melt into dust, then exposing the mixture to pressurized carbon dioxideCarbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
gas (about 600 pounds per square inch
Pounds per square inch
The pound per square inch or, more accurately, pound-force per square inch is a unit of pressure or of stress based on avoirdupois units...
; approx. 41.37 Bar
Bar (unit)
The bar is a unit of pressure equal to 100 kilopascals, and roughly equal to the atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea level. Other units derived from the bar are the megabar , kilobar , decibar , centibar , and millibar...
) and allowing it to cool. The process causes tiny high pressure bubbles to be trapped inside the candy. When placed in the mouth, coming into contact with saliva
Saliva
Saliva , referred to in various contexts as spit, spittle, drivel, drool, or slobber, is the watery substance produced in the mouths of humans and most other animals. Saliva is a component of oral fluid. In mammals, saliva is produced in and secreted from the three pairs of major salivary glands,...
the candy breaks and dissolves, releasing the carbon dioxide from the tiny atmosphere
Atmosphere (unit)
The standard atmosphere is an international reference pressure defined as 101325 Pa and formerly used as unit of pressure. For practical purposes it has been replaced by the bar which is 105 Pa...
bubbles, resulting in a popping and sizzling sound and leaving a slight tingling sensation. The bubbles in the candy pieces can be viewed when aided by a microscope.
Urban legend
Rumors persisted that eating Pop Rocks and drinking colaCola
Cola is a carbonated beverage that was typically flavored by the kola nut as well as vanilla and other flavorings, however, some colas are now flavored artificially. It became popular worldwide after druggist John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in 1886...
would cause a person's stomach to explode. The company spent large sums sending out flyers to debunk the rumor. This is, in part, caused by the false assumption that Pop Rocks contain an acid/base mixture (such as baking soda and vinegar
Vinegar
Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...
) which produces large volumes of gas when mixed through chewing and saliva. One of these myths
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
involved a child named Mikey
Little Mikey
Little Mikey was a character of a young boy played by John Gilchrist in an American television commercial created by art director Bob Gage and copywriter Edie Mann of the Doyle Dane Bernbach agency for Quaker Oats to promote their breakfast cereal, Life.First airing in 1972, the popular commercial...
from the Life cereal
Life (cereal)
Life is a breakfast cereal made of whole grain oats, distributed by the Quaker Oats Company. It was introduced in 1961. The cereal's advertisements currently sport the slogan "Life is full of surprises".- History :...
commercials. Mikey was rumored to have died after eating a Pop Rocks and cola mixture. This rumor is false and the actor John Gilchrist, who played Mikey, is alive.
Because of the unique flavor of the legend, and the duration of its perpetuation, the story has appeared in many other forms of media and fiction. The U.S. TV series MythBusters
MythBusters
MythBusters is a science entertainment TV program created and produced by Beyond Television Productions for the Discovery Channel. The series is screened by numerous international broadcasters, including Discovery Channel Australia, Discovery Channel Latin America, Discovery Channel Canada, Quest...
examined the rumor by mixing Pop Rocks and cola inside a pig's stomach, and concluded that an explosion was impossible while eating pounds of the material.
In the TV series Supernatural
Supernatural (TV series)
Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
, a boy with reality-warping capabilities also believed in this myth and, given his abilities, actually caused several people to become ill from eating Pop Rocks and coke.
The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
spoofed the urban legend in an episode wherein Homer Simpson
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
mixes Pop Rocks and cola to create an improvised explosive device
Improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...
.
External links
- HLEKS Popping candy web site
- Pop Rocks official web site
- General Foods Corporation's for Pop Rocks (pdf)
- Images of US patent 4289794 for Pop Rocks from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ISBN 0-9786318-0-3 ISBN 978-0978631802 - book detailing the story of Pop Rocks development to Pop Rocks today