Candy

Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English, New Zealand English), is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, called sugar confectionery, encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum, and sugar candy. Vegetables, fruit, or nuts which have been glazed and coated with sugar are said to be candied.

Physically, candy is characterized by the use of a significant amount of sugar or sugar substitutes. Unlike a cake or loaf of bread that would be shared among many people, candies are usually made in smaller pieces. However, the definition of candy also depends upon how people treat the food. Unlike sweet pastries served for a dessert course at the end of a meal, candies are normally eaten casually, often with the fingers, as a snack between meals. Each culture has its own ideas of what constitutes candy rather than dessert. The same food may be a candy in one culture and a dessert in another.

History

The word candy entered the English language from the Old French çucre candi ("sugar candy"). The French term probably has earlier roots in the Arabic qandi, Persian qand and Sanskrit khanda, all words for sugar.Sugarcane is indigenous to tropical South and Southeast Asia. Pieces of sugar were produced by boiling sugarcane juice in ancient India and consumed as khanda. Between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, the Persians, followed by the Greeks, discovered the people in India and their "reeds that produce honey without bees". They adopted and then spread sugar and sugarcane agriculture.Before sugar was readily available, candy was based on honey. Honey was used in Ancient China, the Middle East, Egypt, Greece and the Roman Empire to coat fruits and flowers to preserve them or to create forms of candy. Candy is still served in this form today, though now it is more typically seen as a type of garnish.

Association to Halloween

To this day, the process of going door to door to receive free candy during Halloween-time has become a major draw for children all across America. It is the one day of the year that ringing a neighbor's doorbell is socially acceptable. Children across the country will continually dress up in costume and go door to door. In turn, the residents of each house graciously buy candy for children and hand it out in small increments. Just as it had been in the mid-1970s, the main form of candy that is passed out is pre-packaged sweets. Parents feel much more easy minded allowing their children to eat pre-packaged candies because of the quality control that comes with each product. As a result, name brand candies have become a staple for Halloween and trick-or-treating up to the present. Some candies continue to be popular with trick-or-treaters, such as Reese's Cups, Kit Kat, and Snickers, which were the top three halloween candies of 2022.The tradition of handing out treats on Halloween originated from the holiday of All Hallows Day, or All Saints Day, which derives from Christian tradition. On this day, children would travel across town, saying prayers along the way. These children prayed mainly for all people who had passed away. In between their prayers, these children would also arrive at the doorsteps of people within their town. As a reward for their actions, they were given homemade cakes referred to as soul cakes, made by the homeowners. These soul cakes resembled a form of biscuit and were usually filled with raisins or cinnamon among other ingredients. Many cakes were also given to the poor during this time. The soul cakes gave these children the incentive to pray intensely in exchange for sweets.The idea of providing trick-or-treaters with candy was not fully conceptualized until the 1950s. Up until that point many households continued to provide children with soul cakes among other homemade goods. However, it was discovered by numerous candy producers that the holiday of Halloween could be marketed to sell their products. As a result, many households began to buy candy products. The main draw to these candy products were that they were inexpensive, took no time to prepare, and came in bulk. Nevertheless, candy would not completely take over until the 1970s. Up until that point, givers would continue to make treats or package small toys and coins specifically for Halloween.The main cause for the shift from homemade treats to pre-packaged candies was the result of speculation concerning tampered food. Many parents during this time were concerned that their children were being exposed to needles or toxic chemicals within their halloween goods. The lack of packaging made it much easier for a person to put dangerous substances into the food they were planning to give out. These worries were heightened because of a large number of false reports concerning medical attention relating to dangerous halloween treats. As a result, parents became much more likely to allow their children to participate in Halloween festivities when packed candy was introduced. They noticed that it would be much harder for a person to tamper with factory packaged sweets because the seal would be torn. It would be too noticeable if someone tried to affect the product.Judging from recent statistics, it is evident that Halloween candy is still at high demand. In 2021 alone, profits from halloween candy were up to at least "$324 million". From the same report, the demand for halloween candy was "up 59.8% from 2019". From these numbers it can be presumed that Halloween is still a big deal for Americans. An even bigger deal for the American public is the act of receiving candy from trick-or-treating. Candy continues to be a staple for the Halloween season and remains the biggest draw for participation.