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Friday, March 8, 2013

Easter Candy Spotting 2013

See's & Lake Champlain Milk Chocolate RabbitsEaster is that special time when seasonal favorites return to the shelves. It’s our last candy holiday before the long hot summer, so stock up while you can.

I’ve been visiting the stores to look at what’s returned on stores shelves and of course seeking out new items.

Here’s a rundown of what I’ve spotted or heard that other readers have seen again at stores this year. Let me know if there’s something I missed, or something you’re looking for.

Cadbury Mini Eggs

Hershey’s
Hershey’s Candy Coated White Chocolate Flavored Eggs
Hershey’s Candy Coated Milk Chocolate Eggs
Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs (foil wrapped)
Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs (single serving)
Reese’s Pieces Pastel Eggs (candy coated)
Cadbury Creme Egg & Chocolate Creme EggCadbury Creme Eggs - Caramel, Classic & Chocolate. Both regular size and the small “cartons” of a dozen.
Cadbury Mini Eggs - Milk Chocolate
Cadbury Mini Eggs - Dark Chocolate
Cadbury 3.5 ounce White Foil Hollow Rabbit (New!)
Whoppers Robin Eggs
Hershey’s Kisses Coconut Creme
Jolly Rancher Jelly Beans
Jolly Rancher Wild Berry Jelly Beans

Nestle Crunch Creme Egg

Nestle
Nestle Crunch NestEggs
Nestle Butterfinger NestEggs
Nestle Creamy Caramel NestEggs

Gobstopper Eggbreakers

Wonka (part of Nestle)
Hoppin’ Nerds
Laffy Taffy Jelly Beans
Spring Chewy Spree
SweeTarts Ducks, Chicks & Bunnies (2012 version)
SweeTarts Bunnies Gummies
Gobstoppers Egg Breakers

M&Ms White Chocolate

Mars
White Chocolate M&Ms (Target Only)
Carrot Cake flavored White Chocolate M&Ms (Walmart Only)
Snickers Eggs
Milky Way Caramel Eggs
Twix Eggs (new!)
Pastel M&Ms - Milk Chocolate, Peanut, Peanut Butter, Almond & Pretzel
Dove Coconut Eggs
Dove White Chocolate Eggs
3 Musketeers Marshmallow (minis only)

LifeSavers Gummies Bunnies & Eggs

Wrigley’s (part of Mars)
Life Savers Spring Mix
Life Savers Jelly Beans
Life Savers Pastel Jelly Beans
Life Savers Gummi Bunnies & Eggs
Pastel Skittles (still has Lime not Green Apple)
Starburst Jelly Beans
Starburst Sour Jelly Beans
Starburst Crazy Beans
Starburst FaveReds Jelly Beans

Ghirardelli Milk & Crisp

Ghirardelli
Milk Chocolate Foil Eggs
Milk Chocolate Crisp Foil Eggs
Ghirardelli Easter Chocolate Squares

Sour Patch Bunnies

Cadbury Adams (part of Kraft)
Sour Patch Bunnies
Swedish Fish & Eggs
Swedish Fish Jelly Beans (New!)
Sour Patch Jelly Beans

Brach's Chicks & Rabbits Marshmallows

Ferrara Candy (now includes Brach’s, Trolli & Ferrara Pan)
Trolli Gummi Bunnies
Brach’s Classic Jelly Bird Eggs (large & small) - made in Mexico
Brach’s Classic Spice Jelly Beans - Made in Mexico
Brach’s Jelly Chicks & Rabbits
Brach’s Marshmallow Chicks & Rabbits
Brach’s Pastel Fiesta Malted Milk Eggs (real milk chocolate)
Brach’s Bunny Basket Eggs (marshmallow)

Russell Stover Eggs

Russell Stover
Maple Cream Egg
Strawberry Cream Egg
Caramel Egg
Big Bite Pecan Egg
Caramel Creme Egg (like Cadbury)
Vanilla Creme Egg (like Cadbury)
Chocolate Creme Egg (egg shaped)
Peanut Butter Egg (egg shaped)
Red Velvet Egg
Cookie Dough Egg (new!)
Brownie Egg
Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter Egg
Vanilla Creme Egg
Cookies ‘n Cream Nest
Coconut Nest (jelly beans have returned)

Individually Wrapped in Bags: Caramel Eggs, Marshmallow Eggs, Coconut Cream Eggs

Easter Dots

Tootsie
Easter Dots
Pastel Egg Tootsie Pops
Spring Color Sugar Babies
Junior Mint Pastels

Hot Tamales Spice Jelly Beans

Just Born
Peeps Peepsters
Peeps of all colors
Peeps XL
Peeps Milk Chocolate Egg (pictured)
Mike and Ike Jelly Beans
Hot Tamale Beans

Real Eggshell filled with chocolate truffle

Also:
RM Palmer My Little BunnyR.M. Palmer Quax
R.M. Palmer My Little Bunny
Dum Dums with Jelly Bean Centers
Haribo Gummi Bunnies (of special note because they’re made in Germany, not Turkey or Spain)
Real Eggshell Filled with Hazelnut Truffle
See’s Orange Cream Lollipops
Milka Lil Scoops

You can prowl back into the review archive of Easter candy by viewing all the candies tagged for Easter.

Related Candies

  1. Halloween Candy Spotting 2012
  2. Milka L’il Scoops
  3. The All American Chocolate Bunny Battle
  4. Au’some Easter 3-Dees Gummy
  5. Russell Stover Hollow Milk Chocolate Bunny
  6. Lindt Chocolate Bunnies (Dark & Milk)

POSTED BY Cybele AT 2:14 pm     CandyExpiration CodesEasterHighlightShopping

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Cinnamon Imperial Hearts

imageOne of the few candies that seemed to be in our house regularly when I was a kid were Cinnamon Imperials. Perhaps it was because they were considered “baking products.”

Around Valentine’s Day each year they’re available in little heart shapes. (Actually, lately this is the only way I can find them unless I’m willing to buy the stupidly expensive packages from the cake decorating companies, teensy boxes of Ferrara Pan Red Hots or in huge quantities via the web.)

image

They’re the perfect little candy and a rather simple construction. The center is a tiny pressed hard candy in the shape of a heart. They’re then tumbled in a panning machine and given several coats of red flavored sugar syrup and then shined up with a little edible wax.

They’re not super hot, just a pleasant spicy cinnamon. These feature the devilish Red #40, but for some reason the cinnamon flavor masks it well enough for me to keep eating these. Of course everyone knows I’ve been eating them because my tongue has been red for the past week.

They’re a fun candy to share and great for putting in a covered jar for everyone to enjoy. Definitely something to put on your list of items to pick up when they’re wildly on sale after Valentines.

I’ve never noticed much difference between the brands. I’ve had Ferrara Pan & Necco and probably a bunch of other brands that I never managed to figure out. The Food Network’s Unwrapped show did an episode on Valentines candy last weekend and showed a company named Primrose in Chicago also making them.

I’m fairly certain these were produced after Brach’s was taken over by Farley’s & Sathers last fall. The coding on it is the Farley’s & Sathers style. This particular bag has a code of 7332CYP5, using a Julian date system for the first four characters which means that it was produced on the 332rd day of 2007. That’d be November 27th, 2007. I’m guessing that a panned hard candy like this is good for at least 12 months. Tasted pretty fresh to me.

Related Candies

  1. Gobstopper Heart Breakers
  2. Gimbal’s Lavaballs
  3. Atomic Fireballs
  4. Chuckles
  5. Hot Tamales and Hotter Tamales
Name: Cinnamon Imperial Hearts
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Brach's (Farley's & Sathers)
Place Purchased: RiteAid (Vermonica)
Price: $.99
Size: 8.25 ounces
Calories per ounce: 113
Categories: Hard Candy, Cinnamon, United States, Brachs, Farley's & Sathers, Valentines

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:00 am    

Monday, October 2, 2006

What does that Hershey’s code mean?

Here’s how to decode the code on a Hershey’s wrapper. Hershey uses a two digit alpha-numeric code to denote the month and year of the expiration date. Here’s what the Hershey’s site says:

There is an ink stamped code on Hershey’s products. Within that code, usually at the end, there is a two character code that represents the year and the month until which the product is expected to be within its peak freshness. The first character is a number, (0-9) that represents the year. The second character is a letter, (A-L) that represents the month. A=Jan., B=Feb., etc. For example, a code of 7D is best before until April 2007.

My Hershey’s Twosomes Almond Joy (Limited Edition) bar has a code that’s on two lines:
1BE
7C K2

I’m guessing the 7C is the one I want, so that means that the bar is considered fresh until March 2007.

My York Peppermint Patties:
13NYU
6K

This would expire in November 2006, so I got in just under the wire.

A Heath bar:
14HR2
D 6L

This one would expire in December 2006. Just remember, L is the LAST month!

Related Candies

  1. What does that Nestle code mean?
  2. What does that Mars code mean?

POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:20 am     CandyExpiration CodesHershey'sNews

Sunday, October 1, 2006

What does that Nestle code mean?

Following up on decoding the Mars code, here’s the Nestle code, thanks to Reader Dave.

Nestle uses something called the Julian code. The first four digits of the code on the wrapper will give you the date the product was manufactured.

Julian code is rather difficult to read on the fly, but here goes: the first digit represents the last digit of the year. The next three numbers represent the day of the year.

My Baby Ruth bar says:
602557471 D/A

That means that it was made on the January 25, 2006. (That was an easy one.)

My Nestle Crunch bar says:
52941211 A5 7A

Hmm, anything that begins with a 5 sounds kind of bad in October. This one was made on October 21, 2005. Almost a year old.

My 100 Grand bar says:
5334574823 6L

Again with the 2005 ... but at least the second number “334” is pretty large. That’d be November 30, 2005.

A quick way to calculate the month is to divide the three digit number by 30. If you can’t do that in your head, try dividing by 10 (moving the decimal place once slot) and then by 3. For the last one it gives you the approximation of November ... which is probably all you really wanted to know anyway.

For the record, the true Julian day number is a lot more complex and tracks the number of days since 4713 ... kinda like stardates!

Related Candies

  1. What does that Hershey’s code mean?
  2. What does that Mars code mean?

POSTED BY Cybele AT 3:07 pm     CandyExpiration CodesNestleNews

Friday, September 29, 2006

What does that Mars code mean?

As I’m often found eating expired (or at least past prime) candy, it was a wonderful comment on the Skittles Fresh Mint post that breaks the code on the package of Mars products. Reader Dave posted the code in the comments and I’m putting it here for everyone to use.

Here’s how do figure out when that candy was made:

The date of packaging is within the first three digits of the code - the first digit is the last number of the year and the next two are the week of the year.

So, the Milky Way bar I have in front of me says:
620AB02

That means it was made in the 20th week of 2006 - or sometime between May 14th to the 21st. Pretty fresh.

The Milky Way Dark I have says:
614EFELZ02

That means it was made in the 14th week of 2006 - or sometime between April 2nd to the 9th. Not bad.

This seems to work with Canadian Mars products too, as this is what the Mars Dark says:
535CFELZ03

That means it was made the 35th week of 2005 ... hmm, sometime between August 26th and September 2nd. That’s a little old. But I it must have been stored properly as it was still fresh and tasty.

The week of the year thing is a little tricky unless you have a payroll calendar nearby, so a quick and easy way to approximate the month is to divide the week by four (it gets less reliable the higher the number because there’s usually a fraction of a week left in the month).

The UK Mars bar I have simply has an expiration date on it (12-11-06). I’m not sure if that’s the European date style (November 12th, 2006) or the American (December 11, 2006) but at least neither of them have passed yet.

Related Candies

  1. What does that Hershey’s code mean?
  2. What does that Nestle code mean?

POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:50 am     CandyExpiration CodesMarsNews

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