Dots (candy)
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DOTS, or Mason DOTS, are a brand of gum drops marketed by Tootsie Roll Industries. They were introduced in 1945 by Mason and trademarked that year. In 1972, Tootsie Roll Industries acquired the DOTS brand by purchasing the Mason Division of Candy Corporation of America. Prior to that acquisition they were manufactured by Mason, AU and Magenheimer Confectionery Manufacturing Company of Brooklyn and later Mineola, New York [1].
DOTS come in five varieties:
- Original DOTS (a.k.a. Mason DOTS)
- Tropical DOTS
- Wild Berry DOTS
- Yogurt DOTS (introduced in 2007)
- Ghost DOTS (presumably seasonal for Halloween)
- DOTS Elements in pomegranate, cinnamon, green tea, and wintergreen (introduced in 2008)
Tootsie Roll Industries produces more than 16 million DOTS a day in their Chicago Plant.[1] Based on the popularity of Original DOTS, Wild Berry DOTS were introduced in 2000. Wild Berry DOTS are sweet, chewy gumdrops coated with a tart, crunchy coating. Wild Berry DOTS were discontinued in 2007.
In 2003, Tropical DOTS began sporting a new "ocean horizon" package and "new, improved" flavors including island nectar, wild mango, grapefruit cooler, carambola melon, and paradise punch.[1]
In 2007, Yogurt DOTS ("fruit and yogurt flavored gumdrops") were released. They come in Strawberry, Banana, Orange, Blackberry, and Lemon-Lime flavors.
Crows are also considered to be part of the DOTS family. Crows were invented in the 1890s by confectioners Ernest Von Au and Joseph Maison. Originally, Crows were to be called "Black Rose", but the printer misheard the name as "Black Crows" and printed wrappers with the wrong name on them.
Hot DOTS (aka Cinnamon DOTS) were released in 2004 but were discontinued in 2006. You may still find them at liquidation outlets, such as Grocery Outlet.
Most DOTS come in small boxes, with six gum drops inside.[citation needed] DOTS are also commonly found at confectionary stands in movie theaters.
Ghost DOTS are uncolored variants of original DOTS, with the small gum drop boxes sporting a Halloween theme illustrating the DOTS as happy ghosts. Which Flavor? Which Ghost? IT'S A MYSTERY! is the tagline for the Ghost branded dots.
The original DOTS come in five different flavors: cherry, strawberry (a relatively new flavor), lemon, lime, and orange. Some people believe that the least common flavor is strawberry, but Tootsie claims that they make each flavor equally.
During the 1980s, there was a variety of Dots called Spice Dots.
[edit] References in pop culture
In an episode of the television program Siskel & Ebert, a disbelieving Roger Ebert challenged Gene Siskel's claim to be able to blindly differentiate all six Original DOTS flavors in a dark movie theater. On the show Siskel put on a blindfold and correctly identified all seven flavors by taste alone, his favorite was the "blue one".
[edit] Ingredients
DOTS contain the following ingredients: Corn Syrup, Sugar, Modified Food Starch, Malic Acid, Artificial and Natural Flavors, Sodium Citrate, and Artificial Colors (Including FD&C Red 40, Yellow 5, and Blue 1).
[edit] References
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