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.
Although still popular, Pop Rocks are regarded nostalgically as an aspect of 1970s pop culture.[1]
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The concept was patented by General Foods research chemist William A. Mitchell in 1956.[2] 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 In fact, the candy was withdrawn owing to its lack of success in the marketplace and to its relatively short shelf life.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,[3] created an open letter to parents,[4] 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to ensure freshness; but with its increasing popularity, unauthorized redistribution from market to market resulted in out-of-date product reaching consumers. After that, Kraft Foods licensed the Pop Rocks® brand to Zeta Espacial S.A. who continued manufacturing the product under Kraft´s license. Eventually Zeta Espacial S.A. became the brand´s owner and the only manufacturer of Pop Rocks® popping candy in the world. Currently Pop Rocks® is distributed in the US by Pop Rocks Inc (Atlanta, GA) and by Zeta Espacial S.A. (Barcelona – Spain) in the rest of the world. Zeta Espacial S.A. also sells popping candy internationally under other brands like Peta Zetas®, Fizz Wiz® or Magic Gum® among others.
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.[5]
The candy is made by mixing its ingredients and heating them until they melt into dust, then exposing the mixture to pressurized carbon dioxide 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.[6] 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.
Rumors persisted that eating Pop Rocks and drinking cola 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.[7] 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.[7]
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.[8] 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.[9]
The Simpsons spoofed the urban legend in an episode wherein Homer Simpson mixes Pop Rocks and cola to create an improvised explosive device.