Pop Rocks
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 the mouth.
Background and history
The idea of the product was patented by General Foods research chemist William A. Mitchell in 1956.[1] The Pop Rocks candy was first offered to the public in 1975. Around 1983, General Foods stopped selling the candy. Some incorrectly believed that this was because of an urban legend that mixing Pop Rocks with carbonated soda could result in a person's stomach exploding. In fact the candy was withdrawn for reasons largely owing to its lack of success in the marketplace and to its relatively short shelf life.
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to ensure freshness, but with its increasing popularity unauthorized redistribution from market to market resulted in out-of-date product reaching consumers.[citation needed] In 1985, Kraft Foods bought the rights to the candy product and remarketed it as Action Candy through a company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".
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 Mitchel's family, along with the author's experience.
A similar product, Cosmic Candy, and previously also called Space Dust, was in powdered form and was also manufactured by General Foods.[2]
Manufacturing
The candy is made by mixing its ingredients and heating them until they melt, then exposing the mixture to pressurized carbon dioxide gas (about 600 pounds per square inch) and allowing it to cool. The process causes tiny high pressure bubbles to be trapped inside the candy.[3] 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.
Urban legend
During the product's heyday, 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.[4] One of these myths involved a child named Mikey from the Life cereal commercials. Mikey was reported to have died after eating a Pop Rocks and cola mixture. The rumor is false and the actor John Gilchrest, who played Mikey, is alive.[4]
Because of the unique nature 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 without eating pounds of the material.[5]
Urban Legends and Popular Culture
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The "Pop Rocks & Cola myth" has appeared in various TV Shows & Movies.
Pop Rocks and the related urban legend is mentioned in the movie Urban Legend.
In Robot Chicken, the fictional Little Mikey is dared to eat Pop Rocks and soda. Contrary to the held belief of an exploding stomach, a flame instead projectiles out of his anus producing a rocket-like effect, causing him to lose control of his limbic system.
In Metalocalypse episode "Dethwater", producer Dick "Magic Ears" Knubbler (a parody of Phil Spector), while suffering from the bends after traveling to a submarine, eats some Pop Rocks & Coca Cola while his body adjusts to the pressure, however ironically his stomach doesn't explode (he does get a nose bleed, however, that may be due to the bends or his body adjusting to the oceanic pressure).
The myth is actually an important part of the quest in Zork: Grand Inquisitor where the player has to try to open up the Grand Inquisitor's old locker at GUE Tech. On judicious use of a packet of Pop Rocks and a tin of Cola the locker blows open.
U.S pop band Green Day featured a previously unreleased track called "Poprocks and Coke" on their greatest hits compilation "International Superhits!".
In the movie, Kickin It Old Skool, the main character attempts to commit suicide by eating pop rocks and drinking a soda, he is thwarted when his friend disproves the rumor by eating the pop rocks then downing the soda
In The Simpsons episode "Homer Badman", Homer makes his escape from the candy convention by mixing "Pop Rox" and Buzz Cola causing a massive explosion.
In the iCarly episode iEnrage Gibby, Spencer (Jerry Trainor) mentions them as "Sizzle Rocks".
References
- ^ Video: ABC News, Pop Rocks celebrates 50 years (2006)
- ^ Rumor in the Market Place, Fredrick Koenig, p.76
- ^ Pop Rocks Candy FAQ
- ^ a b Mikkelson, Barbara (January 20, 2007). "Pop Rocks Death". Snopes. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
- ^ Discovery Channel :: Mythbusters: Episode Guide
External links
- Pop Rocks official web site
- General Foods Corporation's U.S. patent 4,289,794 for Pop Rocks (pdf)
- Images of US patent 4289794 for Pop Rocks from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
- Rudolph, Dr. Marvin J. (2006). Pop Rocks: The Inside Story of America’s Revolutionary Candy. Sharon, MA: Specialty Publishers LLC. p. 112.
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