Editing Candy (section)

==Nutrition==
[[File:Caramels.jpg|thumb|right|Caramels, candy made from butter, milk and sugar, have little nutritional value.]]
Most sugar candies are defined in US law as a food of [[minimal nutritional value]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/foods-minimal-nutritional-value|title=Foods of Minimal Nutritional Value|date=13 September 2013|website=www.fns.usda.gov|series=Appendix B of 7 CFR Part 210|publisher=[[Food and Nutrition Service]], United States Department of Agriculture|language=en|access-date=2017-08-04|archive-date=2015-05-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528145328/https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/foods-minimal-nutritional-value|url-status=live}}</ref>

Even in a culture that eats sweets frequently, candy is not a significant source of nutrition or food energy for most people. The average American eats about 1.1&nbsp;kg (2.5 pounds) of sugar or similar sweeteners each week, but almost 95% of that sugar—all but about 70 grams (2.5 ounces)—comes from non-candy sources, especially [[soft drinks]] and processed foods.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kawash|first1=Samira|title=Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure|date=2013|publisher=Faber & Faber, Incorporated|location=New York|isbn=9780865477568|page=11}}</ref>

===Meal replacements===
Candy is considered a source of [[empty calories]], because it provides little or no nutritional value beyond food energy. At the start of the 20th century, when [[undernutrition]] was a serious problem, especially among poor and working-class people, and when nutrition science was a new field, the high calorie content was promoted as a virtue. Researchers suggested that candy, especially candy made with milk and nuts, was a low-cost alternative to normal meals. To get the food energy necessary for a day of labor, candy might cost half as much as eggs.<ref>{{cite book|last1 = Kawash|first1 = Samira|title = Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure|date = 2013|publisher = Faber & Faber, Incorporated|location = New York|isbn = 9780865477568|page = 98}}</ref> During the 1920s and 1930s, candy bars selling for five cents were often marketed as replacements for lunch.<ref name=":2">{{cite book|last1 = Kawash|first1 = Samira|title = Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure|date = 2013|publisher = Faber & Faber, Incorporated|location = New York|isbn = 9780865477568|pages = 310–318}}</ref>

At the 1904 World Fair, the Quaker Oats Company made a candy-coated puffed cereal, a wheat-based product similar to [[Cracker Jack]]'s candy-coated popcorn. The product concept was re-introduced unsuccessfully in 1939 by another business as [[Ranger Joe]], the first pre-sweetened, candy-coated [[breakfast cereal]]. [[Post Foods]] introduced their own version in 1948, originally called [[Happy Jax]] and later [[Sugar Crisp]]. They marketed it as both a replacement for unsweetened breakfast cereals and also for eating as a snack or as candy, using three animated cartoon bears as the mascots: Candy, Handy, and Dandy. The early slogans said, "As a cereal it's dandy—for snacks it's so handy—or eat it like candy!"<ref>{{Cite book|title = Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=g_5DAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA287|publisher = Macmillan|date = 2013-10-15|isbn = 9780865477568|first = Samira|last = Kawash|pages = 287–289 and color plate #15}}</ref>

In more recent times, a variety of [[snack bar (food)|snack bars]] have been marketed. These include bars that are intended as [[meal replacement]]s as well as snack bars that are marketed as having nutritional advantages when compared to candy bars, such as [[granola bars]]. However, the actual nutritional value is often not very different from candy bars, except for usually a higher sodium content, and the flavors (most popularly, chocolate, fudge, and caramel) and the presentation mimic candy bars.<ref name=":2" />

[[File:Sesame Seed Ball (Candy).jpg|thumb|Sesame seed balls]]

Among the [[Bengali people]], candy may be eaten for an entire meal, especially during festivals. Candy may also be offered to vegetarian guests in lieu of fish or meat dishes in India.<ref>{{cite book|last = Richardson|first = Tim H.|title = Sweets: A History of Candy|publisher = Bloomsbury USA|year = 2002|isbn = 1-58234-229-6|pages = [https://archive.org/details/sweets00timr/page/335 335–336]|url = https://archive.org/details/sweets00timr/page/335}}</ref>

===Vegetarianism===
Most candy contains no meat or other animal parts, and many contain no milk or other animal products. Some candy, including [[marshmallow]]s and [[gummi bear]]s, contains [[gelatin]] derived from animal collagen, a protein found in skin and bones, and is thus avoided by [[veganism|vegans]] and some [[Vegetarianism|vegetarians]]. "[[Kosher]] [[Gelatin#Religious considerations|gelatin]]" is also unsuitable for vegetarians and vegans, as it is derived from fish bones.<ref>[http://www.kashrut.com/articles/DryBones/ Will These Bones Live? Yechezkel 37:3] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928004431/http://www.kashrut.com/articles/DryBones/ |date=2007-09-28 }}. Kashrut.com. Retrieved on November 2, 2011.</ref> Other substances, such as [[agar]], [[pectin]], [[starch]] and [[gum arabic]] may also be used as setting and gelling agents, and can be used in place of gelatin.

Other ingredients commonly found in candy that are not suitable for vegetarian or vegan diets include [[carmine]], a red dye made from [[cochineal]] beetles, and [[confectioner's glaze]], which contains [[shellac]], a resin excreted by female [[Kerria lacca|lac bugs]].