Strange candy is nothing new. At least as early as 1920, there were markets in Chicago's Loop and New York's Coney Island that sold meat-shaped candy. Confectioners today reach far beyond meats, however, branching out into flavor-altering gimmicks, hardcore pepper and substances that look like they belong in hospitals.
With a little something for every taste, here are 10 of the strangest candies that we've encountered here at Food Dive:
1. COW PIES
Cow Pies, made by Wisconsin’s Baraboo Candy Company, are a gourmet combination of pecans, milk chocolate, and the company’s signature caramel. However, it’s not that combination that makes the 2.5-ounce confections strange, but the fact that they’re actually shape like, and marketed as, cow poop. A peanut butter variation is also available, with peanuts and peanut butter joining the caramel and chocolate in place of pecans.
(Image credit: Baraboo Candy Company)
2. MBERRY MIRACLE BERRY FRUIT TABLETS
Like the berry they’re made from, mBerry’s Miracle Berry Fruit Tablets are purported to have flavor-changing properties that make everything sweeter, an experience marketed as “flavor tripping.” For example, the tart taste of a lemon or grapefruit would be replaced by a much sweeter taste more akin to pie or lemonade. A Los Angeles Times comparison and taste testing found that the tablet provides the same intense effects as the berry, though for a shorter period of time, and that both work best with acidic or citrus foods. The tablet manufacturer’s recommended usage of the product is for “flavor tripping” parties.
(Image credit: mBerry)
3. ONION RING MINTS
Normally, people eat mints to alleviate onion breath. These novelty mints, however, are more likely to cause it. Each mint contains 100 mints flavored like deep fried onion rings, and the manufacturer recommends pairing them with the ranch-flavored alternative for maximum flavor. Capping the experience with an Altoid or two is probably not a bad suggestion, either, but this is also probably a candy intended more for handing out to friends as a gag than personal use.
(Image credit: Perpetual Kid)
4. GHOST PEPPER CANDY
For those who prefer spicy to sweet, Bhut-Pepper.com offers what is likely the world’s hottest candy. Measuring in at 2,000,000 on the Scoville rating scale (the hottest known pepper ranks over 1,000,000), Vertigo Pepper Candy is made from the world’s five hottest peppers. Sold in a cube containing four packs of handmade candy for $40, this hard candy’s record-setting hotness even merits a bold-font warning. Also available: A much more timid spicy watermelon hard candy.
(Image credit: Ghost Pepper)
5. BERTIE BOTT'S EVERY FLAVOUR BEANS
Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans are perhaps one of the most famous strange candy products. Released by Jelly Belly as licensed Harry Potter merchandise, the 20-flavor boxes pair typical flavors like blueberry, marshmallow and tutti-frutti with wild and wacky gross-out flavors ranging from “dirt” and “earthworm” to “vomit” and “earwax.” The novelty flavors are said to be right on cue, though we don’t envy the person who had to verify their accuracy.
(Image credit: Jelly Belly)
6. CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT! INC.’S FORMULA PEE
Possessing the gross-out factor of the previous entry, but arguably with a better taste, Formula Pee is a sour liquid candy that mimics a urine sample. Packaged in medical sample vials complete with appropriate stickers, it comes in a standard yellow (lemonade) and an asparagus green (sour apple). As if that’s not enough, it even comes with a bedpan retail display. The company also offers a blood candy, cherry-flavored black powder meant to resemble cremated ashes, and an entire crime scene candy kit.
(Image credit: Can You Imagine That! Inc.)
7. CAFFEINATED MARSHMALLOWS
ChocoMallows and CoffeeMallows boast as much caffeine as one cup of coffee per square, making them perfect for those who never liked the taste of coffee or any caffeine fiend not close to their nearest Starbucks. The energy snacks come in packs of 12 and are all-natural, kosher and GMO- and gluten-free. So, while you probably shouldn’t eat an entire package in one sitting, they’re arguably healthier than an energy drink.
(Image credit: Vat19)
8. THE UNDERPANTS SUCKER
Have you ever wanted a minty-fresh pair of briefs? If so, this is probably the lollipop for you. Lollipops in strange shapes aren’t exactly new, but this one arguably trumps 20-sided die, thumb and fish head variations. Ultimately, it’s hard to decide what is stranger about this one—the brief-shaped candy or its minty taste.
(Image credit: Archie McPhee)
9. BACON FREAK'S BACON CANDY
Bacon is all the rage right now, so much so that there is now bacon candy. BaconFreak.com offers an extensive selection of candy bacon, from bacon brittle (peanut brittle infused with pieces of bacon) to bacon chocolate, but Uncle Oinker’s Gummy Bacon may be the strangest due to its lack of bacon. Sure, the four gummy meats inside each 3 oz. box look like bacon, but unlike almost everything else on the site, they’re inexplicably strawberry-flavored. It’s really kind of a shock once you’ve seen the bacon-flavored jellybeans and gumballs.
(Image credit: Bacon Freak)
10. THE 26-POUND GUMMY PARTY PYTHON
Easily one of the oddest party items available, the Party Python is 26 pounds and 36,720 calories of gummy candy available in blue raspberry/green apple or red cherry/blue raspberry flavors. The gluten-free, highly-detailed python is made from pork gelatin, has a one-year shelf life, is capable of being divided into 306 servings and will set you back $150. Just keep in mind that it's a party python and isn't meant to be consumed by one person.
(Image credit: Vat19)
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