Nerds

Nerds is an American candy launched in 1983 by the Sunmark Corporation under the brand name Willy Wonka Candy Company. Nerds are now made by the Ferrara Candy Company, a subsidiary of Ferrero Group. With their anthropomorphic covers, Nerds usually contain two flavors per box, each flavor having a separate compartment and opening. Production process The television show Unwrapped explains how Nerds are made. A factory worker states, "Basically we start off with a sugar crystal and we just keep coating it with more sugar." The factory spins huge barrel-like containers of sugar crystals, which receive coats of sugar until the Nerds are formed. Their original color is pure white; they receive their colors in separate barrels. The contents of the barrels are then transferred to boxes, which are divided into two compartments by a vertical partition so each half of the box contains a different flavor. Certain flavor combinations are frequently packaged together, such as grape and strawberry, the most popular pairing in the United States. The nucleus of each candy is composed of one or more complete sucrose crystals. These optically clear monoclinic crystals are about 0.2–1 mm in length and help define the irregular shape. They are thickly glazed with carnauba wax, which gives them a hard bite and a gloss. Nutritional facts