M&M's

M&M's are small, milk chocolate candy pieces popular in the United States and in many other countries around the world. They are produced by Mars Incorporated. more...

The candies were originally made in six colors: red, orange, yellow, green, brown, and violet. (Peanut candies were made in the same colors, except violet.) In 1949, Violet was taken out of the mix and was replaced by tan. Red was eliminated in 1976 because of health concerns about the red dye amaranth (FD&C Red #2). Despite the fact that M&M's did not contain the dye, red M&M's were removed to satisfy worried consumers. By 1987, the public had forgotten the scare, and the red candies were reintroduced. They currently contain Allura red AC (FD&C Red #40). In 1995, tan was replaced by blue.

The most popular (and the most common) M&M's are plain (milk chocolate) and peanut (with a layer of chocolate between the peanut and the candy shell). Several variations exist, but are harder to find: mint chocolate, dulce de leche, toffee, peanut butter, white chocolate (with and without peanuts), and dark chocolate. Crispy has been withdrawn from the U.S. market.

Peanut M&Ms generally sell better in bulk vending machines than their plain counterparts.

History

M&M's were created in 1940 after Forrest Mars Sr. saw soldiers during the Spanish Civil War eating chocolate pellets that were coated in sugar to prevent chocolate from sticking to their fingers. M&M's were first sold in the United States in 1941. By World War II, American soldiers were given the candy by the United States Army; soon after this it was marketed to the public. The candies were named for "Mars & Murrie" (Mars' business partner was Bruce Murrie, son of rival Milton S. Hershey's partner William Murrie.) M&M's soon became a hit because, in those times when air conditioning was not usually found in stores, homes, or the automobile, melting chocolate candy bars were a problem; but in M&M's, the candy's coating kept the chocolate from getting messy.

Read more at Wikipedia.org