Extreme Candy

Atomic FireBall candies are famous for their red-hot flavor. To achieve that fiery heat, candy makers use two ingredients that affect your mouth in different ways.

First, the candy delivers a blast of spice. This comes from a chemical called cinnamaldehyde (sihn-uh-MAL-duh-hyde). It’s the same oil that gives cinnamon its flavor. Cinnamaldehyde triggers special cells on your tongue, called taste receptors that sense irritating compounds.

After the cinnamon flavor comes a deeper heat. That heat comes from capsaicin (kap-SAY-uh-suhn), the compound that makes chili peppers spicy. Capsaicin triggers taste receptors on your tongue that detect temperatures higher than 109°F. It tricks your brain into thinking that you’re eating something super hot. You may sweat to try to cool down, even though your body is not actually overheating.

A lot of candies make your mouth pucker. But Warheads are some of the sourest sweets. The secret to their extreme flavor is a mix of substances called acids.

Warheads’ first sour blast comes from citric acid. This mildly sour acid is found in citrus fruits, like lemons and oranges. It triggers special taste receptors cells on your tongue. “Citric acid gets your mouth ready to be tortured with more sour goodness,” says Kerri Harold, a spokesperson for Impact Confections, the maker of Warheads.

A sour jolt comes from malic acid—the same compound that makes Granny Smith apples tart. Warheads also have two other acids: ascorbic (ah-SKOR-bik) acid and fumaric (few-MER-ik) acid. Your saliva dissolves each acid in Warheads at a different rate. The combination gives the candies their sour taste from beginning to end.

Pour a pack of Pop Rocks into your mouth and the bits of candy start to crackle and jump around on your tongue. But how?

All hard candy is made by mixing sugar, corn syrup, water, and flavoring. The mixture is boiled. As it cools, the mix hardens. Pop Rocks are made the same way—but with one more special ingredient: Candymakers add some carbon dioxide (CO₂) gas to the sugary mix.

When the candy hardens, tiny bubbles stay trapped inside. As the candy dissolves in your mouth, the bubbles burst! That causes the popping sensation you feel in your mouth.