canadian candy vs. american candy

as an avid food network watcher, over the years i have noticed the very obvious food differences between canadian food (mainly restaurant foods) and american food

for instance, last weekend, lorelie and i were watching triple d and this restaurant made something that had to do with waffles and gravy...it looked so good but is definitely something we would never see around here

then there are the food items talked about on unwrapped - SO much of what the show shows are things i have never heard of but seem to be very popular in the states

while talking about the different foods there compared to here, my younger brother told me about something i had never heard of - americans call rocket candy smarties! this not only led me to a "wtf" moment, it let me to an investigation into the difference between canadian and american candy as candy is my favourite food group

according to the internet, these are the major differences between candy found on the shelves (in most areas it seems):

1) smarties

as a candy connoisseur, as my older brother put it, smarties, the canadian smarties that is, are an essential part of a balanced candy diet. i love smarties - much more than m&m's (that is really a whole other topic). their bright colours and awesome chocolate inside make for a lovely snack. these are the only smarties i have ever known. according to wikipedia, "Smarties are not distributed in the United States, except by specialist importers." so sad!

american smarties are what is known in canada as rockets. i checked out their website http://www.smarties.com/ and it is so weird to see another product with a different name...let alone one of the amazing delicious candy coated chocolate things known as smarties!

2) chocolate bars - coffee crisp, areo, mars bars, oh henry!, caramilk, kit kat

i am not a huge chocolate bar fan but every once and a while, yes, i do enjoy a good peanut and nut free bar. among my favourite include mars bars, hershy milk chocolate, caramilk and kit kat (give me a break!). 

according to a few sites i looked on, coffee crisp, areo, mars and oh henry! are not sold in the usa (although some had said they may have seen a few here and there around the country). 

caramilk is not called caramilk...

and apparently american kit kats taste horrible...

3) candy - fuzzy peaches and cherry blasters

this was a real real downer. for sure americans are missing out on these. i love these, especially cherry blasters. these chewy candies are another staple in a candy diet. i am really sad for all those who have not experienced the amazingness of these candies.

other than that, i couldn't find any other sites that gave me much else. its interesting when you think about how different food can be when we share a border with another country. it makes me wonder what kind of glorious candies we are missing out on here... 

candy tour? um yes

ray charles