Nerds

**Nerds** are an American candy owned by the Ferrara Candy Company. With their anthropomorphic covers, Nerds usually contain two flavors per box, and each flavor has a separate compartment and opening. Larger packages may contain various colors—sometimes referred to as "Rainbow Nerds". Smaller packages may contain either one flavor only or one flavor with pieces of another.

## History

Angelo Fraggos launched the production of Nerds in 1983. By 1985, Nerds were recognized as "Candy of the Year" by the National Candy Wholesalers Association (NCWA). The United Kingdom sold a three-box chambered package of Nerds, with strawberry cola as one of the flavors. Throughout the years, the product has been sold in a box with compartments, each compartment containing a different flavor.

In January 2018, Nestlé announced plans to sell its U.S. confectionery brands (including Nerds) to Italian chocolatier Ferrero SpA, maker of Nutella, for $2.8 billion dollars. Ferrero folded the acquired brands into the operations of the Ferrara Candy Company and will increase investment in marketing into 2020.

## 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. Each barrel is then transferred into the different nerd boxes. For instance, strawberry and grape go together—the most famous flavor combination among Nerds in America.

## Nutritional facts

The article "Nerds Candy Nutrition" states, "Nerds primarily consist of sugar. The top three ingredients are dextrose, sugar and malic acid. The rest of the candy contains less than 2 percent of corn syrup, artificial flavors, carnauba wax and artificial coloring. The artificial coloring varies by flavor." The allergy warnings of this candy state that Nerds are created "in a facility that also produces wheat and egg." The normal serving size is one tablespoon—about 15 grams. (One serving of Nerds is equivalent to 60 calories.) The Halloween hand-out size is typically 15 grams, and the larger boxes contain 141.7 grams. Nerds consist of neither fat nor protein; the main calories come from carbohydrates.

## Variety

Nerds consist of various flavors and colors, ranging from extremely sweet to extremely sour; often, the two flavors in one box will contrast, and a single flavor may even exhibit both extremes. They are thickly glazed with carnauba wax, which gives them a hard bite and a gloss. 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. A Nerds breakfast cereal based on this concept appeared in the 1980s with two varieties (Orange and Cherry/Grape and Strawberry), but it had a short life.

Flavors
Although many other flavors are available, some of the current regular flavors of Nerds include the following:

* Strawberry and Grape (pink and purple)
* Wild Cherry and Watermelon (orange or red and green)
* Double Dipped Lemonade-Wild Cherry and Apple-Watermelon (red and yellow)
* Sour-Lightning Lemon and Amped Apple (yellow and light green)
* Surf 'n Turf- Totally Tropical Punch and Road Rash Raspberry (red and blue)
* Wildberry and Peach (blue and orange)
* Watermelon and Punch and Wildberry (green and blue)
* Mango Chile (yellow) El Mango Fuego