What does M & M stand for? I assume Mars, as in the Mars company, and the two M's are two of the siblings, but which two, the two brothers? What about the sister?

http://www.m-ms.com/us/about/history/story/#begin

Mr. Mars, apparently.

So M & M stands for Mars & Murrie.

what's the source? Why doesn't it say so on the M&M website?

My original source was Wiki, but here is the same info. direct from M&M's own website:


http://global.mms.com/cai/mms/faq.html#what_for

Thanks.

Thank you kindly.

That also explains the similarities between Smarties and M&M's - so they are essentially the same thing but marketed differently in the US because of intellectual property rights? Are they actually the same thing, or are there differences (eg. thickness of candy coating, dimensions of the candy pieces, chocolate composition)?

Never had Smarties, but let me tell you, M&Ms were among the best things to ever become kosher; Twix are great too. So many of the Mars chocolate bars are such disappointments (such as Three Musketeers), as are Oreos.

There's a great book that focuses on the Hershey and Mars businesses, both of which have much in common, included being founded by what can only be generously described a eccentric individuals:
http://www.amazon.com/Emperors-Chocolate-I...6684&sr=8-1

Supplementary question:
Do Cadbury's and Hershey's chocolate taste different? There are cultural differences in food taste preferences, so it would make sense that, for example, the British and the Americans would have different preferences in terms of things such as sweetness.

Supplemental question:
Is white chocolate always dairy?

Yes, they taste different. But so do Hershey's and Mars and they're both American.

Yeah, but Mars was originally British so likely has a corporate bias.

Aargh. Where is my head today?

Based on Googling, it seems that there are different versions of their chocolates for UK/USA that taste different.

bump

Yeah, I found that interesting about the link with Smarties. I grew up on Smarties and to this day have a strong preference for the taste of them over regular M&M's. They absolutely have a different taste. I like the peanut M&M's just fine but when it comes to the plain ones Smarties win hands down, IMVHO. In fact, often when I'm waiting in the Toronto airport for my flight I will cave and have to buy a package of smarties [when I know I should be staying away from sugar], since I know I won't be able to get them in the U.S. I really should stock up on them and bring them back to the U.S. with me next time.


That said, I'm pretty sure I have seen non-dairy white chocolate chips sold somewhere (perhaps a health food store), but I think the regular ones and most white chocolate items sold are in fact dairy. I absolutely love the white chocolate Kit Kat bars they started selling a few years ago, although sometimes they can be hard to find. Even better than Smarties, IMO.

ETA: Here's a link to some non-dairy white chocolate chips:
http://www.veganessentials.com/catalog/dai...olate-chips.htm

Related question: Why is the dark/bittersweet chocolate also always dairy? Isn't the point of it that it's not supposed to have any milk in it?

Now I'm confused (as if I weren't before). You can't get Smarties in the US? It's a Canadian/British thing?


Oh right, of course, I should have thought of that, since we use white chocolate chips at home in recipes.

It isn't...
But if you're talking about the goyeshe brands they probably make it on the same equipment and the OU doesn't know about Dairy Equipment......

From what I've heard, Smarties are not sold in the USA, since the name 'Smarties' is registered to another company, but they are sold in just about every other country in the world.

ETA:

From Wiki:

"In the United States, Smarties are a type of artificially fruit-flavored candy produced by Ce De Candy, Inc.. These are marketed outside of the U.S. under the brand name Rockets, to avoid confusion with Nestlé Smarties. In Australia, a similar product is known as "Fruit Tingles", and in the UK a similar product is Refreshers."

So...Smarties in the U.S. are an entirely different product which is why Nestlé Smarties cannot use the name to market their product.

Yes, I'm talking about Hershey's and the like and, no, I believe it really is dairy, not just D standing in for DE.

The dark chocolate I find in the stores is not dairy based on the ingredients.

I guess it must depend on the product. Cuz Snickers Dark (which is really good) is dairy.

SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE, PEANUTS, CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, MILKFAT, SKIM MILK, LESS THAN 1 PERCENT PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, LACTOSE, SALT, EGG WHITES, CHOCOLATE, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR

That's the one annoying part about not having Jewish brands around -- all snacks seem to be dairy!

I just went to the store and looked at the ingredients at like ten different chocolate bars that claimed to be "dark" and all of kosher ones had milk in them. Only a Lindt bar didn't have milk in it, but it's not kosher, so it's irrelevant.

Chocholate "bars" are not real chocholate there is all sorts of stuff in them.
What about plain bittersweet chocholate. I think you will find some pareve varieties out there....

For example? And I don't mean Jewish companies, either.

I don't know and don't have access to this stuff. But say Hershey's bittersweet chocolate. Or many kinds of chocolate chips.
But from the perspective of the goyim why would they NOT make something milchig if it tastes better???

See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate

There are actually official definitions for Dark, Milk, and White. What candy bars say though is just marketing.

Milchig and milchig.

This is better:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_chocolate

But yes, it would seem that most bars that call themselves "dark" chocolate are actually semisweet instead of true dark or bittersweet.