Thesecretsbehindthesweets

The number of jellybeans— 15 billion! — gobbledupin any given yearwould circle theEarth 5½times.Clearly,most of us have zerocontrol when it comes to the kryptoniteof thecandy world. But how manyofusknow wherethejelly bean comesfrom?

If you wantto consideryourself atrueconnoisseur of theconfection, you can takeacrashcourse atone of the candy’smeccas — theJellyBellyfactory inFairfield. There, you’lllearn thatjelly beans have anancientpedigree. Experts think theymay be a mashup of twocandies,Turkish delight,with itschewy fruit center,and Jordan almonds, withtheircrunchysugar shells. Put them together,and youhaveatreataddictive enough that Boston candymaker William Schrafft urged allgoodAmericans to send them to theUnion soldiersfightingin the CivilWar.

By the 19th century,jelly beans werewidely consideredaclassic pennycandy. Intheearly 20th century,“jelly bean” was aslang term for a snazzilydressed man with an eyefor the ladies.Notuntilthe 1930s did these brightly colored balls of sugar becomeassociated with Easter, perhaps because they resemble eggs, whichare symbols of fertilitymeant to evoke the promiseofspring. Five billion Jelly Bellys (which come in 133 flavors) are sold atEaster alone.

Butin the 1960s, the beans reallyenteredthe limelightwhen CaliforniaGov.RonaldReagan madethecandies cool in pop culture. Hegothookedonjelly beans whenhequit smoking;by thetimehebecame president,he was a full-blown fanatic. Indeed, Reagan was so in love with Jelly Bellysthathe madethemthe first jellybeans in spacebysending them along onaspace shuttle Challenger mission in 1983. The Gipper’slove forthe candy is so legendary that there’seven aJelly Bellycollage, involving no fewer than 17,000 beans, ofhiskisser on displayat thefactory.

Indeed, aspecial flavor(blueberry) was minted inhonor of his presidential inauguration — 40 million beans were nibbledat the celebration —so theywould be ableto make ared, white and blueJellyBellyflag.

Certainly,there’sascienceto cooking up the perfectjellybean, whichtakesabout sevento 14 days from startto finish.The Jelly Bellycompany,whichhasbeen plying its trade since 1898, has a lot of trivia to shareasyou stroll along thequarter-milelong conveyorbelt for its famous tour.

Thefactory,whichoperates 24 hoursaday,five days aweek, is acolossal candybeehive humming withworkers, robots and machinesturning sugar,fruit and other ingredients into jelly bean bliss. Theprocessis complex,with top-secretrecipesinvolved, but the magicofit all is coatingagooeygobofgoodness with a perfect sugary shell through a technique knownaspanning. About 1,680 beans areproducedper second.

Almost 362,880pounds of jelly beans areproducedper day (that’s as heavyas24elephants), but the company isastill astickler for consistency.If a bean is too small, too large or not perfectly coated, it is rejected from the assembly line. These flawed beans find their way into the discounted Belly Flops productline.

If allthat trivia makes you peckish, restassuredthere are also severalchances tosample the goodswhile yougawk at thetiny candy gems. But beware the gag flavors, suchasbarfand boogers. Forthose who worryabout overindulging,take heart in the sweetest factof all:Theaverage JellyBellyhasonly four calories.

An estimated 600,000 jelly beandevotees taketheJelly Bellyfactory tour every year to bone up on beantriviawhile frolickingina brightlycolored wonderlandof decadence.Atleft: The candydrops from aconveyor belt, isassembled into aportrait of RonaldReagan andlies in trays, as partofthe curingprocess. At right: Barry De Silva,of Fairfield, makes grape sodaflavored beans.

Braingames

It’sno longeraplaceforskating, splashingorseeing amazingartifacts. Whereare you?Here’saclue togetyou started: Thefacility,developedby aself-made millionaireandbuilt in the1800s, wasdestroyedin a fire.Itnow ispartof anationalrecreation area.

Visual Surprises

SEVENNOVELGRAPHICS

INVENTEDHERE

Althoughaccountsvary,the now-ubiquitousfortunecookie probablywasintroducedto SanFranciscoabout1920.The confectionsmayhavebeen inspiredbythepracticeof Chinesesoldierspassingsecret messagesincakesinthe1300s.