Friday, October 13, 2023

It is National M&M's Day!

What is your favorite type of M&M's? I personally LOVE their peanut butter M&M's, but also did like their almond M&M's, too! Well, whichever is your favorite, today is the day to enjoy it as it is National M&M's Day! Days of the year (dot) com says, "Invented in 1941, these tiny little bits of candy coated chocolate have made a huge impact on American history throughout their more than 80 years of life!" Let's look at some more fun facts about these tasty candies - did you know . . . 

  • Initially they were only available to the military as they were included in soldiers' rations and were ideal since they didn’t melt and could be resealed. It wasn’t until later in the decade civilians could buy them.
  • Very few brands can say they’ve sent their products to space, but M&M’s is one of them. In 1981 the chocolate treats were included on Space Shuttle Columbia in the astronauts’ food supply and they’re still taken on space missions today – astronauts use them as entertainment, throwing them into the air and catching them in their mouths.
  • Ready to go global, M&M’s paid £3.5 million ($5 million) to be named “the official snack food of the 1984 Olympic games” held in Los Angeles. 
  • A tradition which started with Ronald Reagan, the White House is stocked with M&M’s with the presidential seal and the president's signature. Initially it was to encourage people to snack instead of smoke in meetings, but they're now given as gifts to visitors. Presidents since, including Bush, Clinton, Obama, the last one, and Biden, have carried on the tradition.
  • Four to eight hours sounds like a long time to make such a small chocolate, but the factory starts from scratch with milk, cocoa butter, and sugar. After the chocolate is processed, it’s rolled into M&M’s shapes which are coated in a sugar shell then individual candies are weighed out in the packaging room and sealed into bags.
  • The New Jersey factory produces approximately two billion M&M's every eight hours.
You will find more fun facts at this link.

So, since they are so loved world-wide, today is a great day to enjoy them! Grab some extras and surprise the ones you love with this tasty treat!

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