Charles Krupa, AP
The revamped product is now using red beet juice, purple cabbage, cocoa powder, paprika and turmeric to replace the artificial ingredients that had been flavoring and coloring the wafers for years.
But not every wafer made the cut.
Of the eight original Necco wafers, lime did not get through the makeover. While the lime flavor could be created with natural ingredients, the color green itself was too hard to duplicate, so it was scrapped. However, it may return once the color code is cracked, according to brand manager, Aimee Scott.
So there are now seven flavors and colors: chocolate, lemon, orange, clove, wintergreen, cinnamon and licorice. The chocolate wafer, however, now comes in four varieties: dark, milk, mocha and white.
"The flavor is actually a little bit stronger in the new ones because they are all natural," Jackie Hague, Necco's vice president for marketing, told Slashfood. "And when you look at them, they're pastel and not as bright as they used to be."
So if longtime Necco eaters can get past the change in color, Hague thinks they won't be disappointed in the quality of taste.
Necco, an acronym for New England Confectionery Company, is the oldest multi-line candy company in the United States -- dating back to 1847. It is also famous for timeless confections like the Valentine's Day staple Sweethearts' Conversation Hearts or the peanut butter-and-molasses chews, Mary Jane.
[Via Associated Press]

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10-27-2009 @2:40PM Sarah said... I am dancing happy here! It has been years since I could eat them...and yeah, I like them. Every time I see candy go natural dyes, my tummy is happy!
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10-27-2009 @3:14PM Coop said... Beet juice, cabbage, paprika, and tumeric? No wonder I've never liked these things! What kind of candy is that??? Ick.
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10-27-2009 @3:18PM sue said... never again - necco lost a loyal customer today.
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10-27-2009 @3:18PM Tristan said... I dunno about you but I ALWAYS avoided the green and yellow candies anyway.
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10-27-2009 @3:30PM myrtinlvnv said... amazing...I just had 2 packs of the old ones...they were my favorite candies...we'll see
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9-05-2011 @10:57AM William Englehart said... I've been eating neccos for years, but when they changed, you lost me. Why do you have to mess with
with a good thing? These are HORRIBLE!!
10-27-2009 @4:26PM Gary said... The new chocolate range sounds cool. Sorry to hear LIME is going away just because of natural color issues. It has always been a flavor that keeps getting compromised with Lemon & I prefer my Lemon & Lime as separate unique individual tastes. Now n Laters removed their LIME ones too.
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10-27-2009 @3:55PM Pam said... Those things are nasty!!
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10-27-2009 @3:51PM Jean said... "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". There was nothing wrong with the original Necco wafers. It the same 'ol thing...."new and improved" is usually nasty and not worth eating.
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10-28-2009 @9:47AM tillie34 said... There never has been a duplicate tried, or at least I have not found one. i will get some to give to trick or treaters. I do trust them to be a hit.Hey any color will do they are that good. I have often used them when i have a tickel in my throat.I also like the bit of honey candy. Dont take that off the shelves,"Please".Thanks
Tillie
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10-27-2009 @4:19PM Elaine said... YEA!!!!! Go nature!!!!! One step at a time, one company at a time. Hopefully our food will actually be made out of real food again! Hurray!
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10-28-2009 @1:16PM Doreen said... leave them alone! why do they have to mess with something that I remember since I was a kid??? If they keep taking these things away we won't have anything left to share with our grandchildren! This makes me so sad! Ok I understand it's only candy, but it's tiny bit of history also... leave them like they are!
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10-27-2009 @4:30PM Gary said... Oops. I made an error in my earlier post. I said that Now and Later candies also removed their LIME flavored ones AND I WAS WRONG. They still have them :-D It's STARBURST that have also eliminated their LIME flavor.
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10-27-2009 @4:30PM Donna said... How is it that those craptastic things are even still around? blech.
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10-27-2009 @4:35PM sgt6stripes said... did you read the article or just continue going on what you THOUGHT you saw? IT said, they are NOW going to start using the new natural coloring and flavors INSTEAD of artificial flavorings and colorings. Some people need to learn to overcome their fear of actually reading something and comprehending it instead of using their brain to see what they want the article to say!
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10-27-2009 @4:40PM Plunk said... How the heck can anyone eat candy that is "good" for you and made from beets and stuff. I am sickened by their decision to change their formula. That also means the candy hearts will change as well. Wow, it's a dark day in Seattle.
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10-27-2009 @4:54PM Sarah said... For those so afraid of natural food dyes, they don't affect the FLAVOR! Beets, spinach and other items are used to produce natural dyes versus using chemical based artificial dyes. I noticed someone complaining "If they keep taking these things away we won't have anything left to share with our grandchildren!" Uh, wouldn't you rather have a candy not full of fake dyes for those little angels? Seriously!
My neurologist took me off artificial coloring over 3 years ago and within a couple weeks most of my worst migraines stopped and have not come back. I keep my kid off most as well, no reason he needs them.
In much of Europe dyes are being banned. The same companies that now use natural dyes there still produce junk here in the US.
Unless you notice the color is a bit paler you won't notice the difference in taste.
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10-27-2009 @5:45PM Annee said... We used to play "Priest" and use those wafers as communion wafers. LOL
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10-27-2009 @5:20PM armida47 said... love those wafer since i was a child !!!hope they did not screw them!!!!!!!!!!!
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10-27-2009 @5:57PM myfallensky84 said... im thrilled they got rid of the green ones they taste like pine-sol well like pine sol smells iv never actually drank pine sol. lol
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