Of course, a lot of people would argue that National Candy Day was actually a few days ago, on Halloween. But today is the official day.

Let me throw open the comments section and ask the question: what is your favorite candy? If you had only one candy that you could eat for the rest of your life, what would it be? This is ridiculously hard for me, but I guess if pressed I'd have to say Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (or peanut butter cups in general).

(And if you're looking to buy candy online, check out Hometown Favorites and Sweet Nostalgia.)

One candy bar that was invented with health benefits in mind is the Vegetable Sandwich. Unlike the Chicken Dinner, this baby must have tasted exactly like its name. Created in the 1920s, this healthful snack contained cabbage, celery, peppers, and tomatoes.

I always keep an eye out for new and limited edition candies when I'm at the store. The candy companies love putting them out and, frankly, most of us know what the originals taste like. It's interesting to compare old and new to see what works and what doesn't. But even I will admit that things are getting a little out of hand when you can venture into what was once the candy aisle and see that not only has it been replaced entirely with different kinds of limited edition Hershey's Kisses, but that it has been expanded to cover four aisles, making room for all the other new varieties of old candies.

I think that Cybele, who writes Candy Blog, gets a lot of her candy samples from convenience stores, which are more likely to stock the limited edition varieties of bars than the average grocery store. It just so happened that, while on a little bit of a road trip, I spotted this Limited Edition Triple Chocolate Twix in such a store.

The bar had the same milky, sweet chocolate covering that most Twix bars do, but also had a layer of chocolate caramel on top of a chocolate cookie. The cookie went wonderfully in the bar. It had a good chocolate flavor and was very light and tender, especially when compared to the much firmer cookie that is usually included in the candy bar. The caramel did not seem all that chocolaty when eaten alone, but it really tied the chocolate coating in to the chocolate cookie. When taken as a whole, the bar was excellent. It was lighter and more addictive than the standard Twix, with a good balance of chocolate and sweetness. It's hard to say how long a limited edition bar will stick around once it has been released, but this flavor is clearly a winner, so let's hope it is available for more than a couple of weeks.

More and more stores are stocking the shelves with private label goods. This is especially evident in grocery stores, but it is spreading to convenience stores, as well. 7-Eleven has just introduced its own "Big Gulp" brand of sodas and candy bars, all marketed as "value priced" alternatives to major brands. The soda is sold in 2L bottles and comes in five flavors: cola, root beet, lemon lime, orange and cranberry-raspberry. The first four will clearly compete with national brands, but the cran-raspberry might be positioned to compete with juice drinks, despite the fact that it is carbonated. The chocolate bars will be available in milk chocolate and in dark chocolate with rice crisps. The company is also planning 20-oz bottled drinks and energy/sports drinks in the near future.

The limited edition Kit Kats released in the UK resulted in consumer overstimulation and, in the US, too, consumers are seeing more and more limited editions on the shelves. Some of them seem to be only limited in their packaging, not the actual product.

Candybloggers Cybele, from CandyBlog, and Brian, from Candy Addict, were interviewed in a piece in the New York Times magazine that asked "what is the point of these releases?" The companies don't seem like they're asking consumers if they want to see them as part of the "regular" line-up, but there are so many limited edition candies on store shelves that they don't seem all that special anymore.

Personally, I don't mind seeing a new product every time I go into the store, but it can be annoying if a new favorite is never seen again after only a short run. There is no way for us, the consumers, to tell if this trend will continue or not - but do we want it to?

KitKats have long been one of the top-selling candy bars in Britain since their inception in 1935 by Rowntree LTD. The brand has been owned by Nestle since 1988, and Nestle increased its global distribution, making it one of the most popular candies in the world. To appeal to different tastes in different markets, Nestle has been producing flavored KitKats for many years now. These have enjoyed great success, particularly in Asian and Australian markets. The Wikipedia entry lists more than 65 different flavors of KitKat.

After having success elsewhere, Nestle turned to these limited edition and exotic flavors in the UK, with releases that ranged from strawberries and cream to mango to "Christmas pudding" all over the course of one year. They flopped. And not only did the flavors not sell, but KitKat sales in general fell by almost 17%. Galaxy bars saw an 11% increase in the same time period, largely making up the deficit in the number of bars sold.

The problem was that the bars were "not what [people] expected" from KitKats and the novelty wasn't enough to sustain sales. People purchased the flavored bars and lost interest in them, as well as being slightly turned off the original because the market was so saturated with KitKats. The flavors have been discontinued and the company is going to refocus on making up lost ground.

Hershey's, which owns the rights to the candy bar in the US, has released very few limited edition flavors, sticking primarily to white chocolate and dark chocolate. The company is unlikely to try a wide variety of flavors in the US because candy bar sales are not nearly as strong as in the UK. The company is, however, planning a caramel KitKat towards the end of this year.

[via WSJ]

The Guardian reports that Cadbury Trebor Bassett and Mars, rivals in the world of chocolate confectionery sales, are joining together to support a campaign that places warning labels on chocolates in the UK. The "Be treatwise" campaign was conceived by the Biscuit, Cake, Chocolate and Confectionery Association. It takes a cue from the warning labels on cigarette packaging and encourages placing labels on products that will echo the government’s messages about maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Labels will feature a variety of different messages, such as "Be active for 30 minutes" and "Being Active doesn't have to mean sweating at the gym". The labels will also include standard nutritional information, including fat and calorie content.

According to the Heath Status Calorie Calculator, a 150lb person would have to jog for 30 minutes to burn off the number of calories in a Mars bar.

If you're heading up into the mountains for a ski trip this winter, you are going to need some supplies. Clearly skis, coats and hats are in order, but what about the really important things, like food? Driving up those long, icy mountain roads isn't fun and, unless you have to stop to put chains on your tires, you really want to minimize the time you spend out of your car before you either get to your hotel or out to the ski lodge. A supply of snacks in your glove box is just what you need to get you through those long drives.

• Packaged snacks with a long shelf life, like granola bars or snack bars, are nice to have around. They offer a balance of sweet and healthy, in addition to being satisfying.