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Pop Rocks is a carbonated candy with ingredients including sugar, lactose (milk sugar), corn syrup, and flavoring. The idea of the product was patented by General Foods research chemist William A. Mitchell in 1956. The Pop Rocks candy was first offered to the public in 1975. Around 1983, General Foods stopped selling the candy; some would believe this was because of an urban legend. A few years after, in 1985 Kraft Foods bought the rights to the candy product and re-marketed it as Action Candy through a company called Carbonated Candy.

The candy is made by mixing its ingredients and heating them until they melt, then exposing the mixture to pressurized carbon dioxide gas and allowing it to cool, trapping the pressurized gas inside.

When placed in the mouth, coming into contact with saliva, the candy breaks and melts, releasing the carbon dioxide from the tiny 600 psi bubbles, resulting in a popping and sizzling sound and leaving a slight tingling sensation. The bubbles in the candy pieces can be viewed when aided by a magnifying glass.

Since 1979, Zeta Espacial S.A., a company based in the municipality of Rubí in Barcelona, Spain, has manufactured, sold, and exported the product.

In 2006, Dr. Marvin Rudolph, who led the group assigned to bring Pop Rocks out of the laboratory and into the manufacturing plant, wrote the definitive history on Pop Rocks development. The book, titled, "Pop Rocks: The Inside Story of America's Revolutionary Candy, " draws on interviews with food technologists, engineers, marketing managers, and members of Bill Mitchell's family, along with the author's direct experience, to tell the complete story.

Urban legend

1975–1980s: During the product's heyday, rumors persisted that if a person ate Pop Rocks and drank cola, their stomach would explode. The company spent large sums sending out flyers to debunk the rumor. This is, in part, caused by the false assumption that pop rocks contain an acid/base mixture (such as baking soda and vinegar) which produces large volumes of gas when mixed through chewing and saliva.

The most famous of these folklore involved a child named Mikey from the Life cereal commercials. Mikey was reported to have died after eating a Pop Rocks and Cola mixture. The rumor is false and the former child actor who was in the commercials, John Gilchrist, is alive and well.

1994: In the Simpsons episode "Homer Badman", Homer made an Improptu grenade by mixing Pop Rocks into a can of Buzz Cola. This "Grenade" results in a huge explosion.

1997: In the graphical adventure game Zork Grand Inquisitor, if you mix Zork Rocks with Zork Cola, then don't put it in a locker, it creates a huge explosion that kills AFGNCAAP.

1998: In the horror film Urban Legend a folklore professor asks a student to eat Pop Rocks and drink cola. The student refuses because she believes it would kill her, just like "that kid in the cereal commercial." Another student then complies with the professor's instructions and pretends to die.

2001: A couple living in northern California sued Baskin-Robbins. Their 5 year old daughter ate the "Shrek Swirl" flavored ice cream which had Pop Rocks. The girl complained of stomach pain and was taken to the hospital where doctors allegedly inserted a tube to relieve gas pressure from the girl's stomach.

2003: The TV series MythBusters managed to disprove the rumor by mixing Pop Rocks and Cola inside a pig's stomach. The UK television programme Brainiac: Science Abuse later performed a debunking, slightly less subtly, using a female volunteer.

2006: The first episode of the sixth season for the TV series Scrubs showed Ted and Keith try mixing Cola and Poprocks. Ted says "I'm sick of legends and hearsay, Keith, I have to know!". The mix eventually explodes, and both are drenched in foamy cola.

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External links

• Delphion record of patent for the Pop Rocks original process patent, "US4289794: Process of preparing gasified candy"
• Pop Rock's: The Inside Story of America's Revolutionary Candy, book detailing the story of Pop Rocks development to Pop Rocks today
• Zeta Espacial's website, with list of Pop Rock-related products
• Pop Rocks Candy website
• Rumors about the dangers of Pop Rocks, from the Urban Legends Reference Pages
• How do Pop Rocks candy work?, an article from HowStuffWorks that explains how pop rocks candy is manufactured and also has links to the original patent

• Brand name confectionery
• 1975 introductions
• Kraft brands
• Patented foods