Sugar Babies are bite-sized, pan-coated, chewy milk
caramel
Caramel ( or ) is an orange-brown confectionery product made by heating a range of sugars. It can be used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, or as a topping for ice cream and custard.
The process of caramelizati ...
sweets which are relatively soft to chew. They are a
confection
Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categorie ...
originally developed in 1935 for the
James O. Welch Co. by Charles Vaughan (1901-1995), a veteran food chemist and one of the pioneers of pan chocolate, who invented both Junior Mints and Sugar Babies for the James O. Welch Company. Sugar Babies were named after a song called "Let Me Be Your Sugar Baby".
The company was purchased by
Nabisco
Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International.
Nabisco' ...
in 1963. The Welch family of products changed hands a few more times, going from
Nabisco
Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International.
Nabisco' ...
to
Warner-Lambert (in 1988) then to
Tootsie Roll
Tootsie Roll is a chocolate-flavored taffy that has been manufactured in the United States since 1907. The candy has qualities similar to both caramels and taffy without being exactly either confection. The manufacturer, Tootsie Roll Ind ...
in 1993. Presently, packages of Sugar Babies name Charms LLC of Covington, TN, a subsidiary of Tootsie Roll, as manufacturer.
Welch produced them along with the rest of the Sugar Family (
Sugar Daddy and
Sugar Mama).
See also
*
List of confectionery brands
This is a list of brand name confectionery products. Sugar confectionery includes candies (''sweets'' in British English), candied nuts, chocolates, chewing gum, bubble gum, pastillage, and other confections that are made primarily of sugar. In so ...
References
Tootsie Roll Industries brands
Sugar Family candy
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