View source for Lollipop

{{Short description|Type of candy, usually hard and mounted on a stick}}
{{Other uses}}{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}{{more citations needed|date=January 2019}}
{{pp-semi-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Lollipop
| image = Farbenfrohe Lollipops, Austria.jpg
| caption = Rainbow lollipops
| alternate_name = Lolly, sucker
| country =
| region =
| creator =
| course =
| type = [[Confectionery]]
| served =
| main_ingredient = [[Sucrose]], [[corn syrup]], [[flavoring]]
| variations = [[Ice pop]]s
| calories =
| other =
}}

A '''lollipop''' is a type of [[sugar candy]] usually consisting of [[hard candy]] mounted on a stick and intended for [[Suction|sucking]] or [[licking]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Lollipop | website = How Products are Made | publisher = Advameg Inc.   | year = 2007 | url = http://www.madehow.com/Volume-6/Lollipop.html | access-date = 2007-08-19 }}</ref> Different informal terms are used in different places, including '''lolly''' and '''sucker'''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Myers|first=Dan|date=2015-08-12|title=Pop or Soda? Hero or Sub? 13 Regional Food Names Around America|url=https://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/pop-or-soda-hero-or-sub-13-regional-food-names-around-america-0|access-date=2021-08-02|website=The Daily Meal|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Lolly definition and meaning |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/lolly |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116025405/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/lolly |archive-date=Jan 16, 2023 |access-date=2021-08-02 |website=Collins English Dictionary |language=en-US}}</ref> Lollipops are available in many flavors and shapes.

== Types ==
[[File:Rainbow-spiral lollipop.JPG|thumb|upright|Spiral type with multi-color]]
Lollipops are available in several colors and flavors, particularly fruit flavors. Numerous companies produce lollipops in dozens of flavors and many different shapes. They can range from very small candies bought in bulk and given away as a courtesy at [[bank]]s, [[barber]]shops, and other locations to very large treats made from [[candy cane]]s twisted into a spiral shape.

Most lollipops are eaten at room temperature, but "[[Ice pop|ice lollipops]]", "ice lollies", or "popsicles" are frozen water-based lollipops. Some lollipops contain fillings, such as [[bubble gum]] or soft candy. Some novelty lollipops have more unusual items, such as [[mealworm]] [[larva]]e, embedded in the candy.<ref>{{cite web
 |title=Edible insects
 |url=http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2005/4/edibleinsects.cfm
 |last=Fromme
 |first=Alison
 |date=July–August 2005
 |publisher=Smithsonian National Zoological Park
 |access-date=2007-03-24
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051111041211/http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2005/4/edibleinsects.cfm
 |archive-date=2005-11-11
}}</ref> Other novelty lollipops have non-edible centers, such as a flashing light embedded within the candy; there is also a trend, principally in North America,<ref>{{Cite web|date=1994-07-10|title=Kids are suckers for lollipop that spins around and costs $4|url=https://www.deseret.com/1994/7/10/19119134/kids-are-suckers-for-lollipop-that-spins-around-and-costs-4|access-date=2021-08-02|website=Deseret News|language=en}}</ref> of lollipops with sticks attached to a motorized device that makes the candy spin around in one's mouth.

In the [[Nordic countries]], [[Germany]], and the [[Netherlands]], some lollipops are flavored with [[Salty liquorice|salmiak]].

=== Medicinal use ===
Lollipops can be used to carry medicines.

Some lollipops have been marketed for use as [[diet aid]]s, although their effectiveness is untested, and [[Anecdotal evidence|anecdotal cases]] of weight loss may be due to the [[placebo effect|power of suggestion]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Lollipop Diet helps woman shed pounds |url=http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa060208_kd_lollipopdiet.63fd4f8e.html |last=St. James |first=Janet |publisher=WFAA News (Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas) |date=February 8, 2007 |access-date=2007-03-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070513070418/http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa060208_kd_lollipopdiet.63fd4f8e.html |archive-date=May 13, 2007 }}</ref> Flavored lollipops containing medicine are intended to give children medicine without fuss.

Actiq is a potent [[analgesic]] lollipop whose active ingredient is [[fentanyl]]. Often, patients use large amounts of [[opioid]] pain medication and take Actiq on a handle in order to control breakthrough cancer pain.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Actiq Buccal: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Pictures, Warnings & Dosing - WebMD |url=https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-16877/actiq-buccal/details |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802165145/https://www.webmd.com/web/20210802165145/https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-16877/actiq-buccal/details |archive-date=2021-08-02 |access-date=2021-08-02 |website=WebMD |language=en}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Tootsie-Roll-Pop-Orange.jpg|thumb|upright|A [[Tootsie Roll Pop|Tootsie Pop]]]]

The idea of an edible candy on a stick is straightforward, and it is probable that the lollipop has been invented and reinvented numerous times. The first [[confectioneries|confections]] that closely resemble lollipops date back to the [[Middle Ages]] when the nobility would often eat boiled [[sugar]] with the aid of sticks or handles.

The invention of the modern lollipop is still a mystery, but many American companies in the early 20th century have laid claim to it. According to the book ''Food for Thought: Extraordinary Little Chronicles of the World'', they were invented by George Smith of [[New Haven, Connecticut]], who started making large hard candies mounted on sticks in 1908. He named them after a racehorse of the time, Lolly Pop<ref>Pearce, (2004) ''Food for Thought: Extraordinary Little Chronicles of the World'', page 183.</ref>—and trademarked the lollipop name in 1931.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lollipops and Candy Suckers |url=http://www.candycrate.com/lollipops.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140213201225/http://www.candycrate.com/lollipops.html |archive-date=2014-02-13 |access-date=2013-12-27 |publisher=CandyCrate.com}}</ref>

English lexicographer [[Francis Grose]] recorded the term' lollipop' in 1796.<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'', Second Edition, 1933</ref> The term may have derived from the terms "lolly" (tongue) and "pop" (slap). The first references to the lollipop in its modern context date to the 1920s.<ref>{{OEtymD|lollipop|access-date=17 January 2012}}</ref> Alternatively, it may be a word of [[Romani language|Romani]] origin, related to the Roma tradition of selling [[candy apple]]s on a stick. ''Red apple'' in the Romani language is ''{{Lang|rom|loli phaba}}''.<ref name="googlebooks">{{cite book |last1=Hubschmannova |first1=Milena |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UePBhYdCgRoC |title=What Is the Romani Language? |last2=Kalinin |first2=Valdemar |last3=Kenrick |first3=Donald |year=2000 |publisher=Univ of Hertfordshire Press |isbn=9781902806068 |access-date=2013-12-27}}</ref>

== Ingredients ==
The main ingredients in a standard lollipop are [[sugar]] and [[corn syrup]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morpeth-Spayne |first=Rebecca |date=2021-12-08 |title=How are lollipops manufactured? |url=https://in-confectionery.com/how-are-lollipops-manufactured/ |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=International Confectionery Magazine |language=en-GB}}</ref> Sugars are fully hydrated [[Catenation|carbon chains]], meaning that there is a water molecule attached to each carbon. Sugars come in two forms: straight-chain and ring form. When sugars are in straight-chain form, [[aldehyde]] and [[ketone]] groups are open, which leaves them very susceptible to reaction. In this state, sugars are unstable. In ring form, sugars are stable and therefore exist in this form in most foods, including lollipops.

Sugar interacts differently depending on the presence of other ingredients and on various treatments. When heated enough to break the molecules apart, sugar generates a complex flavor, changes color, and creates a pleasing aroma.<ref>{{Cite book|title=On Food and Cooking|last=McGhee|first=Harold|publisher=Scribner|year=2004|pages=647–712}}</ref> Sugar can form two types of solids in foods: crystalline and [[Amorphous solid|glassy amorphous]]. Glassy amorphous solids can be found in products such as lollipops, marshmallows, and caramels. Glassy amorphous solids result when moderate sugar concentrations (50% solutions) are heated to high temperatures, eliminating nearly all moisture. The final moisture content is around 1–2%, whereas the final moisture content in crystalline candies is 8–12%. The non-crystalline nature of glassy amorphous solids is due to the presence of inhibitors in the solution. Without an inhibitor, crystallization would occur spontaneously and rapidly as the sugar cools due to its high concentration. Some common inhibitors used in lollipop production are corn syrup, [[cream of tartar]], [[honey]], and [[butter]].

In a lollipop, the moisture content falls to less than 2% at the end of the lollipop-making process; water is required at the start of the process. All other ingredients used in the process of lollipop production are optional. The use of inhibitors is dependent on the type of sugar used. The amount of inhibitor in the lollipop is usually small in comparison to the amount of sugar used. Additional flavors, colorings, and inclusions (like bubble gum or a [[Tootsie roll|Tootsie Roll]]) can be added to the final product but are not part of the main structure of a simple lollipop.

== Manufacturing ==
The formation and physical state of the glassy amorphous structure used in the creation of the lollipop are involved in a [[chemical process]]. The heating process is the first step in making lollipops after mixing the main ingredients. During heating, the molecules increase their translational mobility and resemble liquids.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Roos|first=Y.H|date=2010|title=Glass Transition Temperature and Its Relevance in Food Processing|journal= Annual Review of Food Science and Technology|volume=1|pages=470–491|doi=10.1146/annurev.food.102308.124139|pmid=22129345}}</ref> Although many hard candies are heated to about {{Convert|310|F|C|abbr=}}, the temperature that the solution is heated to is dependent on the specific volume and contents of the mixture. After heating is complete, the solution can then be cooled. The final cooled solution is [[supersaturated]] due to the moisture content dropping below 2%. Supersaturated or supercooled liquids are also formed due to inhibitors preventing crystallization. They are unstable because crystallization is a favored reaction in this case. During the cooling process, lollipops' most important physicochemical characteristic, the [[glass transition]] process, occurs.

== See also ==
{{Commons category|Lollipops|Lollipop}}
{{Wiktionary}}
* [[Chupa Chups]]
* [[Clear toy candy]]
* [[Dum Dum Pop|Dum Dums]]
* [[Hard candy]]
* [[Pirulín]]
* [[Stick candy]]
* [[Tootsie Pops]]
* [[Whistle Pops]]

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{candy|state=expanded}}
{{Dosage forms}}

[[Category:Lollipops| ]]
[[Category:Brands that became generic]]
[[Category:Candy]]