HOW JELLY BEANS ARE MADE

Thejelly beanis a semi-soft candy, shaped like

a bean and generally fruit flavored.
Long considered a traditionalEastercandy, jelly
beans are also produced in seasonal colors for other
holidays such as Halloween and Independence Day
The exact origins of the jelly bean are not
known, but it seems to have appeared around 1900
with other shaped candies. The jelly bean has a
longer shelf life than many other confections, and
its size and durability make it portable.

RAW MATERIALS
The basic ingredients of jelly beans include:
sugar

corn syrup

and foodstarch

minor amounts of:lecitin, anti-foaming agents, beeswax, salt

natural and artificial flavors and colors, depending on the bean flavor

DESIGN
The "design" of the jelly bean was time-honored until the mid-1970s when

the gourmet or designer jelly bean was developed. Although the shape
remained fairly standard, gourmet-type beans are typically smaller and
softer than traditional jelly beans. The colors and flavors also are more
varied, and flavors that decrease in popularity are phased out, while new
ones are added in keeping with other candies popular with children and
other food fads and trends.

THE MANUFACTURING
PROCESS
Cooking and chemistry

1.
Each manufacturer's jelly bean and each new flavor/color combination begin
in a chemistry laboratory, where the right balance of ingredients is mixed and
developed in test batches. New designer flavors are suggested based on marketing
studies, and the flavors are tested for taste and visual appeal in the laboratory.
Subsequently, a new flavor will be manufactured over a trial time period and test
marketed. If the flavor proves popular, it will become a new product.
2.
After the chemists have fine-tuned their recipe, the candy kitchen creates the
syrup that forms the jelly bean center by dissolving the sugar and other
ingredients in large boilers where the syrup is cooked to the proper temperature
and consistency. Flavor and color for the bean center are added to the syrup,
which is then piped to the starch casting area.

THE MANUFACTURING
PROCESS
Starch casting

3.
Formation or shaping of a single jelly bean begins with a process called starch
casting. Dry corn starch is a fine, white powder that retains impressions or shapes well. A
machine called a mogul deposits a layer of corn starch in a plastic tray and moves the
tray to a machine die, which presses dents into the corn starch. Each tray may contain
several hundred to over 1,200 of these impressions or dents, each of which is the size
and shape of the center of a jelly bean. The mogul moves the trays to a depositor or
"filling station" where heated candy syrup is squirted into the tiny molds. From the mogul,
conveyors carefully move the trays to cooling rooms in which temperature and humidity
are controlled and where the liquid candy cools and sets up to form the gummy center of
the jelly bean.

THE MANUFACTURING
PROCESS
The panning process

4.
The panning process gives the jelly beans their outer color and flavor, protective
sugar shells, and shiny glaze. The trays of candy centers are dumped out. The corn starch
absorbs moisture from them during the cooling process; but it is removed, dried,
reprocessed, and recycled to create molds for more candies. The centers, which are all the
same flavor and color, are placed in stainless steel vessels called "pans" that are globeshaped and hollow with an opening at one "pole" of the globe.

5.
Sugar is added through the
opening, which gradually builds up on
the soft center to form a harder, sugar
shell. Workers add colors and flavors
during the panning process by pouring
beakers of syrup supplied by the candy
kitchen through the opening in the
vessel.

THE MANUFACTURING
PROCESS
Packaging
6.

7.

The process of making the jelly bean takes 6 to 10 days, depending on the
kind of bean and the manufacturer. Packaging is the final step before sending
the jelly beans to distributors. Jelly beans are placed in trays after panning
and are still segregated by color or flavor. The trays of candies are taken to a
large bin where they are dumped in and mixed to the desired combination of
colors and flavors.
7. Exceptions to the sorting and mixing process occur when jelly beans
(usually the gourmet type) are packaged by single flavor, or when the flavors
are separated in small compartments in gift or "sampler" boxes that let the
taster experience the unique flavors of designer beans. The candies are still
sized and inspected, but individual flavors are then placed in funnel-like bins.

THE MANUFACTURING
PROCESS
Quality Control

Jelly beans, like any food product, must meet many

regulatory requirements for safety and quality. All
ingredients are supplied by vendors and inspected for
correct quantities, quality, integrity of packaging, and
other criteria. Equipment and materials that contact the
food ingredients and product are inspected and cleaned
daily or between batches as necessary. Packing
materials that contact the jelly beans are formed and
handled by machines that are also cleaned daily.
Factory workers wear special clothing required for food
handlers. Because they are working with equipment
that