Licorice candy

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Image:Liquorice wheels.jpg Licorice candy (liquorice in British English) is flavored with the extract of the roots of the licorice plant, and usually anise oil as well. A wide variety of licorice candies are produced around the world. In the U.S., the most common form of licorice candy is known as black licorice and normally consists of chewy ropes or tubes. In the Commonwealth a mixture of various licorice candies is known as liquorice allsorts. In the Netherlands, Northern Germany and Nordic countries, some licorice candy is salty like salmiakki that often includes licorice extract, together with ammonium chloride. The black color is strengthened by the use of carbon black as a food coloring agent.

[edit] Red 'licorice'

In North America, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, there is also a product known as red licorice, which resembles American black licorice, but is made with strawberry or cherry flavorings rather than licorice. Red Vines and Twizzlers are the most well known products of this type. More recently similar products have been introduced in a wider variety of flavors including apple, mango, blackcurrant, watermelon and strawberry, among others. In Australia these are produced by Darrell Lea and several other companies. However, it should be pointed out that while the common name for these candies has now become "red licorice," or often simply "licorice," these candies are not made out of the licorice plant or root and do not taste of licorice, as does American "black licorice". Thus, the term "licorice" is now commonly misused in North America to refer to these candies, rather than referring to the licorice plant or root itself, while the term "black licorice" has become a rarely-noticed redundancy.