Hot Tamales

Hot Tamales Small Box

Hot Tamales is a chewy, cinnamon flavored, oblong-shaped candy introduced in 1950 — manufactured and marketed in the United States by Just Born, a family-owned, Pennsylvania-based candy company.[1]

Deriving its name from the sometimes pungent (spicy hot) flavor of tamales, Hot Tamales was the top selling cinnamon candy, as of 1999.[2]

Variations

In addition to the original variant, Just Born also markets Hot Tamales Fire (originally Super Hot Hot Tamales) with a hotter flavor and darker color.

In 2011, Just Born released Hot Tamales 3 ALARM containing a mix of three candies: orange (hot), pinkish (hotter) and dark red (hottest). In 2014, Just Born released Hot Tamales Tropical Heat that contains three candies, combining the original pungent, spicy flavor with lemon, mango and pineapple flavor.

A spearmint version available in the late 2000s (marketed as Hot Tamales Ice) has since been discontinued; however they returned in Hot Tamales Fire & Ice, a combo pack with regular Hot Tamales and the spearmint ones, released in 2018.

Ingredients

As listed on the original Hot Tamales box and Hot Tamales Fire boxes:

Sugar, corn syrup, modified food starch, contains less than 0.5% of the following ingredients: dextrin, medium chain triglycerides, fruit juice from concentrate (pear, orange, strawberry, cherry, lime, lemon) sodium citrate, pectin, citric acid, malic acid, fumaric acid, confectioners glaze, carnauba wax, white mineral oil, artificial flavors, artificial color, sodium citrate, magnesium hydroxide, red #3, red #40, yellow #5 (tartrazine), yellow #6, blue #1.

The late Ricky Wilson of The B-52's notes his love of Hot Tamales in their 1983 single "Song for a Future Generation".

The candy appears in the 1991 documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare, in a scene where Madonna is getting her make-up done while she's talking with one of her Blond Ambition Tour dancers (Oliver Crumes). At the very end of the conversation, the back of a Hot Tamales box is shown when Madonna takes a couple of candies.

In the beginning of the episode "The Duel" on The Office, Pam announces there will be a new candy on her desk for the new year, being Hot Tamales.

References

  1. ↑ Andrew Adam Newman (April 11, 2012). "Reviving Two Characters by Tearing Them Apart". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ Andrew Adam Newman (October 11, 1999). "Company Is Making More Than a Peep in the Candy Industry". Bill Bergstrom.


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