It has been mentioned that one of the Y2K food items to store would be one or more forms of candy/chocolate, since this provides a cheap lift and is something kids would look forward to to break the monotony.

I have always thought that the best kind would be M&M's, peanut and plain, as they have a candy coating which would prevent any damage from a one-time heat exposure, and as long as they are in the sealed bags, should be immune from pests and moisture(dampness=moulds).

What do others suggest? I am asking this NOW because someone here mentioned a great time to stock up will be right after Halloween when the clearance is on.

-- profit of doom (doom@helltopay.ca), October 22, 1999

Answers

Nestle Crunches. Bite size fine.

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), October 22, 1999.

- Any kind of hard candy/lolipops, wrapped and in moisture proof sealed bags.
- Hard mints.
- Chewy taffys (I have some left from Halloween last year and they're still good).
-Chocolate syrup and/or coco powder to add to powdered milk. Kids will not balk at the taste of powdered milk as much.
- Baking chocolate (to bake a chocolate cake or brownies once in a while)
- Chewing gum, in vacuum sealed bags.

I'm waiting after Halloween for 1/2 price sales on candy.

-- (sweettooth@home.com), October 22, 1999.

And the light sticks

-- A & L (allaha@earthlink.net), October 22, 1999.

I've never seen candy go bad, except maybe those yellow and orange corn kernel things that can get a little stale. (Oh yeah, maybe licorice too)

I just got some of the peanut-butter flavored taffys that come in those black and orange wrappers - very good and cheap.

Also good are,

Caramels, both dark and light

Semi-sweet chocolate

Any kind of candy bars (to conserve maybe get the small size)

Those cellophane tubes of colored things like sweet tarts

Tootsie rolls and pops

Milk duds

Malt balls

Cinnamon hots

Bit-O-Honeys

Mike and Ikes

Goobers

Raisinettes

Good and Plentys

Sour balls (cheap and long-lasting)

Fire balls

Jellybeans

I'm sure you'll find lots of good ones that won't go bad. If you have kids get lots of stuff like sour balls that are cheap but last long, so you won't have to start up the propane stove every time they get hungry.

-- @ (@@@.@), October 23, 1999.

What monotony?

-- Al K. Lloyd (all@ready.now), October 23, 1999.

A & L,

I don't know--I have trouble flossing away those light sticks from between my teeth. They sure do brighten up the smile, though. 8^)

-- Don (whytocay@hotmail.com), October 23, 1999.

Also, the Starburst chews are good too, but even better if you can find them are the "Now and Later" chewables. They last a long time. Of course everyone has their personal preferences, but as far as the candy bars, some of my favorites are.. Milky Way Dark, Baby Ruth, Snickers, Reeses Cups, Peppermint Patties, Payday, Butteringer...

-- @ (@@@.@), October 23, 1999.

I hope all of you have a do-it-yourself dental kit in your Prep stash...---...

-- Les (yoyo@tolate.com), October 23, 1999.

I was leaning towards chocolate such as Hershey's kisses, but unless you have a cool place to store it, it may melt somewhat during the hot months. Don't you just hate it when chocolate melts to the wrapper?

My list consists mostly of Skittles, hard candy/chocolates and chewing/bubble gum.

Speaking of sweet stuff, one should also consider the drinkables, such as Koolaid, Tang, and other powdered drinks. Some require sugar, but I've been going after the packets that have nutrisweet/sweeteners already added. Thus, you can save the sugar for bakeables.

I was going to stock up on Diet Cokes, but read that it doesn't have much of a shelf life. As to how long, I forgot...there's a thread regarding this in the archives somewhere, so if I stumble upon it I'll try to post it here.

-- Tim (pixmo@pixelquest.com), October 23, 1999.

PEANUT BLOCKS: PLanters "Mr. Peanut" brittle bars. etc. They'll Keep till 3000 rollover.

-- Roch Steinbach (rochsteinbach@excite.com), October 23, 1999.

Yo @

From the casual way that you spiel off those candy names, I'm going to hazard a guess that candy doesn't GET a chance to go bad around you.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), October 23, 1999.

Les: You said it before I could. Dental care. Gonna be scarce if not impossible to find if things are bad. That is why we are avoiding the sticky/hard candy category altogether. Yes, those ARE the candies that last the longest. Oh well, too bad. As someone with very thin enamel resulting in 5 root canals and countless cavities, I can attest to the destruction of those things. We have stockpiled good ol' Hershey bars, both plain and with almonds (the almond ones have the added advantage of a TINY bit of protein in the nuts). We aren't going to each much of them if we can help it, though. They might be wonderful barter items. They are in our deep freeze now so that their shelf life is extended. After Halloween we plan on stocking up on any kind of little chocolate bars we can find on sale.

Remember to have plenty of good toothbrushes on hand, AND dental floss. If you can get your dentist to give you or sell to you some prescription strength flouride gel, go for it. Get as many bottles as you can. I have some (b/c of the strong propensity for cavities) and am stockpiling it for the new year.

Also, everyone get your teeth cleaned and examined NOW. Clear up any problems that haven;t been taken care of. Get that crown you've been putting off, even if you have to pay for it in installments.

Just call me a Dental Freak.

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), October 24, 1999.

Les & preparing: That's on the big 10-4 on the sticky & hard candy warning. I LOVED "Now & Later" candies -- until I pulled off one of my crowns one day with a banana-flavored one. My dentist told me that they used to use that type of candy in dental school just for that purpose! (He didn't mention any specific flavor.)

As a side note (on the dental theme): Should you be unfortunate enough to lose a crown to some candy, Super Glue is NOT the way to stick it back in!!!!! REPEAT: DO **NOT** USE SUPER GLUE!!!!! My dentist (the same one who replaced MY crown that I pulled off) told me that one of his other patients had done the same thing I had, glued the crown back in place with Super Glue, and a good time was NOT had by all trying to fix either the tooth or the gum damage. If you've done something stupid and dental services are temporarily unavailable, the best thing to do is -- basically nothing, if possible. If there's any pain, pack Anbesol or Ora-Gel around it and get used to eating strained carrots for a little while.

-- I'm Here, I'm There (I'm Everywhere@so.beware), October 24, 1999.

I also suggest everyone buy some of that dental wax you can find in drugstores. It is medicated and pinkish colored. You stick it in a big hole in your tooth or on the side of a molar that has broken off so that the broken tooth doesn't slice your tongue into ribbons while you talk or eat (I have experience with this, can you tell?) Also there is another kind of dental stuff that isn't waxy, just heavily medicated. Get that, too. Sorry the names escape me now. You will have to look HARD in the drugstore, but it is there. Get two or three of these and put in first aid kit.

Also the book "Where There is No Dentist" is great for the Y2K bookshelf. I *think* it can still be ordered on amazon.com

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), October 24, 1999.