What is "smarties"

n. 1 (plural of smarty English) 2 (plural of smartie English)

Smarties are a colour-varied sugar-coated chocolate confectionery popular primarily in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Greece, the Nordic countries, South Africa, and the Middle East. They have been manufactured since 1937, originally by H.I. Rowntree & Company in the UK. They are currently produced by Nestlé.

Smarties are oblate spheroids with a minor axis of about 5 mm (0.2 in) and a major axis of about 12 mm (0.5 in). They come in eight colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, mauve, pink and brown, although the blue variety was temporarily replaced by a white variety in some countries, while an alternative natural colouring dye of the blue colour was being researched.

Smarties are not distributed in the United States, except by specialist importers. This is because the American rights to the brand belong to the Smarties Candy Company, which manufactures its own hard tablet sweet under the registered trademark name Smarties. (In Canada, these are sold using the brand name Rockets.)

In the United States, Smarties are a type of tablet candy produced by Smarties Candy Company, formerly known as Ce De Candy Inc., since 1949. Smarties are produced in factories in both Union Township, New Jersey, and Newmarket, Ontario. The candies distributed in Canada are marketed as Rockets, to avoid confusion with internationally distributed Nestlé Smarties. The New Jersey factory produces approximately 1 billion rolls of Smarties annually, with the company producing over 2.5 billion of them total in a year.

One individual candy is a biconcave disc in shape, with a diameter of roughly 1 cm and a height of roughly 4 mm. Larger ones have a diameter of 2.5 cm and are about 6 mm thick. Smarties come in combinations of colors within their wrapped rolls; these include white and pastel shades of yellow, pink, orange, purple, and green. Each color's flavor is different. They are usually packaged as a roll of 15 candies. Smarties candies are peanut-free, gluten-free, fat-free and dairy-free. All Smarties candies are free of animal products and are thus suitable for vegans.

Smarties may refer to:

• Smarties, a chocolate confectionery made by Nestlé
• Smarties (tablet candy), a confectionery made by Smarties Candy Company (formerly Ce De Candy)
• Smarties, a variety of Troggles in the Number Munchers computer game