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Liquorice candy ('''licorice''' in American English ) is flavored with the Extract of the roots of the Licorice plant, and usually Anise oil as well. A wide variety of liquorice candies are produced around the world. In the U.S., the most common form of liquorice Candy is known as ''black licorice'' and normally consists of chewy ropes or tubes. In the Commonwealth a mixture of various liquorice candies is known as Liquorice Allsorts . In the Netherlands , Northern Germany and Nordic Countries , Salty Liquorice contains Ammonium Chloride as an additional spicy ingredient. COMPOSITION The essential ingredients of liquorice candy are liquorice extract, sugar, and a binder. The binder is typically candy, with concentrations up to about 8 percent. However, even regular liquorice candy can contain up to 2 percent ammonium chloride, the taste of which is less prominent due to the higher sugar concentration.The Dutch manufacturer Meenk offers detailed ingredient lists of their products: regular and salty liquorice candy (in Dutch). PRODUCTION During manufacturing, the ingredients are dissolved in water and heated to 135 °C. In order to obtain candies of the desired shapes, the liquid is poured into molds, that are created by impressing holes into a container filled with starch powder. The liquid is then dried and the resulting candies are sprayed with Beeswax in order to give their surface a shiny appearance. HEALTH EFFECTS The liquorice-root extract contains the natural sweetener Glycyrrhizin that is over 50 times sweeter than Sucrose . This ingredient has various pharmaceutical properties, the most important ones being that it acts as an Expectorant (facilitating removal of mucus from the lungs by coughing) and that it increases the blood pressure. The latter effect can become significant with a daily consumption of 50 g or more of liquorice candy.Sigurjónsdóttir, H.A., et al. Liquorice-induced rise in blood pressure: a linear dose-response relationship. Journal of Human Hypertension (2001) 15, 549-552. RED 'LIQUORICE' In North America, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, there is also a product known as ''red licorice,'' which is extruded in a way to resemble licorice, but is made with Strawberry or Cherry Flavorings rather than liquorice. More recently similar products have been introduced in a wider variety of flavors including Apple , Mango , Blackcurrant , Watermelon and strawberry, among others. Twizzlers (by Hersheys ) and Red Vines are the most well known product brands of this type in the United States, in Australia these are produced by Darrell Lea and several other companies. However, it should be noted that while the common name for this candy has now become "red liquorice", or often simply "liquorice", this candy has little connection to actual liquorice in composition or flavor. Consequently, the term "black liquorice" (or "'''black licorice'''") has become a Retronym . SPECIFIC VARIETIES OF LIQUORICE CANDY
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