# Candy buttons

**Canonical URL:** https://sweeties.net/wiki/candy-buttons/
**Source:** sweeties.net, online pick and mix sweet shop

## Summary

Candy buttons are dots of sugar candy stuck to strips of paper, an American sweet. Their story from Brooklyn to Necco's collapse, and what is in them.

## Description

Candy buttons, also called Candy Dots or Pox, are small, rounded, flat dots of sugar candy stuck in rows to a strip of paper. Each strip carries three flavours: cherry in pink, lime in blue and lemon in yellow.
From Brooklyn to Necco
Candy buttons were first made by the Cumberland Valley company and by J. Sudak and Son of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In 1977 Sudak, by then called the Uncle Nibbles Candy Factory, sold the product to a Manhattan repackager, CeeDee Candy, which sold it on to Necco. In 1980 Necco also bought the Cumberland Valley company, which made it the only maker of candy buttons in the United States. The engineer and inventor George Theofiel Dib is credited with inventing the machine that makes them.
Necco made 750 million candy buttons a year, on strips 22.5 inches long, or 11.25 inches for the short size. When Necco went bankrupt in 2018, Candy Buttons were bought at auction by Doscher's Candies of Cincinnati, and they were the first former Necco sweet back on the market.
What is in them
Necco Candy Buttons, as recorded by Open Food Facts, updated 2020. Sugar, corn starch, gelatine, artificial flavour, the colours Red 3, Yellow 5 and Blue 1, and coconut oil.
Diet and colour points
Gelatine. This recipe contains gelatine, so it is not suitable for vegetarians or vegans: see gelatine in sweets explainedRed 3. Red 3 is erythrosine, E127. The US Food and Drug Administration revoked its authorisation in food in January 2025, with makers given until January 2027 to change recipes: see sweets that were bannedYellow 5. Known in Europe as tartrazine, E102, it is one of the six colours that carry a warning for children when sold in Britain: see the Southampton six coloursRecipes change. The record here was last updated in 2020 and names Necco, so check the current pack: see how to read a sweet label
In Britain
Candy buttons are an American sweet. If you buy them imported, check for an English ingredients list with the allergens emphasised: see how sweets from abroad came to Britain
In our pick and mix
We do not sell candy buttons. Each sweet we do sell has a card that opens up to show its full ingredients and allergens.

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