It takes Hannah Mendelsohn twenty minutes to drive from her Juneau, Alaska home to the grocery store and back. When she started creating patterns with M&Ms on her living room coffee table, she had no idea she’d need so many.

“I kept going to the store and buying more [M&Ms],” Mendelsohn said. “I probably went to the store at least five times. I did a little bit at a time.”

Mendelsohn, a 21-year-old medical assistant, separates M&Ms by color and arranges them in intricate patterns on any flat surface she can find. The result is a surface completely covered with M&Ms, no space between them. Mendelsohn arranges the colors in bright geometric patterns. She said this hobby first took root when she developed a love for chocolate.

“I mean, if we’re going anywhere, basically I’m going to pick up some chocolate,” she said. “Movies? Chocolate. Forget popcorn. Gas stations? I always make [my fiancée] run in for a candy bar. I love my chocolate. Love it.”

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Do you think our esteemed leader was trying to tell me something when he sent me a box full of different kinds of mints to review from the All Candy Expo? My pores are going to ooze peppermint for weeks! I don’t have a problem with that, though, especially after trying IQ Elements Mint-Drops. The German company hooked us up with four minty flavors of their football-shaped mint drops, which contain various nutrients purported to improve your body and soul. They come in attractive, easy-open bags with photos of the four elements.

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If I’ve learned anything about gum recently it’s this: gum isn’t just for chewing anymore. No, nowadays it freshens your breath, entertains your taste buds, even sends caffeine coursing through your system. X-it Sugarfree is no exception. In addition to X-it Sugarfree Gum, I also received several different types of mints and bonbons. I have enough gum and mints to keep my breath fresh for a decade.

What’s my favorite thing about these X-it products? Honestly, its the packaging. Each product comes in an attractive tin that tucks easily into your purse or pocket, guarding the lining against spillage. Even better, the tiny mints come in tins with black plastic lining that dispenses a couple at a time – even more protection against spillage!

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I’ve been afraid of sugar-free hard candy for a long time. When I was a kid, my mom went on a sugar-free hard candy kick. Whenever I begged for candy, she’d pass me a sugar-free butterscotch or peppermint – the first few times, she tricked me into trying them. That is, until I learned that sugar-free candy, in those days, came with a sickly aftertaste. I’ve continued to avoid sugar-free hard candy throughout my life, preferring the sugarless versions of chocolate and chewy confections instead.

But then I got a box of goodies from the All Candy Expo and found a couple bags of Eda’s Sugarfree hard candies inside – one bag lemon, one bag cherry. I set aside all my preconceived notions about sugar-free hard candy and gave Eda’s a shot.

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What do you look for when you pick up a pack of gum? Do you want it to freshen your breath? Maybe you’re trying to quit smoking cigarettes and you need something to chew on to help deter you from continuing the bad habit? Or do you want something with long-lasting flavor for a long, dull day at the office?

I discovered out that gum can have more than one duty when I found a package from the Action Candy Company in the mail. The company is releasing a new line of five sugar-free gums in January 2008, and three of those gums have a dual purpose – not only do they please your taste buds and freshen your breath, but they also help you out in other ways. The other two are intensely flavorful and breath-freshening.

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