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List: The top 50 candies of all time!

By Whitney Matheson, USA TODAY
Updated

You want to know the worst thing about Valentine's Day?

No, it's not the crowded restaurants, the high-priced flowers or the torture of spending it alone.

It's the candy: those chalky, cheesy candy hearts that have somehow become the holiday's mascot. Easter has Peeps. Halloween has colorful candy corn. How come today we're stuck with what, in my opinion, is the worst-tasting and least gleeful candy ever created?

If ever there were a day to rank the top 50 candies of all time, today would be it. This list may cause some controversy because it's a bit biased, but I stand by my choices. I also believe all of these candies are better than candy hearts, a tradition I hope will become extinct by 2012.

The top 50 candies of all time:

50. Werther's Original -- Chances are, you're not craving one night now. But there's also a pretty good chance your mother or office assistant has one at the bottom of her purse, and when you've had a rough day, that old-timey caramel can be downright comforting.

49. Nik-L-Nips -- The name sounds almost obscene, but there's something strangely satisfying about sucking the sweet juice out of these wax bottles ... (OK, so maybe the name isn't the only questionable thing about this one.)

48. Circus peanuts -- Unrelated to real peanuts, you either love or hate this orange marshmallow confection.

47. Wax lips -- I know: not a candy! But, for some reason, trips to the candy store were more fun if they included a pair of giant fake lips.

46. Sugar Daddy -- The caramel stick could last forever if you wanted it to, and was occasionally followed by a painful trip to the dentist.

45. Pop Rocks -- Candy that explodes in your mouth is a pretty rad concept. (And no, your insides won't burst if you mix it with Coca-Cola.)

44. Necco wafers -- The colorful, thin wafers are a cousin of the candy heart but offer a little more flavor.

43. Nerds -- The tiny balls of fruitiness offer something every geek can get behind.

42, Pocky -- The Japanese chocolate-coated biscuit is absoluely addictive. Try 'em if you haven't already!

41. Jawbreakers -- When's the last time you put a quarter in a candy machine and received hours of pleasure from one of these?

40. Candy cigarettes -- You can't smoke in bars anymore, but no one said anything about candy cigarettes ...

39. Salt water taffy -- It's your co-worker's favorite thing to bring back from his vacation, and you secretly wish he'd leave more often.

38. Red Vines -- Ah, licorice tastes better when it has fond memories attached to it.

37. Jolly Ranchers -- I'll take strawberry and pass on the green apple, please.

36. Toblerone -- Every time you stay in a hotel, it's just sitting in the minibar, staring at you. By the end of the trip, it stares no more.

35. Mr. Goodbar -- Milk chocolate and peanuts? Now, that's sexy.

34. Smarties -- The roll of sugary delight comes out in droves on Halloween.

33. Pez -- So what if they're not the best-tasting candy? They emerge from cartoon heads!

32. Milk Duds -- Not only do chocolate and caramel belong together, here, they're made especially for moviegoing.

31, Pixie Stix -- When biting is too much of an effort, just mainline the sugar in straight-up powder form.

30. Blow Pops -- The lollipops would be enough, but these come with a chewing-gum core.

29. Almond Joy -- Chocolate, coconut and almonds are truly a trifecta of joy.

28. Sour Patch Kids -- The kids trick you into thinking you're about to bite into a traditional gummi food ... then shebang! Your face shows the sour.

27. Atomic Fireball -- Some like it hot. And this candy turns it up like no other.

26. Starburst -- A proven classic, Starburst knows what it means to be fruity.

25. Baby Ruth -- Peanuts, caramel, chocolate, nougat ... isn't everything better with nougat?

24. Payday -- Where peanut fans get their payoff.

23. Peeps -- Adorable and delicious, these marshmallow birds have even undergone experiments. Poor things.

22. Reese's pieces -- The peanut-butter candies are so tasty they're even adored by extra-terrestrials.

21. Junior Mints -- Kramer knows how perfect these minty chocolate drops are for the movies ... or for observing surgery.

20. Cotton candy -- Nothing conjures memories of the fair/circus like the time you got this stuff stuck to your face.

19. Swedish Fish -- Mmm, I'll only take the red ones ...

18. Milky Way -- I thought the original was great until someone introduced me to Milky Way Dark. Oh, my stars.

17. Cadbury eggs -- I can barely write the words without starting an Easter countdown. Why must they only arrive once a year?

16. Skittles --They really do taste like the rainbow. (And, once upon a time in my young life, they tasted nice in a Zima adult beverage.)

15. Tootsie Rolls/Tootsie Roll pops -- How many licks does it take? We're still trying to figure that one out.

14. York Peppermint Patties -- Somehow, the candy reaches beyond chocolate to a land far crisper and cleaner than mine.

13. Candy corn -- The Halloween must-have is the recipe for a sugary smile.

12. Three Musketeers -- One for all and all for nougat!

11. Jelly Belly -- After the invention of these flavorful treats, jelly beans were never the same.

10. Hershey Bar -- Classic. Perfect. No improvements necessary.

9. Twix -- Others have tried, but Twix masters the perfect ratio of chocolate to caramel to (my two favorite words) biscuit finger.

8. Butterfinger -- Crisp, smooth, heavenly.

7. Gummi bears/worms/etc. -- Bears are the classic, but sometimes I get in the mood for gummi worms. And gummi cherries. And gummi brains. One day, you'll be able to buy anything you want in gummi form.

6. Kit-Kat -- Buy one crispy candy, and it's like you're getting four! (Bonus: catchy theme song.)

5. Reese's peanut butter cups -- Though I've probably eaten thousands of them in my lifetime, I still get excited when someone gives me a Reese's peanut butter cup.

4. Twizzlers -- My go-to movie snack, every single time.

3. Snickers -- Hands down, the best candy bar ever created. (It also has the best name of any candy bar.)

2. Hershey's Kiss -- Just enough milk chocolate to help you get through the day.

1. M&Ms -- Yep, the No. 1 candy melts in your mouth and comes in peanut, dark chocolate, pretzel and other varieties. The simple treat dates back to 1941 and, no matter what advances in the candy business await us, it will certainly be around for a long time to come.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Now go ahead, treat yourself to some candy. You deserve it.

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