Britain: This Chocolate Isle

"They chew through plays and they chew through films and they chew in trains," complained the London Daily Mail. "They suck lollies through Macbeth and Hamlet, and they while away Tennessee Williams with the chocolates with the scrumptious centers." The Mail's complaint was not another anti-American outburst, but a cultural critique of the world's most ravenous candy eaters: the British. Unfazed by calorie counts, the English last year ate an average 8 oz. of candy weekly, nearly double the sweet tooth of any other European country and well above the 5.6 oz....

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!