M&Ms' have two main components, hardened liquid chocolate and the hard candy shell. Liquid chocolate comes from a blend of whole milk, cocoa butter, sugar, and chocolate liquor, among other ingredients. The candy shell is made from a blend of sugar and corn syrup.
The Production Process
1 The liquid chocolate is poured into tiny molds to create the chocolate centers of the candy. 2 After the candies are formed, they are "tumbled" to make the chocolate center smooth and rounded. Then they are allowed to harden. 3 When the chocolates are hard, they are transported via conveyor belt to the coating area, where the process called panning is performed. 4 During panning, the chocolates are rotated in large containers as liquid candy made of sugar and corn syrup is sprayed onto them. 5 The color is added to a finishing syrup and applied as the final coat. Each batch is a different color. The liquid candy dries into the hardened shell. 6 The single-colored batches are combined into the mixtures of red, yellow, blue, green, brown, and orange. They are then transported to the machine that stamps the "m" on the shells. 7 A special packaging machine weighs the candies, pours the proper amount into individual bags, and heat-seals the package. 8 The finished packages are moved along a conveyor belt to a machine that assembles the shipping cartons and fills them with the appropriate number of candy packages. The machine also seals the cartons