Is cotton candy unhealthy?

Though it may seem like something made of sugar (with food colouring or other flavouring added) would be pretty much the worst thing in the world for you to eat, it should be noted that it only takes about 30 grams of sugar to make a typical serving size of cotton candy, which is about 9 grams less than a 12 ounce can of Coke.

Further, cotton candy has no fat, no preservatives, nor sodium and is about 115 calories per serving. While certainly not a health food, nor a filling in any way, there are numerous other things that people consume every day that are much worse for them health-wise.

What’s going on scientifically to make cotton candy is that as granulated sugar is heated sufficiently, the chemical bonds that hold together the crystal are broken down. When this happens, the crystals are split into fructose, glucose, and sugars.

If we continue to heat this, these will further break down into carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with the hydrogen and oxygen then combining to form water. If we further to heat this substance from there, the water will evaporate and the carbon will start to burn.

Before the water evaporates, candy-makers use the solution to make cotton candy by extruding fine hairs of the stuff through tiny holes in a screen, or as 15th century pastry chefs would do by pouring some of the syrup onto small handles and working it into threads of sugar.