Dear M&Ms,

I once saw a commercial that claimed that your candy only melted inside mouths, so when I was searching for snacks for my recent desert survival retreat, I chose M&Ms. On our trip, I slipped a handful of your candies into my back pocket to keep myself energized for our long hike, but after a few hours my hike-mates started giving me strange looks, often asking if I was feeling all right. I realized what they were thinking later, when I discovered that the candies had melted completely, leaving a suspicious brown stain on my rear end. Needless to say, I was mortified.

My attempts to keep the candies cool by putting them inside our water jug were fruitless, as they eventually dissolved and contaminated the jug. Later, when my hike-mate left her jug of water at our previous campsite, we had to rely on the melted M&M tainted drinking water for our primary water source. Unfortunately, the sugary water dried us all out more than aided us, and some of us suffered the ill effects of severe dehydration. We ended up having to cut our trip short, due to this.

Is this normal? I am wondering if you might have a candy that withstands greater temperatures, or if I just received a defective bag of M&Ms? Would skittles have been a better desert snack?

Sincerely,
Linda B. Wilson

Thank you for your email.

Our advertising slogan actually reads; “THE MILK CHOCOLATE MELTS IN YOUR MOUTH-NOT IN YOUR HANDS.” The objective of our advertising is to acquaint consumers with the fact that the candies are neat to eat under average conditions because they have a thin sugar shell protecting the chocolate centers.

We believe that the “melting” you described pertains to the sugar shell coating of the candies. Sometimes the pure food colors will rub off when they come in contact with moisture in the hands – especially if the candy is held for a while.

Have a great day!

Dear M&Ms,

Thank you for your speedy response, but I fear that you have misunderstood my problem. The M&Ms in question were not in my hand at the time, but in my back pocket.

I don’t think the candy shell melted, either, it just cracked and let the melted chocolate ooze out, staining my favorite pair of desert survival pants.

While I now see that your melting guarantee doesn’t cover the candies while not in hands or mouths, I’m concerned that other customers might make the same mistake, causing them to have an unfortunate experience similar to mine.

Would it be possible to put a warning on future bags of M&Ms warning customers that severe melting could occur if kept in pants pockets for extended periods of time?

Sincerely,
Linda B. Wilson

P.S. Do Peanut M&Ms suffer from the same problems as the plain variety?

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