Welcome to the real-life version of Candy Land.


This is the international Sweets and Snacks Expo, where hundreds of vendors take over three football field's worth of space at McCormick Place to show off a wide range of snacks—from chips and suckers to pickled eggs and flavored tongue tattoos. The show, organized by the National Confectioners Association, is the largest of its kind, according to Susan Whiteside, association vice president of communications. It opened Tuesday and runs through Thursday.

Nearly 570 exhibitors covering three acres of floor space have rolled out thousands of products. Their treats are sweet, salty, sour and everything in between.

Candy shop owners and representatives from various national and international grocery and convenience stores will be there to scope out the goods and see what will appeal to customers. While the showcase isn't open to the public, some of the new items could make their way to a store shelf near you soon.

Consider this: The sweet and snack food market makes $80 billion a year in sales in the U.S. and $357 billion a year worldwide, Whiteside said. Roughly 30 percent of annual sales can be attributed to products that came out within the last two years, she said. Last year alone, 4,600 products launched and nearly half made their mass debut at the expo.

With all those goodies right here in Chicago, RedEye stepped to the plate (pun intended) to get a taste. Here's a look at the newest and most unusual snacks that caught our attention.

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Jelly Belly's Snapple Mango Madness flavored jelly beans

The mango flavor of a thirst-quenching Snapple is poured into jelly beans and packaged in cute mini-plastic Snapple bottles. It's chewy like jelly beans, and the mango flavor isn't too strong. Still, a new twist on the best stuff on earth.


Hot Tamales 3 Alarm

There are three levels of color-coded hotness: orange is for hot, pink is for hotter and red is for hottest! Beware: Your mouth may feel like it's on fire if you don't have a high threshold for spice. One piece has an intense cinnamon flavor like a mouthful of Red Hots.


Toxic Waste Sour Smogball

Sour candy lovers will want to taste it, but the word smog can be a turnoff. Besides, there's nothing in there that tastes like pollution. The tiny round bites are protected by a hard shell like a jawbreaker and aren't very sour at all.


Kimmie Candy Company Choco Rocks

They look like real rocks and pebbles that might actually break your teeth. Filled with milk chocolate, the chunks are covered in a wafer-like shell in earthy, brown and green tones.