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back to article Sugar content now to be measured in Cadbury Creme Eggs

It's evident that our beloved readers share our penchant for improbable and unorthodox units of measurement, because we've had a load of emails pointing us in the direction of XKCD, where the Cadbury Creme Egg has officially become the measure of how much sugar there is in a fizzy drink. Good stuff, although the idea of …

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    1. graeme leggett Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: The contents

      Some water but it's the high level of dissolved sugar (gluc & fruc from sucrose + invertase) that reduces the availability of the water in the filling to such an extent that it is inimicable for bacteria and mould.

      Chocolate shell is virtually water free - add a drop or two of water to some melted chocolate if you want to see why.

      Personally I have always found creme eggs sickenly sweet and consume about 1 every couple of years and then remember why I've avoided them for the last 24 months.

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    2. Lews
      Reply Icon

      Re: The contents

      Actually it is water based, but as pure water will not conduct electricity (it is the ions in solution that provide the free electrons that conduct) and sugar dissolved in water produces no ions, sugar water in any concentration will not conduct unless there is a ion source also in the mix

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      1. Suricou Raven
        Reply Icon

        Re: The contents

        At least they are low-salt then.

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    3. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      I salute you

      Passing high voltages and currents through random stuff in the pursuit of knowledge.

      Have you tried a doughnut?

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      1. Andy Miller
        Reply Icon
        FAIL

        Resistance is useless !!!!

        One bored afternoon I tested my resistance with an insulation tester. It certainly woke me up.

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      2. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I salute you

        Have you tried a doughnut?

        Good idea, may I suggest Jake the 'chocolate snob'?

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      3. Suricou Raven
        Reply Icon

        Re: I salute you

        We're doing more tests at the weekend. I'll suggest it.

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    4. Steven Roper
      Reply Icon
      Thumb Up

      Re: The contents

      Video Please! :D

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      1. Suricou Raven
        Reply Icon

        Re: The contents

        Video? Of course.

        http://birds-are-nice.me/explodium/

        We didn't keep the video of the egg, for nothing of interest happened.

        Next test is scheduled for the weekend. Same power level, but more durable equipment that won't burn out after one shot. I'll suggest donut.

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  2. Andrew Oakley
    FAIL

    It's worrying (for values of "worry" that include mild peeves) that the usually mathematically-strict XKCD should mix Old English with Metric measures, and worse, not clarify, in an article about British confection, whether the Old English units are British Imperial or American Customary Units. XKCD, hand back your maths-nerd credentials at once!

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    1. tirk
      Reply Icon
      Coat

      Being pedantic....

      (Which of course is the only way to be in such discussions!) the references to "12oz can" and "20oz bottle" are strictly correct, as they are the "standard" sizes. You wouldn't really prefer "354.882355 ml can" and "591.470591 ml bottle" surely??

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      1. Steve Evans
        Reply Icon

        Re: Being more pedantic....

        Is that a 12Fluid oz US or 12Fluid oz UK?

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        1. Spanners Silver badge
          Reply Icon
          Pint

          Surely you mean

          Is that a 12Fluid oz US or 12Fluid oz Earth?

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      2. Piro Silver badge
        Reply Icon
        Pint

        Re: Being pedantic....

        Actually, yes, pretty much.

        I always remember a pint as being 568ml off the top of my head.

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      3. Richard Gadsden
        Reply Icon

        Re: Being pedantic....

        330ml can and 500ml bottle, being what you get in metric countries.

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    2. Jeebus
      Reply Icon

      Shut up you sugartit.

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    3. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      XKCD proberbly realises that the UK has no role in modern sociaty and thus did the only thing one can do with the UK. Ignore it.

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  3. jai

    suddenly struck by a desire to nip out and buy a couple of Creme Eggs

    I'm sorry to say, Lester, but you are obviously something of an amateur when it comes to cream egg eating.

    Some of us have been eating the 2012 batch of cream eggs since they appeared in shops, at the start of the year. And during the last 30 days or so my consumption has only increased. If there's less than 6 eggs in the fridge, then I need to go and stock up - you can never tell when you might need to accompany a cuppa tea with a cream egg, and it's a terrible thing to be caught short unexpectedly.

    Cream eggs are for life, not just for Easter.....

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    1. Jediben
      Reply Icon
      Alert

      Re: suddenly struck by a desire to nip out and buy a couple of Creme Eggs

      I have myself just exceeded the average annual consumption during the 2 minutes I spent reading the article. Do I have a problem?

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      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: suddenly struck by a desire to nip out and buy a couple of Creme Eggs

        Only if you now have none left.

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    2. GumboKing
      Reply Icon
      Boffin

      Re: suddenly struck by a desire to nip out and buy a couple of Creme Eggs

      Amateur indeed.

      Costco sells the 48 pack box, which I think I purchased sometime in February. I had 3 Eggs left from the 2011 box, but the goo gets a little hard after about 9 months and they are not as enjoyable. Frighteningly, I am almost halfway through the 2012 box already.

      Egghead icon of course.

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    3. Steven Roper
      Reply Icon
      Go

      Re: suddenly struck by a desire to nip out and buy a couple of Creme Eggs

      In other news, Cadbury has been forced to ramp up production of its Creme Egg line after a well-known nerd comic strip triggered a worldwide rush on the product. Xkcd.com, a comic strip noted for nerd humour, recently posted a strip describing Cadbury's Creme Eggs as a measure of sugar content in drinks. A Cadbury spokeswoman described the spike in Creme Egg sales as "highly profitable" and thanked xkcd for the free advertising. She said the strip's publication, and its further reproduction in other media, may have resulted in more than $US20 million in Creme Egg sales, and noted that Cadbury shares rose by nearly 3 percent as a result of the increased revenue.

      Coming up after the break: Doctors in the UK and USA are reported to be "extremely concerned" after an unexplained dramatic increase in the number of diabetics diagnosed in the last 48 hours. Stay tuned for these important messages...

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  4. Haku
    Coat

    I still like Kinder Eggs

    but the crunchy center is always tough to finish...

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    1. perlcat
      Reply Icon
      Devil

      Re: I still like Kinder Eggs

      They're good, but only with real kinder.

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  5. Irongut

    I fancy a

    deep fried creme egg, mmmmmmmmmm...

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    1. Bush_rat
      Reply Icon
      Devil

      Re: I fancy a

      deep fried creme egg in coke oil

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  6. Tom Melly
    Thumb Up

    More useful info from XKCD

    Nice, but, if you're going to start referencing XKCD, can we have something more useful?

    http://xkcd.com/936/

    4 1
  7. Whitter
    Trollface

    Lord Sugar however is measured in .... other units.

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  8. koolholio
    Thumb Up

    I've had my fair share

    I ate my 3 the other day!... By lord did the sugar hit kick in...

    Although lets not over-exaggerate!

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    1. Neil 32
      Reply Icon
      Coat

      Re: I've had my fair share

      ITYM "egg-sagerate"

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      1. ArmanX
        Reply Icon
        Thumb Up

        Re: I've had my fair share

        "egg-saturate"

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  9. Chad H.

    Err

    Just for those of us on the old scale... How much sugar is there in Wales?

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  10. Bill Cumming
    Flame

    fondant-smondant!!

    I liked the old runny filling!!

    only got half way through one of the fondant ones before giving up!

    I like my eggs runny!!!!

    flame icon - well everyone loves a flaming egg!

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Flame

      Re: fondant-smondant!!

      So it is true!

      This is the most worrying aspect of this whole thing, to me --- learning that the cream-egg centre is no longer runny.

      I haven't been back to UK for nearly three years: I now have one less reason for looking forward to being there.

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  11. Richard Cartledge
    Stop

    I used to love cream eggs, but the modern rendition is an abomination.

    Do Kraft-bury still used solidified palm fat and 'flavour' or did they go back to cocoa butter and a glass and a half of whole milk?

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  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    >"well, whatever it is"

    Congealed horse-spunk, I always thought. (inb4: How did you know?)

    But the real reason I hate Creme eggs most of all is not because they taste hideous, but because they also are responsible for the dullest ever episodes of Weebl and Bob.

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    1. jake Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      @AC 17:25 (was: Re: >"well, whatever it is")

      Uh ... no.

      Speaking as someone who will happily sell you some, cryo-packed for your convenience. If you can afford it, that is.

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  13. kneel_in_kanada

    Stale?

    From the Cadburys website "Creme Egg is made all year round on the Bournville plant; however we only sell the eggs to retailers between January and Easter each year"

    So, your average egg is not very fresh!

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  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Wales?

    Are there more eggs in Wales or Whales?

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  15. Bags
    FAIL

    Exploding Eggs Anyone?

    Maybe it's because I live 7,000 feet above sea level (less pressure, things expand) but every egg I've ever had has leaked. I can tell you that whatever the filling is made of it creates an almost inseparable bond between the egg and the foil wrapper. While the egg is tasty, the foil definitely is not.

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  16. Eddy Ito

    Dear me

    Here I always felt those eggs were perhaps the most disgustingly sweet and horrid tasting things ever devised. Now I find out these things made by Hershey are mere poseurs. Perhaps I can find one on the next trip across the pond.

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  17. Cliff

    Hershey chocolate is like eating brown crayons

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    1. PJI
      Reply Icon

      That good?

      They must have improved it!

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  18. Richard Scratcher

    When I were a lad...

    ...we 'ad to make us own creme eggs.

    http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-Cadbury-Creme-Eggs/

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  19. g e

    How much money is that

    Measure in UK workers-sacked-by-Kraft wages?

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  20. Steve Foster
    WTF?

    Astonishing

    The Hershey's version actually has less sugar than the Cadbury's version (proportionally). That's unAmerican!

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    1. Spanners Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      Happy

      Re: Astonishing

      I understand that the reason for that is that they are considerably smaller. I would be interested in hearing the %weight of sugar for each.

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      1. Steve Foster
        Reply Icon
        FAIL

        Re: Astonishing

        No, you muppet. I meant in %age terms (that's why I said proportionally!). 20/34 < 25/39.

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  21. Martin Lyne

    Modern eggs are inferior, the gooey fondant filling was far less sickly and more enjoyable to eat than the stodge-filling in current production.

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    1. JDX Gold badge
      Reply Icon

      No, you were just younger and had a sweeter tooth back then.

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