Salt Water Taffy

Salt Water Taffy

Salt water taffy with a U.S. quarter for scale
Type	Taffy
Place of origin	United States
Region or state	Santa Barbara, California
Main ingredients	sugar, cornstarch, corn syrup, glycerine, water, butter, salt, flavoring, food coloring

Salt water taffy is a variety of soft taffy originally produced and marketed in the Atlantic City, New Jersey area of the Jersey Shore starting in the 1880s.

The original invention of the candy has several different stories circulating, likely all apocryphal, but usually all relating to an assistant who substitutes sea water for fresh water—either through laziness or accident. Joseph Fralinger popularized the candy by boxing it and selling it in Atlantic City. Fralinger's first major competition came from candy maker Enoch James, who refined the recipe, making it less sticky and easier to unwrap. James also cut the candy into bite-sized pieces, and is credited with mechanizing the "pulling" process. Both Fralinger's and James's stores still operate on the Atlantic City boardwalk. Both companies have been owned and operated by the Glaser Family since 1947.

On August 21, 1923, John Edmiston obtained a trademark for the name "salt water taffy" (number 172,016), then demanded royalties from companies using his newly acquired name. He was sued over this demand, and in 1925, the trademark was invalidated as being in common use.

Salt water taffy is still sold widely on the boardwalks in Atlantic City (including shops in existence since the 1800s), nearby island Ocean City, and other popular beaches throughout the United States and Atlantic Canada, as well as in Salt Lake City, Utah. Taffy is also distributed throughout the U.S. to some specialty shops and markets, and other places where an especially wide and diverse variety of candy is sold. It is also available for mail order through Internet sources.

Salt water taffy is composed of sugar, cornstarch, corn syrup, glycerine, water, butter, salt, natural and/or artificial flavor, and food color. Some examples of flavoring include vanilla, lemon, maple, banana, red licorice, watermelon, raspberry or mint extracts. Despite its name the taffy contains no salt water (seawater). However, it does contain both salt and water.