Short And Sweet Trivia Quiz

Answer: India

Sugar is native to New Guinea. Initially people chewed the reeds for their sweetness. Sugar was first refined in India from about 100AD. By 600AD it was often used as a medicine.

The first Europeans to experience sugar are thought to have been English soldiers who discovered it during the Crusades in Jerusalem in about 1099. The Spanish began to grow sugar cane in the Canary Islands and Christopher Columbus is said to have taken sugar canes to the new world in the 16th Century. Over the next several hundred years, sugar cane production expanded, and brought with it the slave trade of workers from Africa.

It was not until 1747 that scientists discovered they could get sucrose from sugar beet.

While it was first lauded for being "healthy", we now know a range of adverse medical conditions are caused, or contributed to, by natural sugar. Still, figures for 2020 reported worldwide use of sugar amounted to 171.69 million tonnes.

Answer: C12H22O11

C12H22O11 is the chemical formula for sucrose, naturally occurring sugar. NaCl is salt; H2SO4 is sulphuric acid; and C₆H₈O₇ is Citric acid.

Which brings us to that little playground ditty that so many of us thought hilarious:
"Joey was a scientist
Alas he is no more
For what he took for H2O
Was H2SO4."

Answer: The Archies

The Archies were an American cartoon rock band. "Sugar, Sugar" was a US Billboard number one hit in 1969 and reached the top spot on the charts in 15 other countries.

Toni Wine, one of the singers, later said: "It was very catchy, it had a great hook, it was very singable and we laughed - we had a good time doing it". The male singer was Ron Dante, who was to go on to produce albums for Barry Manilow and had a top 10 hit with "Tracy" for The Cuff Links"

Answer: 1,100

Bees have been around for more than 30 million years. Each colony comprises a queen and between 20,000 and 60,000 worker bees.

To make that honey, the bees need to visit four million flowers. Each bee will only make about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its entire life. The average lifespan is two to six weeks.

Answer: True

Dark chocolate is more bitter. Not only is milk chocolate sweeter it also contains more milk solids.

Dark chocolate is also 'healthier'. It has a higher cocoa content, usually 70 to 80 percent, and has more flavanols than milk chocolate.

Answer: J S Fry, England

In 1847, J.S. Fry and Sons of Bristol created the first chocolate bar moulded from a paste of sugar, chocolate liquor and cocoa butter.

The first Rowntree bar came in 1900; the first Nestlé chocolate was produced in the 1880s; and the first Hershey milk chocolate bar appeared in 1900.

In 2020, the American Mars Wrigley Group was the world's largest producer of chocolate/candy with sales of $18billion. If chocolate was a country, with worldwide sales of $130bn it would be the 58th wealthiest by Gross Domestic Product in the world. (2019 figures.)

Answer: False

NASA does not name commercial products, so we won't either, but in 1981 by demand of the crew, a type of small chocolate centres in crunchy coverings of many colours were on board the Colombia.

NASA has relaxed their views on chocolate and several types are now commonly on board space missions.

Answer: Ronald Reagan

Jelly beans is a generic name for the type of sweet Reagan had. He did favour one particular brand.

Trump meanwhile, was noted for liking potato chips (or as the British call them, crisps). Gerald Ford was fond of waffles with strawberries and sour cream. Obama liked smoked salt caramels, nachos, and salted almonds.

Answer: Kendal Mint Cake

Kendal Mint Cake is a generic name for a product that is produced by several companies. It dates to around 1869 and was discovered by accident when a solution for glacier mints was left unattended overnight and turned cloudy and solidified.

The ingredients are just sugar, glucose, water and peppermint oil. The mint cake is regarded as a quick energy booster. You could also make it at home by mixing 500g of granulated sugar with 150ml of milk and 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint essence or oil

One brand of milk cake was carried by Edmund's Hillary's expedition to climb Mt. Everest in 1953.

Answer: 36 grams

According to the American Heart Association, nine tablespoons of free sugar is the limit for men. That is 36 grams, or 150 calories. For women the limit is recommended at six tablespoons, 25 grams, or 100 calories.

Free sugar is defined as any sugar added to a food or drink, or is already there in in honey, syrup and fruit juice.

As a context, a 330ml can of a typical cola drink can contain 35 grams of sugar.