Confections have always been regarded as one of life’s little pleasures. But they taste so much better when they help ease someone’s pain.

During a recent family visit, my daughter remarked about how critical adhering to the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle made projects, well simpler.

It is time for all candy makers to get off their duff and send “e-mails, voice mails and money” to Congress to get rid of our national sugar welfare program.

People, let’s get a grip. What’s needed here is much more consumer education about health, nutrition, diet and activity. Obesity isn’t a simple problem. And banning green from an informational nutrition label is — at best — a knee-jerk reaction to a complex issue.

Enthralled by Venezuela’s cacao culture, Domori founder Gianluca Franzoni begins a quest to rescue fine-flavored cacao from extinction as well as bridge the gap between grower and chocolate maker.

The cremini, a three-layer chocolate that features two delicate slabs of gianduja chocolate sandwiching an inner chocolate paste of varying flavors, beckons memories of another era.

An interview with Steven Hines, director of marketing with United Sugars Corp., provides answers about sugar availability, the short-term Farm Bill, GMOs and imports.

Within the adult gum and mint categories, the switchover from sugar to sweetener alternatives has been nearly seamless. This gradual yet almost totally pervasive transition goes back several decades.

It was Debra Sandler’s remarks that stirred my soul the most. The recently appointed president of Mars Chocolate America reminded the audience that “consumers are redefining their relationship with food.”

In addressing analysts attending the Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) conference yesterday in Boca Raton, Fla., Mondelez International’s chairman and ceo Irene Rosenfeld provided a rosy outlook for the company’s performance this year.