ViewFinder: International Candy Tasting Contest

The hosted an International Candy Tasting Contest on Thursday afternoon.

Thirty-five candy connoisseurs participated in the taste test. Candies came from Greece, Poland, Germany, Australia, Croatia, England, Indonesia, Canada, Portugal, Netherlands, Japan, Italy, China and Finland.

Participants were put to the test when they had to match the 14 candies with their correct countries of origin. The test was riddled with trick questions, such as the origin of the popular Swedish Fish candy, which is actually from Canada.

Participants checked and double-checked their test. Most averaged three correct answers.

"It's a shot in the dark," says Los Altos resident, Daniel Rapport, as he handed his sheet to Sarah Neeri, the teen librarian. Neeri marked five correct, one of the top scores of the day.

The contest ended in a three-way tie; the top scores were five correct answers out of 14 choices. The prizes were packages of giant Pocky, the very popular Japanese snack food, already well-known to American teens.

Other libraries in the Santa Clara County are holding similar contests, all part of the theme of "You are Here," which puts an emphasis on international foods and travel. 

The international candies from the contest can be found at in Mountain View and Mitsuwa, the Japanese supermarket chain with a San Jose branch.