Did Ayds Diet Candy Suppress Appetite and Help in Weight Loss?

Ayds Diet Candy pronounced as "aids," was once a prominent appetite-suppressant candy that enjoyed huge popularity in the 1970s and early 1980s, particularly among women.

Manufactured by The Carlay Company, Ayds Diet Candy was marketed as a tool to help control your appetite and potentially assist in weight loss. But due to the unfortunate reason of the resemblance of its name to the disease ‘AIDS’, this candy had to be ultimately discontinued in the late 1980s.

In this article, we will explore the history behind the discontinuation of Ayds Diet Candy, its active appetite suppressant ingredient, and whether it genuinely delivered on its weight loss promises.

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What Ayds Diet Candy Had to Offer to Your Taste Buds?

Majority of consumers of Ayds Diet Candy were women, who were appealed by the thought of getting a slim body (Image by Cookie_studio on Freepik)

Ayds Candy was a small, chewy candy that came in a wide range of flavors to cater to different tastes. From the rich indulgence of chocolate and chocolate mint to the sweet comfort of butterscotch and caramel, there was something for everyone. The addition of a peanut butter flavor later expanded the candy's variety.

Although the exact recipe of the candy was kept highly secret, some of the ingredients known to be used to prepare Ayds Diet Candy are Sugar, Hydrogenated Palm Oil, Corn Syrup, Whey Protein Concentrate, and Salt. The list of major ingredients and method of preparation was similar to normal caramel candies.

The active appetite suppressant ingredient initially used in Ayds Candy was Benzocaine, due to its ability to reduce the sense of taste and ultimately, the urge to eat. But later, the company switched to using Phenylpropanolamine instead of Benzocaine.

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Why Was Ayds Candy Discontinued?

While the owners were confident that the AIDS epidemic won’t have any significant impact on their candy brand, they ultimately had to stop the production of Ayds Diet Candy in the 1990s (Image by Jcomp on Freepik)

The popularity of Ayds Candy in the 1970s to 1980s was remarkable as stores were selling tonnes of boxes of it. But the story of Ayds Diet Candy took an unexpected turn due to its name and the emergence of the AIDS epidemic in the mid-1980s.

Even though the names of the candy brand and the auto-immune disease were spelled differently, their same pronunciation created a significant challenge for the brand.

As the spread of the deadly immune disorder increased and people got to know about its devastating effects, the sales of the Ayds Candy declined sharply even though it was not connected in any other manner to the disease except its name.

The company even tried to change its name to ‘Aydslim’ and ‘Diet Ayds’, but the rebranding did not help them win back consumers and somewhere in the 1990s, the brand finally decided to discontinue and disband.

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Did Ayds Candy Actually Help in Losing Weight?

Ayds Diet Candy didn’t particularly promote weight loss and was meant to reduce calorie intake by reduction in the appetite of the individual (Image by KamranAydinov on Freepik)

Ayds Candy didn’t contain any ingredients that were specifically designed for weight loss. However, the properties of the candy like its low-calorie count and hunger-suppressing ability, did make it easier for individuals to adhere to calorie-controlled diets, which helped in weight loss to some extent.

However, it should be noted that Ayds Candy was high in sugar and fat, and was prepared using hydrogenated palm oil which contains trans fats. These points raised issues about the healthiness of the candy and about the potential side effects associated with the ingredients.

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Concluding this article, we saw how Ayds Candy was a unique and popular product in the market, that aimed to help people control their appetites. However, its unfortunate association with the AIDS epidemic resulted in its discontinuation and showed the power of unforeseen external factors on the success of a product.