Musk sticks are a popular

confection Confectionery is the art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two broad and somew ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, available from many different suppliers. They consist of a semi-soft stick of fondant, usually

pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

, and often extruded with a ridged cross-section in the shape of a star. Their flavour and aroma is quite floral, and, as the name suggests, also reminiscent of the smell of

musk Musk is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as base notes in perfumery. They include glandular secretions from animals such as the musk deer, numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial substances with similar odors. ' ...

. They are also called "musk sweets" and "musk lollies". The origin of musk sticks is uncertain, probably dating to at least the early 1900s. The earliest known written reference is 1927 in the '' Australian Worker'', which talks about the "pink curly musk sticks" from 25 years earlier, which were still available. Total sales are not tracked centrally, but supermarket chain Woolworths is reported as selling about 24 million musk sticks per year. Opinion about the confection is strongly polarised.

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

said that "musk sticks manage to disgust tourists as much as they delight Australians", and in October 2018, the Disgusting Food Museum in Malmo, Sweden included musk sticks. Also available is a fruit-flavoured variant called "Fruit sticks", which look like coloured musk sticks. Musk-flavoured mints are produced by companies such as the Dollar Sweets Company. They are sold through supermarkets under the Dollar Sweets brand and also through Lion Clubs Australia under the Lion Mints brand.

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline Australian confectionery