So you have the sugar. The corn syrup. The gelatin. And the air. And they all get mixed together and then it is pumped over to our production belt. These are bare naked chicks.

Peeps were once made by hand and took nearly 30 hours to create. Peeps are owned and made by Just Born Inc., a candy company located in Bethlehem, Pa. The company is named after Sam Born, a Russian-born founder and confectioner, who started the brand in 1917 after immigrating to the United States.

Milk Chocolate Peeps Marshmallow Delights Dipped in Decadent Milk Chocolate.

PEEPS® Fun Facts Just Born produces enough PEEPS® Brand Marshmallow Candies in one year to circle the earth twice. In the late 1950s PEEPS® wings were “clipped” to give them a sleek, modern look. PEEPS® Brand Candies have been the #1 non-chocolate brand at Easter for more than 20 years*.

While Peeps are obviously meant for eating, their role as a festive treat is not the only reason people love them. The marshmallows have carved out a niche as a source of experimentation for the young and the young at heart. One of the most popular Peeps experiments is also one of the simplest.

Peeps are a marshmallow confection marketed since 1953 in the United States and Canada in the shape of chicks, bunnies, and other animals as well as holiday shapes produced by Pennsylvania-headquartered Just Born Quality Confections.

In 1953, Just Born acquired Rodda Candy Co., which originally made the candy we know as Peeps -- but with wings. The family expanded in the 1950s and '60s. Shapes and flavors are available for seasonal themes such as Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day.

They are the most popular non-chocolate Easter candy - and they've sat at the top of that list for more than twenty years. Every spring, more than 1.5 billion marshmallow Peeps are eaten.

Review: The thing that makes Peeps so good is their ability to be light and sugary at the same time, which is a combination that doesn't actually come around as often as you'd think.

Yellow chicks are the original Peep, and still the favorite. Yellow bunnies are the second most popular color/shape combination.

Review: The thing that makes Peeps so good is their ability to be light and sugary at the same time, which is a combination that doesn't actually come around as often as you'd think.

Consumer Reports called out several Peeps candies as containing the dye that it said is "a known carcinogen," according to a Monday news release from the nonprofit.

PERSONAL EMERGENCY EVACUATION PLANS (PEEPs)

1950s and '60s: The Peeps family expands In addition to the chicks that are popular during Easter, shapes and flavors were created to meet seasonal themes such as Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day. Bunny Peeps weren't added until the 1980s.

The California Food Safety Act bars the manufacture, sale or distribution in the state of any items containing red dye No. 3, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil or propyl paraben. The dye is carcinogen and is used in purple and pink Peeps as well as the candy Hot Tamales, according to Consumer Reports.

Peeps are manufactured by the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based Just Born candy company, which was founded in 1910 by a Russian immigrant named Sam Born and also manufactures such trick-or-treating offenses as Mike & Ikes and Hot Tamales.