Happy National Licorice Day!

In honor of today being National Licorice Day, we're munching on black licorice and sipping drinks through straws made of Red Vines with the ends bitten off.

How will you celebrate?

Five Top Licorice Fun Facts:

1. More than 30,000 tons of Red Vines® are made each year—or more than 400,000 miles of licorice—enough to wrap around the Earth more than 16 times!
2. In 2011, U.S. licorice sales topped $359 million, a 6.56 percent increase from the year before. It is part of the non-chocolate candy market, which had total sales of $6.87 billion
3. Black licorice is 50 times sweeter than sugar, and derives its botanical name from the Greek words meaning "sweet root."
4. Celebrities love Red Vines! Ryan Gosling, Snoop Dogg, Joshua Jackson, Jennette McCurdy and Magic Johnson are all fans of the classic licorice brand. Betty White even credits them with keeping her 91 years young.
5. American Licorice Company has been producing in the San Francisco Bay Area for 33 years, and its Union City, Calif., factory values process before automation: The old press that delivers the dough to the first floor is still there, the second floor cook room has large kettles that fill the dough into the old large spiral ovens before being checked for quality and packaged. It also has production facilities in La Porte, Ind.

In accordance to the FTC Guidelines and the WOMMA Code of Ethics, I am disclosing that we received the product samples and information from American Licorice Company to facilitate this post.