Copyright (2010) SMH

Matthew Knott

Sydney Morning Herald

July 2, 2010

For many doctors, sugary treats are to be strictly rationed. But not for Toni Risson, who has spent the past three years working towards Australia's first PhD in lollies.

The author of children's books, who lives in Ipswich, Queensland, has already written 25,000 words on Australia's confectionery history for her 80,000-word doctoral thesis - despite not being a lolly lover herself.

''I don't like the taste of them so much,'' Ms Risson said. ''I'm looking at lollies as social objects, not just food. Eating a lolly is an adventure; it's got nothing to do with hunger or nutrition.

Ms Risson said important social changes in the past century could be seen through children's changing relationship with confectionery.

''The first things most Australians will ever have bought in their lives is a lolly. It taught you about value, weighing things up and making decisions. The microcosm of an economy can be seen being played out through kids and their lollies.''

While hard sweets such as gobstoppers and aniseed balls were popular in the Depression because they were cheap and lasted a long time, today's cashed-up children wanted more exciting sweets.

''I've heard stories of kids getting a packet of sherbet, splitting it up and snorting it with a $5 note,'' Ms Risson said.

Few home-grown Australian confectionary companies remain in business. Sweet Acres (Fantales, Minties and Jaffas), Hoadley's (Violet Crumble, Polly Waffle) and Mastercraft (Redskins, Mint Patties) have been bought by multinationals such as Nestle.

Ms Risson has been in Sydney this week for Australia's first international popular-culture conference, held by the Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand.

The organiser, Toni Johnson-Woods, of the University of Queensland, said she had been flooded by academic papers about food when she called for submissions earlier this year.

Topics ranged from the history of ginger beer to the power of restaurant critics.

Dr Johnson-Woods said the growing interest in food as a research area reflected the popularity of cooking shows and Australians' increased affluence.