Types

Lollipops are available in a number of colors and flavors, particularly fruit flavors. With numerous companies producing lollipops, the candy now comes in dozens of flavors and many different shapes. They range from small ones which can be bought by the hundred and are often given away for free at banks, barbershops, etc., to very large ones made out of candy canes twisted into a circle.

Some lollipops contain fillings, such as bubble gum or soft candy. Some novelty lollipops have more unusual items, such as mealwormlarvae, embedded in the candy.^[2] Other novelty lollipops have non-edible centers, such a flashing light, embedded within the candy; there is also a trend^[where?] of lollipops with sticks attached to a motorized device that makes the entire lollipop spin around in one's mouth.

Some lollipops have been marketed for use as diet aids, although their effectiveness is untested, and anecdotal cases of weight loss may be due to the power of suggestion.^[3] Flavored lollipops made with children's medicine have also been created in order to effectively give kids medicine without fuss. Drugmakers have also developed lollipops containing fentanyl, a powerful analgesic.

In the Nordic countries, Germany, and the Netherlands, lollipops may be flavored with salmiak.