LONDON -- Britain is known for many fine things.We've got Her Majesty the Queen, fish and chips, Shakespeare, roast dinners, Harry Potter, Adele, The Beatles, to name but a few.
SEE ALSO:Top 20 worst Halloween candies we need to stop giving outBut, when it comes to sweets -- known elsewhere in the world as candy -- we Brits are not famed for our refined taste.
Indeed, it's fair to say that our sweets are pretty rubbish, bar a few exceptions.
Here's a ranking of all the worst sweets to have plagued this scepter'd isle.
1. Liquorice Allsorts
Credit: rachel thompson / mashableNo one gets excited about Liquorice Allsorts. Some of them look a little bit like eye balls. Others look like cigarette butts that have rolled around in the dirt for too long. Also, they taste horrible.
2. Jelly Babies
Credit: RACHEL THOMPSON / MASHABLEPretty sure that these baby-shaped gelatinous shapes were the worst idea ever for a sweet. Let's face it, no one wants to think about eating small children when they're indulging in a snack. Also, why are these sweets covered in a weird mold-like topping?
3. Cherry Drops
Credit: RACHEL THOMPSON / MASHABLEIf you're looking for something resembling a cough drop pulled from the depths of your granny's handbag, then Cherry Drops are the sweets for you. They come wrapped in white paper which -- of course -- is impossible to remove. Finding small bits of paper in your teeth is not out of the ordinary.
4. Fruit Salad
Credit: rachel thompson / mashableWow, these sweets really look like a delicious fresh fruit salad -- if fruit salads were atomised, turned into cubes and propelled into outer space.
5. Mint Humbugs
Credit: RACHEL THOMPSON / MASHABLEMint Humbugs are terrible for so many reasons. Firstly, who wants a mint-flavoured boiled sweet? Just get a mint. Secondly, they get stuck in your teeth when you lose patience after sucking them for 40 minutes. They're not even that minty, either.
6. Tooty Frooties
Credit: RACHEL THOMPSON / MASHABLETooty Frooties are deceptive little things. Their colours are so bright and inviting and they have the air of being soft-centred and delightful. This could not be further from the truth. Bite into one of these and you'll likely chip a tooth. They are hard AF in the middle and no amount of sucking will do anything to change that.
7. Dolly Mixture
Credit: Rachel thompson / mashableIs there anything more mediocre than Dolly Mixture? The strange pastel shades make them look like a throwback from the 1970s, and their chewy texture suggests that they might actually have been left in the sun for four decades. They are strange and deeply underwhelming.
8. Strawberry Laces
Credit: rachel thompson / mashableStrawberry Laces resemble meat that's about to be made into beef ragu. They taste like sugar and smell like baby wipes. They could not be further from a strawberry.
9. Refreshers
Credit: rachel thompson / mashableThere is nothing refreshing about a Refresher. They are almost impossible to unwrap, they are hideously sticky, and so hard that you can scarcely bite into them. After you've almost broken your jaw chewing them, you'll get a burst of powdered sherbet that is nothing short of disappointing. Still, your jaw will get a good workout.
10. Lemon Sherbets
Credit: rachel thompson / mashableWhoever thought it was a good idea to make a sweet version of a lemon needs to examine their choices in life. These psychedelic yellow sweets have a powdered sherbet filling that will make your eyes water. Eat at your own peril.
11. Fruit Gums
Credit: rachel thompson / mashableDon't let these sweets deceive you. They are tough little things to get your teeth around. Eating these sweets usually results in gumming up your teeth with a hard bitter mass that's virtually impossible to remove. Not good.
12. Chewits
Credit: rachel thompson / mashableChewits have some good qualities, and their taste is tolerable. But, they are so overwhelmingly sticky that the wrapper almost always gets stuck. Eating paper seems to be a recurring theme when it comes to eating sweets.
13. Polo Mints
Credit: rachel thompson / mashablePolo Mints are supposed to be round mints with holes in the middle. But, they often end up breaking up into inedible smithereens. If you were to receive a Polo Mint while trick or treating, you should probably ask what you did to offend them.