10 Of The Most Impressive M&M's-Themed Guinness World Records
The tallest stack of M&M's, the fastest time to sort a bag by color, and more.
If you're as tuned into candy news as we are, you know that a determined 22-year-old recently reclaimed the Guinness World Records title for tallest stack of M&M's. Guinness announced that one Brendan Kelbie of Australia successfully stacked six of the candies in an orderly pile, smashing the previous record jointly held by Will Cutbill and Rocco Mercurio. But a cursory search of the Guinness website revealed a surprising, chocolatey twist: There are a startling number of world records involving M&M's. (To be fair, there are zero records involving the newly dowdy Green M&M.) What follows is a list of some of the most curious M&M feats on the books.
Tallest stack of M&M’s
As mentioned, Guinness World Records announced that 22-year-old Brendan Kelbie of Australia successfully stacked six M&M's, breaking the record of five previously held by Will Cutbill and Rocco Mercurio.
This wasn't Kelbie's first time engaging in high-stakes candy play; per USA Today, the record was first set with four M&M's by one Silvio Sabba, and Kelbie managed to tie that record in November 2020. A few months later, Cutbill claimed the title with a stack of five, with Italian record-breaker Mercurio equaling his record in the summer of 2021. Against all odds, Kelbie was able to add six M&M's to a single stack in late 2021. (For what it's worth, Guinness states that "the stack must be completely free-standing and able to stand for a minimum of 10 seconds once completed.")
Most M&M’s/Smarties eaten in three minutes using chopsticks
Interestingly, Guinness allows competitors to use either M&M's or Smarties for a number of challenges, including the most candies eaten in three minutes using chopsticks. (This is a bit surprising given that M&M's are decidedly more slippery than Smarties, no?)
The current record for Smarties eaten in three minutes using chopsticks is 175 and was achieved by Kathryn Ratcliffe in Whitley Bay, UK, back in 2013. Ratcliffe shows off her Smarties skills in the video above.
Most M&M’s flipped with the ear and caught in a minute
This one is tough to visualize, but bear with us. Brothers Mark and Ben Needle currently hold the Guinness record for flipping peanut M&M's from the back of one person's ear (Mark's) into another person's mouth (Ben's). Mark was able to flip 16 peanut M&M's into Ben's mouth in the span of one thrilling minute in 1998. Unfortunately, we weren't able to track down any footage of the feat—you'll just have to dream.
Largest M&M’s mosaic
In 2017, Guinness reported that Mars, Inc. employees spent more than 17 hours building the world's largest M&M's mosaic at Paradise Center shopping mall in Sofia, Bulgaria. It took 27 employees exactly 291,490 M&M's to build the mosaic, which measured around 533.78 square feet. For context, that's around 22,222 individual bags of M&M's. Guinness also points out that all of the sweets used for the attempt had already expired "to ensure there was no food wastage."
Most M&M’s pretzel candies moved with a straw in one minute
If you have a spare 45 minutes, please refer to the video above. In the clip, the very charming Alastair Galpin of New Zealand films himself working to beat the record for the most M&M's pretzel candies moved with a straw in one minute. He succeeds, scooting a total of 62 candies and securing himself a spot in the history books. Why does anyone need to scoot M&M's pretzel candies with a straw? Doesn't matter. All hail Alastair.
Longest line of M&M’s pretzel candies lined up in 30 seconds
Remember Silvio Sabba, the Italian record-breaker who initially set the record for the highest M&M's stack? Though his stacking record was smashed several times, Sabba still holds his 2013 record for the longest line of M&M's pretzel candies lined up in 30 seconds. Sabba successfully lined up 42 M&M's in 30 seconds. (Above is another video of our beloved Alastair attempting the feat; alas, he only lines up 30 of the candies.)
Fastest time to sort 25 M&M’s pretzel candies using chopsticks
Another Silvio Sabba joint here: In 2021, Sabba set the record for the fastest time to sort 25 M&M's pretzel candies using chopsticks. Back in 2012, he sorted the candies by color in a mere 16.05 seconds. (He also holds the record for most eggs held in the hand, if you're into that kind of thing.)
Most M&M’s eaten in one minute blindfolded using chopsticks
Ashrita Furman ate a total of 20 M&M's blindfolded, with chopsticks, in 2011. Since then, countless imitators—including the gentleman in the video above—have attempted to beat the record. Thus far, Furman continues to remain supreme. Care to try this one at home? You probably have everything on hand already.
Fastest time to sort 500 grams of Peanut M&M’s
Time for some quick chocolate math. One serving of peanut M&M's is equivalent to roughly 12 pieces, or about 28 grams. That's means that 500 grams' worth of peanut M&M's equals about 215 candies. Keep that in mind as you absorb the following information: The fastest time to sort 500 grams (around 215 pieces) of Peanut M&M's is one minute and 41 seconds, achieved by André Ortolf of Germany in January 2017. Now, those are some speedy fingers.
World’s largest piñata
M&M's pretzel candies celebrated their one-year anniversary back in 2011. In honor of the occasion, M&M's created the world's largest piñata—in the shape of the very anxious Orange M&M. The company smashed the previous piñata record, which was set by Carnival Cruise Lines in Philadelphia in 2008. The sum total of the M&M piñata's measurements came to 153 feet, four inches—successfully achieving the world record. Also, Cee Lo Green was there?