How sprinkles are made

Sprinkles come in two builds: rods squeezed from sugar paste, and round nonpareils grown layer by layer in a spinning drum.

stations: 6
things upstream: 25
raw sources: 13
steps from the ground: 5

The short version

Rod-shaped sprinkles start as a doughy paste of sugar, cornstarch, cocoa and an emulsifier, pushed through an extruder with holes like an angel hair pasta die. The strands fall on a vibrating conveyor that shakes them into short lengths. They are still soft, so a spray of color and a sugar glaze harden them. Round nonpareils are built up in drums instead.

Stir a stiff paste

Sugar, cornstarch, cocoa and an emulsifier combine into a doughy paste, with a little corn syrup and food-grade wax in the recipe.

Goes in
Sugar Corn starch Cocoa powder Corn syrup
Push through tiny holes

An extruder forces the paste through very small holes, and it comes out like strands of angel hair pasta.
Shake into lengths

The strands drop onto a vibrating conveyor belt, which breaks them into the right range of sizes.
Spray on the color

At this stage the pieces are still very soft. A spray coat of color starts to harden them.

Goes in
Pigment
Glaze for shine

A coat of sugar glaze makes them shiny and durable enough to survive the bag.

Goes in
Sugar
Bag them

Finished sprinkles are bagged for bakers and shoppers.

End of the lineSprinkles Next it goes into donut.

Worth repeating

Dutch hagelslag, the chocolate sprinkles eaten on buttered bread, was invented in 1913 and is named for hail.
Hagelslag may only be sold as chocoladehagelslag if it has a cacao percentage of more than 32%.
In Australia and New Zealand, nonpareils on buttered white bread are a children's party food called fairy bread.
In the Boston area, chocolate sprinkles are called jimmies, and the origin of the name is uncertain.