What Are the Ingredients in Fruit Snacks?
Fruit snacks, a common childhood treat, are processed and created from chemically frozen gelatin. While brands, flavors, shapes and sizes may vary, all fruit snacks share four basic ingredients: corn syrup, sweeteners, flavoring and gelatin.
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Corn Syrup
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Corn Syrup is not a natural substance. It is created through a chemical process. A pulpy layer called cornstarch is removed from the outer husk and the inner corn. The starch is stored in giant vats with natural enzymes that break it down into glucose. When these glucose sugars are heated, corn syrup is created.
It is extremely sweet and often replaces granulated sugar in recipes. It does not crystallize, giving candy and other corn syrup creations a smoother texture. This sweetness and texture make it an ideal candidate for the most common ingredient in fruit snacks.
There is some controversy surrounding high fructose corn syrup, which is used in a limited variety of fruit snacks. This syrup contains additional additives that create a fructose, which is especially sweet. It is rarely sold directly to consumers because it is highly controversial due to its composition, sweetness and negative impact on the liver. However, it is the default sweetener in many processed food products found in grocery stores across the country.
Sweeteners
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The most commonly found sweetener in fruit snacks is sucrose, or table sugar. This adds to the fruit snacks appeal as a sweet-tasting treat but does not make it a healthy option. Sucrose is commonly associated with tooth decay and obesity. It is a pure carbohydrate, which provides a high food energy content but can contribute to obesity with constant use.
Flavoring
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Fruit snacks come in an endless variety of flavors, including strawberry, watermelon, cherry, apple, and tropical. Grocery stores usually have several shelves dedicated to these treats.
Every fruit snack uses a different combination of natural and artificial flavoring to achieve the desired taste. The name "fruit snack" is derived from the fruity flavors, which usually originate from a juice concentrate.
The U.S. laws surrounding natural flavors is very abstract. In essence, it includes anything approved for use in food. The specific law (Title 21, Section 101, part 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations) states, "The term natural flavoring...means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf, or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional."
Gelatin
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Gelatin is a common ingredient in marshmallows and gummy candy. It is created from the collagen inside an animal's skin, bones, organs and intestines. The molecular bonds between strands are broken down into a form that rearranges easily. When mixed with water and cooled, it sets into a gel.
Gelatin is usually made from by-products of the meat and leather industry. Pork skins, pork and cattle bones, and split cattle hides are the main sources. Contrary to common lore, horns and hooves are not used.
Due to some religious and lifestyle objections to eating these products, gelatin manufacturers are considering the use of fish as a source for collagen.
Other Ingredients
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Other common ingredients in fruit snacks include sorbitol, corn starch, citric acid, mineral oil, corn oil, carnauba wax, vitamins A, C, and E, and colorings. These generally compromise 2 percent or less of the fruit snack.
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