Gummy bears (German: ''Gummibär'') are small, fruit gum candies, similar to a jelly baby in some English-speaking countries. The candy is roughly long and shaped in the form of a

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

. The gummy bear is one of many gummies, popular

gelatin Gelatin or gelatine (from la, gelatus meaning "stiff" or "frozen") is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also ...

-based candies sold in a variety of shapes and colors.

History

The gummy bear originated in Germany, where it is popular under the name (gum or gummy bear), or in the endearing form ( ittlegum or gummy bear). Gum arabic was the original base ingredient used to produce the gummy bears, hence the name ''gum'' or ''gummy''. Hans Riegel Sr., a confectioner from

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

, started the

Haribo Haribo ( ) is a German confectionery company founded by Hans Riegel Sr.. It began in Kessenich, Bonn, Germany. The name "Haribo" is a syllabic abbreviation formed from Hans Riegel Bonn. The company created the first gummy candy in 1960 in the for ...

company in 1920. In 1922, inspired by the trained bears seen at street festivities and markets in Europe through to the 19th century, he invented the Dancing Bear (''Tanzbär''), a small, affordable, fruit-flavored gum candy treat for children and adults alike, which was much larger in form than its later successor, the Gold-Bear (''Goldbär''). Even during Weimar Germany's hyperinflation period that wreaked havoc on the country, Haribo's fruit-gum Dancing Bear treats remained affordably priced for a mere one

pfennig The 'pfennig' (; . 'pfennigs' or ; symbol pf or ₰) or penny is a former German coin or note, which was the official currency from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002. While a valuable coin during the Middle Ages, i ...

per pair at kiosks. The success of the Dancing Bear's successor would later become Haribo's world-famous Gold-Bears candy product in 1967.

Variations and flavors

The success of gummy bears has spawned the production of many other

gummy candies Gummies, gummi candies, gummy candies, or jelly sweets are a broad category of gelatin-based chewable sweets. Gummi bears, Sour Patch Kids, and Jelly Babies are widely popular and are a well-known part of the sweets industry. Gummies are availabl ...

made to resemble animals and other objects, such as rings, worms, frogs, snakes, hamburgers, cherries, sharks, penguins, hippos, lobsters, octopuses, apples, peaches, oranges, '' Ampelmännchen'', Smurfs and spiders. Manufacturers offer a range of sizes including bears that weigh several kilograms. In the United States, Haribo gummy bears are sold in five flavors: raspberry (red); orange (orange); strawberry (green); pineapple (colorless); and lemon (yellow). Trolli's bears are most often sold in five flavors in the United States, and in the same colors; however, Trolli's red bear is strawberry-flavored, while the green is lime and the colorless is grape. Many companies emulate either Haribo or Trolli flavor-color combinations. Health-oriented brands, which often use all-natural flavors, sometimes opt for more and different flavors. For example, the boxed bulk gummies sold by Sunflower/Newflower Markets include grape, pineapple-coconut and peach, among others.

Ingredients and production

The traditional gummy bear is made from a mixture of

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

glucose syrup Glucose syrup, also known as confectioner's glucose, is a syrup made from the hydrolysis of starch. Glucose is a sugar. Maize (corn) is commonly used as the source of the starch in the US, in which case the syrup is called "corn syrup", but glucos ...

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diets ...

flavoring A flavoring (or flavouring), also known as flavor (or flavour) or flavorant, is a food additive used to improve the taste or smell of food. It changes the perceptual impression of food as determined primarily by the chemoreceptors of the gusta ...

, food coloring,

citric acid Citric acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula HOC(CO2H)(CH2CO2H)2. It is a colorless weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, which occurs in t ...

and

. However, recipes vary, such as organic candy, those suitable for vegetarians or those following religious dietary laws. Production uses a specialized machine called a starch mogul. The image of the gummy bear is stamped into a tray filled with powdered starch. The hot, liquid mixture is poured into the indentations in the starch and allowed to cool overnight. Once the mixture has set, the candies can be removed from the mold and packaged. The molds are open on top, so only the bear's front is formed while the back remains flat. The original design for each type of candy is carved into plaster by an artist, then duplicated by a machine and used to create the starch molds for the production line. Gummy bears made with bovine, porcine or piscine gelatin are not suitable for vegetarians and

vegans Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet (nutrition), diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is kn ...

. Those with porcine gelatin or from animals not slaughtered in either of the two contradictory ritualistic fashions do not conform to

kashrut (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...

or halal dietary laws. In its factory in Turkey, Haribo produces halal bears and other sweets made with bovine gelatin. Also, some gummy bears are made with

pectin Pectin ( grc, πηκτικός ': "congealed" and "curdled") is a heteropolysaccharide, a structural acid contained in the primary lamella, in the middle lamella, and in the cell walls of terrestrial plants. The principal, chemical component of ...

or starch instead of gelatin, making them suitable for vegetarians. Large sour gummy bears are larger and flatter than regular ones, have a softer texture and include fumaric acid or other acid ingredients to produce a sour flavor. Some manufacturers produce sour bears with a different texture based on starch instead of gelatin. Typically, starch produces a shorter (cleaner bite, less chewy) texture than does gelatin.

Health issues

Gummy bears ordinarily contain mostly

empty calories In human nutrition, empty calories are those calories found in beverages (including alcoholic) and foods composed primarily or solely of sugars and/or certain fats and oils such as cholesterol, saturated or trans fats, that provide little to no use ...

, but recently gummy bears containing

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) an ...

, produced by manufacturers such as Sconza or Bear Essentials, have been marketed to parents of young children.

Multivitamin A multivitamin is a preparation intended to serve as a dietary supplement with vitamins, dietary minerals, and other nutritional elements. Such preparations are available in the form of tablets, capsules, pastilles, powders, liquids, or injectable ...

s have also been produced in the form of gummy bears to motivate consumption by young, picky eaters. Gummy bears, and other gummy candy, stick to teeth and may cause tooth decay. However, gummy bears containing the cavity-fighting additive xylitol (wood sugar) are now being tested.

Trolli Trolli is a German manufacturer of confectionery. Its American arm was sold in 1996 and became a confectionery brand used by Ferrara Candy Company. Trolli sells gummy candies, marshmallows, and soft licorice gums in over 80 countries and has fac ...

has developed its "acti-line" of gummy candy that it claims will help the immune system and teeth. There has been concern that gelatin in most gummy bears may harbor

prion Prions are misfolded proteins that have the ability to transmit their misfolded shape onto normal variants of the same protein. They characterize several fatal and transmissible neurodegenerative diseases in humans and many other animals. It ...

s, particularly those that cause bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle and new-variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease in humans. Based on studies, the United States FDA and other national organizations and countries consider the risk of BSE transmission through gelatin to be minuscule as long as precautions are followed during manufacturing.Asian Food Information center
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References

External links