Sour Patch Kids are vegan-friendly. The ingredients in Sour Patch Kids do not contain animal-derived products or by-products.
Typically, Sour Patch Kids’ ingredients consist of sugar, inverted sugar, corn syrup, modified corn starch, tartaric acid, citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, yellow 6, red 40, yellow 5, and blue 1. None of these ingredients are from animals, making Sour Patch Kids suitable for vegans.
What are Sour Patch Kids?
Sour Patch Kids are a sweet and sour taste of delicious candies. This fruity, chewy snack comes in five classic flavors: lime (green), lemon (yellow), raspberry (blue), orange, and cherry (red).
Like sweet surprises, the sensational taste of these soft jellies can give your taste buds a tangy kick. Candies were first made in Canada in the 1970s, and then in 1985, they were brought to markets in the United States.
Initially, they were shaped like ‘Mars Men’ by Frank Galatolie because of their interest in space named Maynards. After that, these cute candies were for children. Many exciting flavors were launched in the UK in 2012.
They are all-time favorite candies of children and adults. They are halal and do not contain alcohol or animal-derived products.
Sour Patch Kids Ingredients
There is a difference between British and U.S. gummy bags. An American candy bag is more significant and contains 226 grams. At the same time, a UK bag is smaller and contains 160 grams of soft and squishy jellies.
Ingredients of Sour Patch Kids are:
- Sugar
- Invert sugar
- Gelatin
- Corn syrup
- Modified corn starch (extracted from plants) contains less than 2% tartaric acid.
- The citric acid (sour acid)
- Natural and artificial colors (vegetable carbon
- Paprika
- Anthocyanin
- Curcumin
- Lutein
Different packets have unique and other flavors, so there are also a few differences in the ingredients. Some also consist of fumaric acid and lactic acid as acid regulators (these are non-vegan). The sourness in candy is due to tartaric (organic acids extracted from fruits) and citric acid. U.S. and UK bags have different ingredients.
Vegan Consumption
UK (Maynard) fruit flavor gums contain all ingredients mentioned above, with concentrated vegetable extracts of turmeric, stinging nettle, and spinach, while American candy is corn syrup. These candies get their gooey and sticky texture due to corn starch; gelatin is also used in these candies, which is unsuitable for vegan consumption.
Bovine gelatin is extracted from the bones of animals, including cows and pigs, through collagen. Considering this big concern forplaced by plant extract in the form of pectin, as per the vegetarians and vegans, gelatin has now been recompany announcement.
Some of the bright and attractive colors of Sour Patch Kids are a mixture of artificial and natural flavors. According to research, artificial ones are derivatives of coal and petroleum (and animal testing is involved), while natural ones are fruit-based.
Flavors of Sour Patch
Sour from the outside but sweet from the inside, these sugar-coated magical bags of candies come in various flavors and textures. American candies are less dense, but British jellies are more chewy and dense. These are as follows;
- Sour Patch Fruits consists of many additional ones, watermelon in pink and grape in purple, and original fruity flavors with two natural and artificial colors.
- Sour Patch Kids Berries consists of all flavors of berries like strawberry in pink, cherry in red, grape in purple, and blue raspberry in blue (it looks like natural blue raspberry dye, but it is black currant, and British people love this flavor while Americans do not)
- Kids Tropical consists of allical fruits like paradise punch in pink, tropical twist in orange, pineapple in white, flavors of trop and passion fruit in purple.
- Sour Patch Xploderz has a cracklingdes apple strawberry burst in green, grape berry surge in purple, cherry bash in red, taste and inclu and raspberry lemonade rush in pink color.
Candies for Festivals
- Sour Patch Chillerz consists of menthol coolness, and the candy bag includes strawberry shiver in red, frozen lemonade in yellow, frosty grape in purple, and berry punch chiller in blue color.
- Kids Soda Popz comprises a carbonated soda taste, and the packet is available in the UK only; it includes apple fizz in green, cherryade in red, cola in brown, tropical in pink, and orangeade in orange color (they are only available in New Zealand Australia and the United Kingdom)
Some of the candies are limited edition and produced during festivals like Halloween and are made in specific countries; Zombie Sour Patch Kids and Sour Patch Kids heads and Bodies, for Christmas exclusive edition of Sour Patch Xmas Kids, and Easter Sour Patch Bunnies are made.
Similarly, there are other new flavors, like Sour Patch Peach, Sour Apple, watermelon, lineups, and connectors.
Conclusion
Most of us have delightful memories of childhood eating these sour, chewy candies that melt on the tongue with a sweet, puckering taste. They are popular in the U.S., UK, and France.
Sour Patch Kids is safe for vegans. The only debatable ingredients are probably sugar (not vegan) and artificial flavors. Manufacturers do not confirm gelatin (hidden item). The red color comes from petroleum or coal, while the blue and yellow colors come from petroleum.
These colors are extensively tested on animals (mainly rats and mice, even on dogs too). Most strict vegans do not eat artificial colors or refined sugar that may contain bone char (cattle). It’s up to the vegans to choose wisely by checking the ingredients for their cravings.
FAQs – Sour Patch Kids
Q. Do Sour Patch kids have gelatin?
These mischievous-looking sweet and sour candies had controversial vegan ingredients, such as gelatin extracted from the bones and skin of animals (cows or pigs) in the form of collagen. Still, Sour Patch Kids now contains plant extracts (pectin, agar), which are vegan-friendly.
Watermelon flavor has Titanium dioxide in it, which is a naturally occurring earth mineral. So, most of the Sour Patch Kids gummies are vegan due to their plant-based source.
Q. Are Sour Patch Kids bad for you?
From a health point of view, they will be toxic if eaten in excess as they have high concentrations of sugar with artificial flavoring and fructose corn syrup together, making them unhealthy as they contain no nutritional benefits.
Acids in the candy peel off the top layer of the tongue, and jelly texture sticks to the teeth and eats away enamel, thus affecting oral hygiene. It’s safe to eat a limited quantity of these gummy babies.
Q. Can vegetarians have Sour Patch Kids?
The original packet of Sour Patch Kids is vegan except for Xploderz and Extreme flavors. Most of the flavors contain sugar and artificial colors derived from animals. The vegan-friendly flavors are Original Sour Patch Kids, Sour Patch Kids watermelon, mango, berries, and tropical.
Q. What is the most popular Sour Patch Kid Flavor?
Blue Raspberry, Pink Watermelon, and Yellow Mango are the most popular Sour Patch Kid flavors. All are vegan-friendly.
Q. Does America have Sour Patch Kids?
Sour Patch Kids is an American classic. They are available anywhere in the USA. Blue Raspberry was one of the favorite flavors, but recent new favorites are Sour Patch Kids Mango and Sour Patch Kids Watermelon.
Mango gummies contain 110 calories of 0g of protein, fats, 24 g of sugar, and 25 mg of sodium in each seven-piece serving bag (5 yellow and two blue) whereas, watermelon gummies comprise 139 calories of 29 g of sugar, 15 mg of sodium, with 0 g of protein and fats in each 11 serving (red 4, blue 1, yellow 6)
