Fruit snack

Welch's fruit snacks

A fruit snack is a processed food eaten as a snack in the United States. Fruit snacks are very similar to gummi candies.[1] The main content is sugar, especially sugar derived from concentrated white grape juice and apple juice.[1] Some fruit snacks have more sugar than gummi candies, and they usually have less protein.[2] The main differences between gummi candies and fruit snacks are the marketing and advertising approaches, and the use of refined sugar from fruits rather than from beets, corn, or sugar cane.

Well-known manufacturers of chewy fruit snacks include Promotion In Motion (Welch's brand), Kellogg's, General Mills[3] and Betty Crocker.

Fruit snacks gained popularity from their convenience and candy-like taste. Most are stored in a simple plastic packaging that does not need to be refrigerated; therefore they can be taken virtually anywhere. However, they do have an expiration date. Fruit snacks range in the amount of fruit content. Some, like Welch's, contain fruit purees. Others only have trace amounts of juice, in addition to sugar.

Fruit leathers differ in that they have a different shape. The ingredients may be the same, or they may be made primarily from pureed, dried fruit and concentrated, high-sugar fruit juice.

Nutrition

More than half the weight of the fruit snacks is simple sugars.[4] They also contain an average of 12% water by weight, 25% starch, a small amount of fat, and a negligible amount of protein.[4]

Fruit snacks are one of the top finger foods, for children and teenagers. While fruit snacks have been a long time staple in American lunch boxes, the nutritional value or content of such has long been hotly contested.[5] Much of the controversy surrounds the nutritional value (or possible lack thereof) in sugar, which may be found in large amounts in some fruit snacks.[6] In some cases, manufactures of fruit snacks have faced class action lawsuits over their claims that fruit snacks are "healthy."[7] In most cases, parents are advised to treat their children's consumption of fruit snacks the same way they would a candy or any other "snack food" item.[8]

Price

As of 2015, fruit snacks generally cost two to five times the price of gummy bears. Welch's fruit snacks usually cost $6.98 for a box of 40 small packs. [2]

History

The modern, highly processed fruit snack has nothing in common with dried fruit or candy. The first modern fruit snack was Joray Fruit Rolls, which were developed by confectioner Louis Shalhoub in the 1970s.[1] It was used by backpackers as a lightweight, high-energy food rather than as healthful-sounding candy for children.

The name fruit snack was first used in 1983 by General Mills, which they used to describe their version of Shalhoub's product, Fruit Roll-Ups, which contained far more sugar.[1]

By the mid-1980s, the fruit snack was a multimillion-dollar business.

Well-known companies

Betty Crocker via General Mills

Three fruit snacks from General Mills (from left): Fruit Roll-Ups, Fruit Gushers and Fruit by the Foot

General Mills, owner of Betty Crocker products, introduced the first Fruit Corners Fruit Roll-Ups in 1983 and then Fruit by the Foot. Fruit Roll-Ups and Fruit by the Foot are packaged similarly, and the products are rolled around a material so the snack does not stick to itself. However, the two snacks differ with respect to taste, texture, and consistency.

Fruit Gushers, [9]) are fruit snacks in the shape of elongated hexagonal bipyramids, which made primarily from sugar and fruit juice, with small amounts of other ingredients. Introduced in 1991, they are produced by General Mills under the Betty Crocker brand name, and may be found in generic forms as well.[10][11]

Welch's

Among the many product types under the Welch's brand are Welch’s Fruit Snacks, which are manufactured and marketed under license by The Promotion In Motion Companies, Inc. Welch’s Fruit Snacks are made with fruit purees and juices, among other ingredients.

In 2015, a class-action lawsuit was filed in California against Welch's Fruit Snacks, alleging illegal supplementation with vitamins, in violation of the jelly bean rule. The jelly bean rule prohibits food manufacturers from deceiving consumers into buying candy by adding vitamins and marketing the candy as a healthful food.[2] Promotion in Motion, Inc., which manufactures Welch's fruit snacks under license,[12] replied that the complaint is without merit,[13] "It is a fact that fruit, whether in the form of juices or more recently purees, has always been the first ingredient in Welch’s Fruit Snacks. Our labeling is truthful and gives consumers the information they need to make informed decisions.”[14] The case has not yet been settled.

Kellogg's

Kellogg's created "Fruit Winders" in the UK, which is similar to the American Fruit by the Foot by General Mills, only in fewer flavors. Unlike Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Winders contain no artificial colorings and each flavor is made with real purée derived from the fruit it represents (e.g. the strawberry flavour contains real strawberry purée).

Fruit Winders were introduced in the UK and Ireland in 2001 under the Kellogg's brand. The product was first called "Real Fruit Winders", which was later changed to "Screamin Fruit Winders" before being changed finally to "Kellogg's Fruit Winders". When the product first came out, the flavors were Orange, Strawberry and Blackcurrant, with Apple introduced shortly after.

Later, a public call-in contest was held where people would vote for a new Fruit Winders flavor. The choices were Tropical, Raspberry and Lemon. The winning flavor was Tropical, but Raspberry and Lemon were introduced later on afterwards. In 2006, Fruit Winders discontinued the Orange, Tropical, Raspberry and Lemon flavors along with the spin-off products, and made the strands small enough ti fit two on each winder. Apple and Blackcurrant were placed into the Doubles, including brands with Strawberry, leaving Strawberry the only flavour to be sold as a single packets, but with two smaller winders. As of 2017, there had been a new flavor of Very Cherry added, and is sold only in select stores.

The spin-off products were a squeezable product called Screamin Fruit Squidgers and gummy candies with a liquid centre, which were called Screamin Fruit Spurters. These were discontinued in 2006.

The television adverts for Fruit Winders showed a fruit with eyes and a mouth being winded into a Fruit Winder by a character that was a humanoid version of the fruit it was harming, these ads often had the slogan "Unwind the fruity fun, FOREVER!". On the paper attached to the Fruit Winder, a comic strip is shown, it shows a comic of the characters winding the fruit. Every Winder has a different story or way of being winded.

Fruit Winder Gang

  • Blabber the Male Orange Jokester
  • Booster the Male Blackcurrent Genius
  • Max the Female Apple Athlete
  • Sorbabe the Female Strawberry DJ
  • Voodoo the Male Tropical Witch Doctor
  • Unknown Cherry Character
  • Unknown Female Lemon Genie
  • Unknown Male Raspberry Secret Agent

Other brands

Annie's Homegrown Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks, owned by General Mills, uses sugar refined from sweet cassava roots.[15]

Sunkist has manufactured and licensed several fruit snacks brands:

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Kawash, Samira (2013-10-15). Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure. Macmillan. p. 322–323. ISBN 9780865477568.
  2. 1 2 3 Moyer, Melinda Wenner (September 25, 2015). "Don't Be Fooled Into Thinking Welch's Fruit Snacks Are Any Healthier Than Candy".
  3. ↑ "Greatest Food Snacks of All Time". Complex. July 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Basic Report: 19013, Snacks, fruit leather, pieces". Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (Release 27). Retrieved 2015-09-28.
  5. ↑ Kawash, Samira. "The Candification of Our Food: The Case of the Fruit-Less Fruit Snack". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  6. ↑ O'Connor, Anahad (2016-06-08). "Is Sugar Really Bad for You? It Depends". Well. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  7. ↑ "Lawsuit alleges Welch's Fruit Snacks are more candy than fruit". Fortune. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  8. ↑ "Let's Get Real About Fruit Snacks". Parents. 2015-02-18. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  9. ↑ "Fruit Gushers - The 25 Greatest Fruit Snacks of All Time". Complex. 25 July 2013.
  10. ↑ "Kids` Snack Gushes With Fruit Flavor". Sun Sentinel.
  11. ↑ "Fruit Snacks Product List". Generalmills.com. Retrieved 2012-06-28.
  12. ↑ Watson, Elaine (23 Sep 2015). "Welch's fruit snacks are 'no more healthful than candy', says false advertising lawsuit". Food Navigator.
  13. ↑ Hamm, Nia (12 Oct 2015). "Lawsuit: Welch's Fruit Snacks 'No More Healthful Than Candy'". Public News Service.
  14. ↑ Askew, Katy (25 Sep 2015). "Welch's dismisses challenge to snacks health claims". Just-Food. Aroq Ltd.
  15. ↑ Moyer, Melinda Wenner (September 25, 2015). "Don't Be Fooled Into Thinking Welch's Fruit Snacks Are Any Healthier Than Candy".
  16. ↑ "Sunkist Fun Fruits". Sunkist.
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