HARIBO's Gold-bears were first introduced in the 1950s in Germany.

A Gummi bear (also spelled as gummy bear) is a small, rubbery textured confectionery. The candy is roughly 2 centimetres (0.79 in) long and shaped in the form of a bear. The gummi bear is one of many gummies, distinctive and popular gelatin-based candies that come in a variety of shapes and colors.

[edit] History

The Gummi Bear originates from Germany where it is popular under the name Gummibär (help·info) (rubber bear) or Gummibärchen (help·info) (little rubber bear). Hans Riegel of Bonn invented bear-shaped sweets^{[citation needed]} and started the Haribo company in 1922, which produced and introduced its Gold-Bear product in the 1960s. Trolli is another gummi candy manufacturer and the first to introduce gummi worms in 1981.

[edit] Variations and flavours

There are many types of gummies

The success of Gummi Bears has spawned many gummi animals and objects: rings, worms, frogs, snakes, hamburgers, cherries, sharks, penguins, hippos, lobsters, octopuses, apples, peaches, oranges, and even Ampelmännchen, Smurfs and spiders. Manufacturers offer sizes from the standard candy size, and smaller, to bears that weigh several kilograms^[1].

In the United States, Haribo gummi bears come in 5 flavours: raspberry (red); orange (orange); strawberry (green); pineapple (colourless); and lemon (yellow)^[2]. Many offshoot companies (typically the vegan or health-related gummi bears) use more exotic flavours and colours. Trolli "gummy" bears are similarly most often sold in five flavours in the United States, however Trolli's red gummy is cherry-flavoured as opposed to raspberry.

[edit] Ingredients

German Gummibärchen

The traditional Gummi Bear is made from sugar, glucose syrup, starch, flavouring, food coloring, citric acid, and gelatin. There are some Gummi Bears made with pectin or starch instead of gelatin, making them suitable for vegetarians.

Gummi bears made with either bovine or porcine gelatine are not suitable for vegetarians and do not conform to kashrut or halal dietary laws.

Large sour Gummi Bears are larger and flatter than Gummi Bears, 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 gelatin.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Health issues

Vending machine for kosher gummi bears at the cafeteria of the Jewish Museum Berlin.

Gummi bears ordinarily contain mostly empty calories, but recently gummi bears containing vitamin C, produced by manufacturers such as Sconza or Bear Essentials,^[3] are being marketed to parents of young children. Multivitamins have also been produced in the form of gummi bears to motivate consumption by young, picky eaters.

Gummi bears, and other gummi candy, stick to teeth and may cause tooth decay.^[4] However, gummi bears containing the cavity-fighting additive xylitol (wood sugar) are now being tested.^[5]

There has been concern that gelatin in most gummi bears may harbor prions. Prions are misshapen proteins that cause BSE / Mad Cow Disease in cattle and CJD in humans.^[6] 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.^{[7][8][9][10][11]}

[edit] See also

• Gelatin
• Pastille
• "I Am Your Gummy Bear (The Gummy Bear Song)"
• Jelly baby
• Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gummy bears

• Official website of Haribo - original manufacturer
• The History of Gummi Bears and Gummi Candy