
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.
History
The Gummi Bear originates from Germany where it is popular under the name Gummibär (rubber bear) or Gummibärchen (help·info) (little rubber bear). Hans Riegel of Bonn invented bear-shaped sweets 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.
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.
Ingredients
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 starchgelatin, 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