Rowntree's Fruit Gums facts for kids
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| Owner | Nestlé |
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| Introduced | 1893 |
| Previous owners | Rowntree's |
Rowntree's Fruit Gums are tasty, chewy sweets that used to be made by a company called Rowntree's. Now, they are part of Nestlé, a much bigger company. These circular sweets come in five different fruit flavours, each with its own bright colour. You can find strawberry (which was once raspberry), orange, lemon, blackcurrant, and lime flavours.
Fruit Gums were first made way back in 1893. They were originally called "Rowntree's Clear Gums." People loved them, and they were even called "The nation's favourite sweet." Back then, you could buy them in small tubes or larger packets. Sometimes, they even came in special boxes with sweets shaped like the fruits they tasted like!
Contents
What are Fruit Gums Made Of?
Fruit Gums are made from ingredients like glucose syrup and sugar. They also contain starch and gum Arabic, which give them their chewy texture. To get their fruity taste, they use concentrated fruit juice from fruits like apple, blackcurrant, orange, lime, strawberry, and lemon. They also have natural colours and flavourings.
For many years, Fruit Gums contained gelatine, which comes from animals. But in 2020, Rowntree's changed the recipe. They removed the gelatine and another ingredient called carminic acid. This change made Fruit Gums suitable for vegans, meaning people who don't eat any animal products can now enjoy them too!
Around 2010, the amount of fruit juice in Fruit Gums was changed. It went from 25 percent down to 1 percent concentrated fruit juice. In 2017, Nestlé also announced that they would reduce the amount of sugar in the sweets by 30%.
Changes to Packaging and Recipe
In 2020, Nestlé decided to sell Fruit Gums mostly in bags. These bags are special because you can recycle them through a program called Terracycle. This was a step towards being more environmentally friendly. Soon after, the new vegan-friendly recipe was introduced.
However, many fans really missed the traditional tubes of Fruit Gums. Because so many people asked for them, Rowntree's brought the tubes back in 2022! These new tubes also contain the vegan-friendly version of the sweets. Some people still hope that the original non-vegan recipe might return one day.
The Famous Advert: "Don't Forget the Fruit Gums, Mum!"
One of the most famous advertising campaigns for Fruit Gums ran for three years, from 1958 to 1961. The catchy slogan was "Don't Forget the Fruit Gums, Mum." A writer named Roger Musgrave came up with this memorable phrase.
The television advert showed a young boy. He would remind his mother to buy Fruit Gums as she was leaving to go shopping. The advert claimed that Fruit Gums "last all day" and that "Rowntree's Fruit Gums last the longest." This probably meant that the sweets took a long time to dissolve in your mouth, giving you a longer-lasting treat!
See also
- Joseph Rowntree (philanthropist)
- List of confectionery brands
