Runts facts for kids
Runts are crunchy candies made by the Ferrara Candy Company. They first appeared in stores in 1982. These candies are shaped, colored, and flavored like different fruits. Runts have a hard candy shell and a soft, powdery inside, a bit like SweeTarts.
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Exploring Runts Candy Flavors
Since they were first made, Runts candies have had four main sets of flavors.
How Runts Flavors Changed Over Time
- In 1982, Runts started with banana, cherry, strawberry, orange, and lime flavors.
- In the late 1990s, watermelon and blue raspberry were added. The lime flavor was stopped.
- In 2007, the flavors changed to a more tropical mix. Pineapple and mango were added. Watermelon, blue raspberry, and cherry flavors were stopped.
- In 2009, green apple and grape were added. Pineapple and mango were removed. The green apple candy used the same shape as the old cherry candy, and the grape candy used the mango shape.
Discovering Different Runts Candies
Over the years, there have been a few different kinds of Runts candies.
Chewy Runts and Other Fun Types
A soft, chewy version called Chewy Runts used to be available. It had the same fruit flavors as the original crunchy Runts. Chewy Runts were stopped in 2014.
For Easter, a special candy called Runts Freckled Eggs was sold every year. These candies were shaped like eggs, not fruits. They came in big bags and smaller boxes with handles.
In the 1990s, a version called Tropical Runts was available. This is where the pineapple and mango Runts flavors first appeared.
Another similar type, Rock'n Runts, also existed in the 1990s. It included watermelon, grape, pineapple, lemon, and raspberry flavors.
The Look of Runts: Inside and Out
When Runts were first made, their centers were colorful and matched the outside of the candy. Now, Runts have a white center instead of a colorful one.
What's Inside Runts Candy?
Runts candies are made with a few main ingredients.
Ingredients and Nutrition Facts
The main ingredients in Runts are dextrose (a type of sugar), maltodextrin, and a small amount of corn syrup. They also contain malic acid, calcium stearate, carnauba wax, and artificial flavors. Colors like red 40 lake, yellow 5, yellow 5 lake, and yellow 6 are added to make them colorful.
Runts boxes come in different sizes, like a theater size (6 ounces) and a smaller single box (1.8 ounces).
A small serving of Runts (about 12 pieces) has around 60 calories. It has no fat or sodium. It contains about 14 grams of total carbohydrates, with 13 grams of that being sugar. There is no protein in Runts.
See also
Images for kids
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Runts in a bulk vending machine (on the right) with the 2007 and 2008 flavor lineup.
