Conventional – Sour Patch Soft & Chewy Candy
Ingredients: Sugar, invert sugar, corn syrup, modified corn starch, tartaric acid, citric acid, natural and artificial flavoring, yellow 6, red 40, yellow 5, blue 1.
Yellow 6 Artificial Color: The third most widely used artificial color, yellow 6 has been linked to adrenal gland and kidney tumors.
Why are acids used in candy? Acids are used in foods to make flavors taste sharper. They can also be used as a preservative and antioxidant. Citric acid, for example, is naturally derived from citrus fruits and can add a nice tang to a product’s flavor.
Tooth Decay: The acid in sour candy can wear away your tooth enamel and can lead to tooth decay. Holding the candy in your mouth prolongs the erosive effects, and brushing your teeth afterwards makes it even worse! Drink water while or after you eat sour candy to neutralize the acids.
Naturally Savvy Approved TM – Surf Sweets Sour Berry Bears
Ingredients: Organic evaporated cane juice, organic tapioca syrup, organic grape juice concentrate, pectin, citric acid, sodium citrate, malic acid, ascorbic acid, colors added (black carrot juice concentrate), natural flavors.
The Bottom Line Is: Sour Patch Soft & Chewy Candy’s basic ingredients are: sugar, acids, artificial flavor, and artificial colors. Surf Sweets Sour Berry Bears ingredients are essentially: sugar, acids, natural flavors, and natural colors. They both have the same basic ingredients but the quality is what makes the difference. Surf Sweets Sour Berry Bears provide 100% of your recommended daily vitamin C intake per serving, and they contain organic fruit juice (grape juice) and none of the ingredients are genetically engineered (GMO). For this, we give it two Savvy thumbs up.
Why is there more sodium in the natural sour candy? Natural acids do not provide the sour taste that artificial flavors can, so sodium citrate is found in some natural sour candies to bring out the flavor, which ups the sodium content. Since the amount of sodium in Surf Sweets represents only 5% of the RDA, we think it’s a small price to pay for a sour candy without all of the extra junk we’re better off avoiding.
