Gummy bears: history, production, ingredients & calories

Small, colorful, and sweet, gummy bears are a favorite not just with children. A statistical survey shows that around 6 million Germans eat fruit gums and wine gums several times a week. Nearly 12 million do so several times a month. We most enjoy them in their most well-known form: Goldbears. But what are these delicious sweets made of, who invented them, and can you make gummy bears yourself?

1. What are gummy bears?

Gummy bears are fruit gums. They are shaped like bears and are only about 2.1 centimeters tall. These bears are a special type of gummy candy. They come in many colors and flavors. Along with chocolate in its many varieties, these bear-shaped fruit gums are among the most popular sweets in the world. The rainbow-colored bears even have their own television series. The series Gummi Bears was a huge success in the 1980s. The theme song is still familiar to fans today and has garnered almost 50 million views on YouTube. Even the youngest children, who weren't even born back then, still watch the series today.

2. The history of the invention of gummy bears

The small rubber bears marked the beginning of the triumphant march of all kinds of gummy figures. Smurfs, dragons, snakes, tigers, smiley faces, and much more are made from this basic material. Gummy candy was invented in Germany more than 100 years ago.

It all started with hard candies.

No name is more closely associated with the history of gummy bears than Haribo. And for good reason, as the company is considered the inventor of the sweet treat. It was Hans Riegel from Bonn who founded his own confectionery company in 1920. Previously, he had worked in a pastry shop, but was very dissatisfied. On a whim, he began experimenting in his kitchen with a copper kettle and a marble slab. The result was hard, transparent candies. His only employee, his wife Gertrud, delivered the rather unassuming candies by bicycle.

There were no gummy bears at that time, but the name already existed, a name that is still on everyone's lips today: Haribo. The company name is a combination of the founder's name and his hometown: Hans Riegel from Bonn = Haribo.

The path to the soft gummy bears

Since the candies didn't sell as well as Hans Riegel had expected, he continued his experiments. Now, soft, gelatin-based candies were to conquer the market. He also came up with a special shape: the dancing bears. The shape was inspired by the then very popular dance performances by trained bears at fairs and festivals.

Gummy bears are based on traditional Turkish and Japanese recipes using cornstarch and rice starch. Hans Riegel's bears were made soft by gelatin, not rice or cornstarch. Whether he knew the secret of the soft, chewy sweets from the Far East, however, is unclear today. Beth Kimmerle, author of *Candy: The Sweet History*, shows in her book that while the use of gelatin was an innovation in the history of candy, the softness of the gummy bears was not.

Furthermore, Kimmerle points out that Riegel's gummy bears already had precursors in Europe. Chewable sweets existed in Great Britain from 1909 onwards as wine gums (without alcohol) and also as Gundrops, such as corn-based jujubes in 1920 and pectin-based chuckles in 1922. Nevertheless, it is probably thanks to Hans Riegel and the Haribo company that gummy bears are so popular today. The dancing bears and the bright colors ensured that Haribo already had 400 employees by the beginning of the Second World War.

From dancing bear to gold bear

World War II marked a significant turning point in the history of gummy bears and the Haribo company. Hans Riegel himself died in 1945. His two sons were taken prisoner. The company shrank to around 30 employees. But after their release, Hans Junior and Paul rolled up their sleeves and rebuilt the gummy bear empire. The bears were still rather slender and lifelike. It wasn't until 1960, when Haribo began marketing its gummy bears across Europe, that they became rounder and more appealing to children. Then, in 1975, they changed their name from "little gummy bears" to the now-familiar Goldbears.

The gummy bears are becoming international

The huge success of Haribo's gummy bears naturally attracted many other companies that began producing gummy animals and other shapes. The sweet fruit gums experienced a veritable boom, especially in America. In the 1980s, American gummy treats from the Jelly Belly Company and German companies like Trolli, Schwarzwald-Frucht, and Heide entered the market. More and more shapes, colors, and flavors were added to the original seven types of fruit gums. Besides strawberry, raspberry, pineapple, orange, lemon, and apple, cola flavor and special varieties like blackberry and mango conquered the palates of connoisseurs.

Today, the number of gummies available is almost impossible to count. Gelatin-free, vegan, sour, and now even vegetable gummies offer a variety where everyone can find something to their liking.

3. The production of gummy bears

Making gummy bears is no secret. The gelatin is dissolved with all the other ingredients. The gummy candies need gelatin to achieve their consistency—to be soft and chewy. The dissolved ingredients are then poured into negative molds, which have been pressed with a starch-based mold. At Haribo, these molds containing the smooth cornstarch are called "powder boxes." The starch prevents sticking, allowing the gummy bears to be easily removed after the mixture has solidified in special drying rooms. They're essentially finished at this point, but there's one more step before the Goldbears and other fruity treats end up in the bag. Oil or wax acts as a release agent, preventing the soft bears from sticking together.

Detailed process of gummy bear production

A somewhat more complicated, but more authentic method is the production of gummy bears with invert sugar. The process resembles a laboratory experiment and is not quite as practical for quick home production. It involves four steps: the production of the invert sugar, the creation of the base mixture, the coloring and flavoring, and the shaping.

1. Production of invert sugar

Invert sugar is made from sucrose, which is simple table sugar from sugar beets or sugar cane. During the production of invert sugar, the sucrose is broken down into fructose and glucose. Neither form of sugar crystallizes, which is important for the production of gummy bears. To break down the sugar, sucrose is mixed with tartaric acid (hence the name "wine gum") and water. The invert sugar is then produced by stirring constantly at a temperature not exceeding 70 degrees Celsius.

2. Preparation of the base mixture for the gummy bears

To prepare the base, gelatin is first soaked in water and allowed to bloom. This takes about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in addition to the invert sugar, a second sugar solution is made from sucrose and water, which is boiled at just over 100 degrees Celsius. The gelatin is also melted, but the temperature must not exceed 75 degrees Celsius. The sugar solution, invert sugar, and gelatin are then mixed together. The mixture is now ready to be poured into the mold.

3. Coloring and Flavoring

The gummy bear mixture still tastes only of sugar and is transparent. One more step is needed to create the color and flavor of the colorful bears. Now the flavorings in the form of fruit flavoring (natural or artificial) and the colors (in the form of fruit juice or food coloring) are added to the mixture. Citric acid ensures the stability and intensification of the colors, as well as providing shelf life.

4. Shapes of gummy bears

The slightly cooled and foam-free mixture can now be poured into the molds. Large containers are used in the industry for this purpose, while on a smaller scale, molds for gummy bears, chocolates, or even an ice cube tray will suffice.

After they have hardened, the finished Goldbears or other forms of the delicious treat are put into bags and sold.

4. The ingredients of the gummy bears

The classic ingredients in gummy bears are glucose syrup, sugar, dextrose, and gelatin. Citric acid and flavorings are also added. The color of the gummy bears is determined by different fruit preparations and caramel syrup.

Since there is no fruit in the world that can naturally produce blue color, there are no blue Goldbears. The Smurfs and other blue gummy candies are colored with artificial dyes. Due to the gelatin, gummy candies contain not only a lot of sugar but also a relatively high amount of protein. They contain no fat, but also very little fiber.

While Haribo remains the market leader in gummy bears, it is no longer the sole manufacturer. This has led to a wider range of gummy treats available that are not made with gelatin or other animal-derived ingredients. Vegan gummy bears use cornstarch, while halal varieties are made with beef gelatin. Reduced-sugar and sugar-free options without artificial flavors or preservatives are also very popular.

5. Why do gummy bears have so many calories?

Like all sweets, gummy bears contain calories. And quite a lot of them, because gummy bears are veritable sugar bombs. Three small Goldbears contain about the same amount of sugar as a single lump of sugar. A 300-gram package contains between 900 and 1,200 kilocalories. Classic Goldbears have 368 kilocalories per 100 grams. Reduced-sugar versions contain fewer kilocalories.

Gummy bears contain no fat, a fact many companies advertise. But regardless of which gummy bears you pop into your mouth, these little sweets are fattening and should only be enjoyed in moderation. Nutrition experts recommend eating no more than ten gummy bears a day. These tasty bears are a treat. Even vitamin-enriched gummy bears cannot replace healthy fruits and vegetables.

6. Why is gelatin necessary in gummy bears?

Gelatin is a mixture of various animal proteins. Its main component is denatured collagen, which is extracted from the connective tissue of animals. Cattle and pigs are the primary producers of this collagen. In Germany, most collagen, and therefore gelatin, is obtained from pigs, as this is the most cost-effective source. But why do gummy bears need gelatin? This is due to the properties of the substance that give gummy bears their characteristic rubbery texture.

Gelatin dissolves in water at temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius and swells. Upon cooling, it forms a gel. This gives gummy bears their jelly-like, firm consistency without being hard. In the mouth, the gelatin is warmed again. This allows both young and old to enjoy the juicy bears melting in their mouths. Vegan gummy bears, on the other hand, create a slightly sticky feeling in the mouth due to the starch they contain, as starch does not possess this thermoreversible property. Therefore, vegan gummy bears tend to stick to the teeth when eaten.

Incidentally, gelatin isn't only found in gummy candies . This protein-based carrier substance is also used as a base ingredient and binding agent in many other areas. Gelatin can be found in pureed fruits and vegetables, in pastries, in cold soups, or even in aspic dishes.

How is pork gelatin produced?

The part about how gelatin is actually produced is unfortunately not as appetizing as the end product, the sweets. The raw material for gelatin is the skin and connective tissue of animals such as pigs and cattle, but also poultry and fish. More than 70 percent of industrially produced gelatin comes from pigs. For this, manufacturers use only pigskin. In the past, people often wondered whether there were bones in gummy bears. This is almost never the case, because only cattle produce the raw materials for gelatin from bones.

The process of producing gelatin is quite complex, but after three days the finished gelatin powder is ready from the pigskin. The starting material is freed from inorganic substances, crushed, and defatted. Then, calcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, and calcium fluoride are removed in a maceration process. At this stage, the intermediate product is called ossein. Depending on the starting material used by the industry, the substance then undergoes either acid or alkaline treatment.

Acid treatment is typical for extracting gelatin from pigskin. The ossein is treated with sulfuric and hydrochloric acid and then neutralized. Once the salts have been washed out, the collagen is extracted by increasing the temperature. The gelatin solution is now thin and is thickened in a vacuum dryer. After cooling, the gelatin is dried again until the water content is only about 10 to 15 percent, and then ground.

Are there alternatives to gummy bears containing gelatin?

Vegan, vegetarian, and halal alternatives are now available, so you can buy gummy bears without pork gelatin. Some manufacturers even forgo animal-derived additives entirely. Agar-agar is a popular alternative for giving the bears, other figures, and fruits the desired jelly-like consistency.

Around the turn of the millennium, Haribo also launched several attempts to offer its popular Goldbears without gelatin. The gelatin was to be replaced by "a gelling agent produced during the breakdown of glucose syrup," as Haribo spokesman Franz-Josef Weihrauch explained to the newspaper Welt in 2000.

What became of the kosher gummy bears without gelatin is unclear. They were never intended for the German and Central European markets. However, the company isn't completely ignoring the needs of Muslims and Jewish people. In Spain, the Goldbears are made with gelatin from fish, and in Turkey with gelatin from cattle.

7. Can you make gummy bears yourself?

If you don't want to buy gummy bears or other fruit gummies, you can also make them yourself. There are many instructions for this online, ranging from simple to complex and difficult. The recipes range from simple fruit juices thickened with gelatin or agar-agar to more complicated instructions that describe the gummy bear mixture almost like those used in the food industry. We'd like to present a simple method here to conclude.

Make your own gummy bears from fruit juice

Making gummy bears from fruit juice and gelatin or a gelatin substitute is the easiest method. For approximately 50 pieces you will need:

• 400 milliliters of fruit juice
• 8 tablespoons of agar-agar or gelatin
• 4 tablespoons of lemon juice
• some agave syrup or sugar
• gummy bear shape

The preparation:

1. Put fruit juice, lemon juice and gelatin or agar-agar into a pot.
2. Bring to a boil for about two minutes.
3. Sweeten further with a little agave syrup or sugar, depending on taste.
4. Pour the liquid into a mold (for example, a silicone mold for gummy bears or chocolates).
5. Allow to harden in the refrigerator for at least one hour, preferably two.

The type of fruit juice you use depends on personal taste. Pureed fruit or vegetables mixed with water are also perfectly suitable.

Sources:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatine

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gummib%C3%A4r

https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article536711/Gummibaerchen-werden-koscher.html

https://www.focus.de/gesundheit/praxistipps/juedisches-leben-sind-gummibaerchen-koscher_id_7468701.html

https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/172315/umfrage/haeufigkeit-konsum-von-fruchtgummi-und-weingummi/

http://das-atelier-cordes.de/gummibaeren-kunst.html

Beth Kimmerle: Candy: The Sweet History, 2003