Sour Patch Kids (also known as
Carambar Very Bad Kids in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, and known as
Maynards Sour Patch Kids in Canada and previously in the UK) are a brand of soft
gummy candy with a coating of
invert sugar and
sour sugar (a combination of
citric acid
Citric acid is an organic compound with the formula . It is a Transparency and translucency, colorless Weak acid, weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in Citrus, citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, ...
,
tartaric acid, and
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose
Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...
). The tartaric and citric acids provide the candy with a sharp burst of tartness, while the inverted sugar gives the soft gummy its sweet flavor.
Sour Patch Kids Extreme, which contains malic acid in addition to the tartaric and citric acids, is considered the sourest variation in the Sour Patch line of candies.
The slogans "Sour Then Sweet" and "Sour. Sweet. Gone." refer to the candy's sour-to-sweet taste.
History
Sour Patch Kids were created in the early 1970s by Frank Galatolie while working as a confectioner at Jaret International.
In the late 1970s,
Cadbury
Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, after Mars. ...
and the
Malaco Licorice Company formed the Allen Candy Company in
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...
to produce them.
Mondelez International
Mondelēz International, Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational confectionery, food industry, food, Holding company, holding, drink industry, beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual rev ...
currently handles production of the candy, following their acquisition of the Allen Candy Company in the late 1990s.
Related products
Video game
''World Gone Sour'' is a 2011 video game based on Sour Patch Kids. It was developed by Playbrains and published by
Capcom
is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...
. It was released on December 20, 2011, for PC, April 10, 2012, for
PlayStation Network, and April 11, 2012, for
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...
(XBLA). It was delisted from platforms around 2015.
Other food products
In 2014, Sour Patch Kids gum became available.
In 2018,
Dreyer's produced Sour Patch Kids-flavored ice cream, and
J&J Snack Foods launched Sour Patch Kids-flavored ice pops.
Post released Sour Patch Kids cereal in 2018. The cereal is shaped like Sour Patch Kids candy and dusted with
sour sugar, which dissolves in milk.
On May 6, 2024, Sour Patch Kids
Oreos released to store shelves, with colorful sour sugar inclusions in the cookie and creme.
References
External links
Official website
{{Mondelez
American confectionery
Brand name confectionery
Cadbury Adams brands
Canadian confectionery
Candy
Mondelez International brands
Products introduced in 1985