Fruit snack

A fruit snack is a processed food eaten as a snack in the United States. Fruit snacks are very similar to gummi candies. The main content is sugar, especially sugar derived from concentrated white grape juice and apple juice. Some fruit snacks have more sugar than gummi candies, and they usually have less protein. The main differences between gummi candies and fruit snacks are the marketing and advertising approaches, and the use of refined sugar from fruits rather than from beets, corn, or sugar cane.

Well-known manufacturers of chewy fruit snacks include Promotion In Motion (Welch's brand), Kellogg's, General Mills and Betty Crocker.

Fruit snacks gained popularity from their convenience and candy-like taste. Most are stored in a simple plastic packaging that does not need to be refrigerated; therefore they can be taken virtually anywhere. However, they do have an expiration date. Fruit snacks range in the amount of fruit content. Some, like Welch's, contain fruit purees. Others only have trace amounts of juice, in addition to sugar.

Fruit leathers differ in that they have a different shape. The ingredients may be the same, or they may be made primarily from pureed, dried fruit and concentrated, high-sugar fruit juice.

More than half the weight of the fruit snacks is simple sugars. They also contain an average of 12% water by weight, 25% starch, a small amount of fat, and a negligible amount of protein.

As of 2015, fruit snacks generally cost two to five times the price of gummy bears.

The modern, highly processed fruit snack has nothing in common with dried fruit. The first modern fruit snack was Joray Fruit Rolls, which were developed by confectioner Louis Shalhoub in the 1970s. It was used by backpackers as a lightweight, high-energy food rather than as healthful-sounding candy for children.

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