If you’re a gummy bear fiend like me, you’ve probably tried tons of brands in your long and storied gummy sampling journey. Maybe you’ve even made your own gummy bears at home, just to say you did it. Today, we have our own ranking list to add to your arsenal when selecting your next gummy bear snack. We sampled 10 different store-bought gummy bear brands, and to us, the results were clear. If you want to swerve some serious disappointment, then whatever you do, avoid reaching for a box of Atkins Endulge gummy bears.
Setting aside any issues you might have with the Atkins diet itself, these bears just aren’t a good choice for anyone looking for a little treat to break up the monotony of their diet-compliance meals. They’re not a good choice for anyone else, either. If you don’t have any dietary restrictions, there’s definitely no reason for you to settle for this less-than-stellar bag.
How did Atkins fumble the bag with these bears?
The failure here is two-pronged, coming at you from both the texture and the taste. Let’s look at the taste first. As a diet gummy bear, this brand skips the sugar and uses allulose instead. While this keto-friendly ingredient has its place in the kitchen, it definitely doesn’t have a home in gummy bears, where sugar is one of the top ingredients. These gummy bears have enough sugar substitutes to give the whole treat a distinctly artificial taste. While that’s not really the most unusual thing in chewy gummy candies, it’s still not desirable, in our humble opinion. On top of that, the fruit flavors all meld together. You can’t tell the cherry apart from the strawberry apart, all the citrus tastes the same, and it all becomes a fruity blur on the palate.
The texture gets the other big red mark from us. In our judging, a good gummy bear needs a toothsome texture that really gives you something to bite into and chew on. That’s part and parcel with the entire experience, and it makes eating the gummy bear all the more enjoyable. Tragically, Atkins gummy bears are so soft that it actually feels like they’re a little melted. Rather than getting a nice bear you can sink your teeth into, you’ll be dealing with a puddle of goo that dissolves between your teeth on the first bite. Not only is this dissatisfying as heck, but it may be a textural no-go for some. Rather than take the risk, you’re better off avoiding Atkins gummy bears and sticking with some tried-and-true golden brands like Haribo, which reigns supreme in our rankings. Though even Haribo has some gummy candies we wouldn’t try again.
