Original Fruit Skittles Lack Distinction, Making Me Surprised They Have Been On The Market So Long!

The Good: Inexpensive, Do not taste bad.
The Bad: Not the most distinctive or incredible flavor, Terrible nutritional value.
The Basics: Skittles Original Fruit Candies are a pretty unremarkable, very sugary candy that competes (poorly) with M&M’s . . . and other candy.


I think when I was young, I liked Skittles because the colors had actual flavors (not like those M&M’s that just jerk you around!). As an adult and a reviewer, my flavor palate has grown a bit and, as a result, I’m discovering that Skittles, at least, Original Skittles fruit candies, actually don’t do anything for me anymore. Having picked up a bag for review, I’m actually surprised to discover that I was not rally fond at all of them.

Basics

Skittles are small bite-sized hard-coated candies that come in five colors for the Original Fruit Skittles. Each red bag comes with yellow, red, green, purple, and orange bite-sized candies. The Original Fruit Skittles are available in standard packages like a 4 oz. bag, fun sized, and bulk packages.

Ease Of Preparation

These are candy, not making your own fruit preserves! Consuming these is as easy as opening the bag and placing them in your mouth. There is no additional prep needed.

Taste

Opening a pack of Skittles, the scent of fruit is only vaguely present. Defining the aroma as “vaguely fruity” is a complement; this candy has little in the way of bouquet.

The red Skittles taste fairly decently of strawberry with a slight tart kick. Orange ones taste like orange-flavored chewable vitamins; a hint of actual citrus. The yellow taste like lemon, like from a lemon meringue pie. The green are fairly sour, indicating that the intent it that they are lime. The purple are a more muted grape flavor.

There is no aftertaste to Skittles.

Nutrition

Again, these are fruit candies, not actual fruit. Skittles Fruit Slices are not a legitimate source of most necessary nutrients. These are a snack food, a dessert, and are in no way an adequate substitute for a real meal. A serving is listed as 61.5 grams, with each serving having 250 calories.

Skittles Original Fruit Candies are pretty poor (even for a candy) in the nutrition area. They have 2.5 g fat (all in the form of saturated fat, which is 13% of the RDA of that!) and no protein, but for those who have ever dated a Vegan, these are Vegan compliant because they contain no gelatin! They have only 10mg sodium! The main ingredients are sugar, corn syrup and hydrogenated palm kernel oil. There are no allergies warnings on the bag.

Storage/Clean-up

Skittles bite-sized fruit candieshave a shelf life of approximately one year, though mine did not last a full half hour after I opened the bag (two very different problems!). They remain freshest when they are kept in an airtight container (the bag is sufficient if it is kept closed and tightly resealed) and they ought to be kept in a lukewarm environment. Storing them in hot places is likely to make the candies stick together and they get gross. Kept in a cool, dry place, the Original Fruit Candies retain their flavor perfectly.

As for cleanup, unless one allows the Original Fruit Candies to get hot to the point that the coating melts, there should be no cleanup necessary.

Overall

Skittles Original Fruit Candies are very basic and, frankly, unexciting. Even for a basic, mass-produced candy, they are mediocre.

For other candies reviewed by me, please check out:
Cadbury Screme Eggs
Coconut 3 Musketeers
Vanilla Tootsie Rolls

3.5/10

For other food or drink reviews, please visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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