Organic fruit gummies in dinosaur shapes, soft and chewy, from Hey Yum.
CONTAINS HONEY — so not vegan, and not for babies
The description mentions "a hint of honey", and it is worth pulling out of the middle of a sentence, because it has two consequences.
They are not vegan. Honey is an animal product. Many gummies from natural brands are vegan — pectin-set rather than gelatine-set — and people reasonably assume a plant-shaped organic sweet is too. Check the pack for the maker's own declaration.
Never give honey to a child under 12 months. This is a firm rule from every paediatric authority, not a caution. Honey can carry Clostridium botulinum spores; an infant's immature gut cannot handle them, and the result is infant botulism, which is serious. Cooking and processing do not destroy the spores, so it applies to honey inside a manufactured sweet just as much as to honey on a spoon.
After the first birthday, honey is entirely fine. Worth knowing for a product that is unmistakably aimed at small children.
Where the colours come from
Organic certification does not permit synthetic colours, so the colour in an organic sweet comes from concentrated fruit and vegetable material — typically things like black carrot, safflower, spirulina, apple and blackcurrant.
Two consequences worth expecting rather than being disappointed by. The colours are softer and less uniform than conventional sweets, because plant pigments cannot reach fluorescent. And they vary a little between batches, because vegetables vary.
There is a real reason to prefer them: six synthetic colours — including tartrazine, sunset yellow and ponceau 4R — must by EU law carry the warning "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children". That requirement exists because of the Southampton study, and it is why a great many children's sweet makers moved away from them.
Teeth — the honest bit
Gummies are among the worst sweets for teeth, and it is not really about the sugar quantity. It is about contact time.
A chewy sweet sticks in the grooves of molars and stays there long after the eating has stopped, feeding mouth bacteria continuously. A chocolate that melts and clears is gone in minutes; a gummy is not.
The practical advice, which works: eat them at one sitting rather than grazing, ideally after a meal, and rinse with water afterwards. Ten sweets in one go does far less damage than the same ten spread across an afternoon. And do not brush immediately — wait about half an hour, because fruit acids soften enamel briefly and brushing softened enamel removes it.
Choking
Firm chewy sweets are a choking risk for under-fours. Supervise, and cut them up for very young children.
Sophie m
Hey Yum
Bonbon-France
