13 Fruit Snack Brands, Ranked Worst To First
If your kids (or you) love fruit snacks, you have a wizard to thank. Seriously. Although this clever way to sneak extra nutrients into kids' mostly Cocoa Puff and chicken tenders diet was born in the 1970s, they didn't catch on until General Mills introduced the world to the little-known and very underrated food mascot, Rulpo, a colorful wizard who insisted kids everywhere eat Fruit Roll Ups. While dear Rulpo retired in 1991, he sparked a love for gummy treats in children's hearts, and in turn, also inspired countless companies to create bright fruit-like gummies of their very own. But while there are now many fruit snack brands out there, not all of them are worthy of taking up space in your kids' lunch boxes.
And if you're stumped on differentiating a good gummy apple from a rotten one, we have you covered. We ranked the major fruit snack brands from worst to first on your behalf. But don't worry, we didn't partake in this foodie journey without a plan. To separate the good from the bad, we looked at each fruit snack brand's nutritional content, taste, and monetary value. Here are the results.
15. Great Value Fruit Smiles
Walmart's private grocery brand, Great Value has become beloved for its ability to replicate big brand name products for half the price. However, Walmart doesn't always pump out grocery store favorites.
At $2.97 per 10 pouches, Walmart's Great Value Fruit Smiles are one of the cheapest fruit snacks on the list. However, they are also the highest in calories and filled with the most synthetic ingredients. Coming in at 90 calories per package, Great Value Fruit Smiles contains four different types of food dye: red 40, yellow 6, yellow 5, and blue 1. These treats are also far from allergy friendly as they have the potential to contain traces of nuts and milk. On top of that, their taste is not at all as fruity and fun as the fruit snacks' friendly smiles suggest. An original pack of this snack (Walmart also sells a tangy variety) includes strawberry, orange, lemon, and grape-flavored gummies. All four variations feature a chemical-like taste and an almost powdery texture. So although the snack does offer 60 milligrams of vitamin C per serving, its taste and ingredients make it the lowest-ranked fruit snack brand on the totem poll.
14. Gushers
The first member of General Mill's fruit snack empire we're bringing before the foodie court (we're going to get to the others a little sooner than you might expect), Gushers seem to rely more on their novelty than their nutrients. Priced at $2.59 per 6 pouches, one serving of Gushers offers 80 calories, 9 grams of added sugar, and plenty of artificial dyes. Namely, red 40, blue 1, and yellow 5 and 6.
The variety pack we tried comes with two different flavors — tropical fruit, and strawberry splash. In terms of taste, both treats packed a flavor punch at first bite but quickly faded from tasting like fruit snacks to something akin to chemical-like gum. And as far as overall gushiness goes, tropical fruit was very lackluster, containing a small amount of juice inside its pieces. Strawberry splash had a better gush factor, but both treats also tended to stick to each other in their packages. With no nutritional value, a lackluster taste, and a terrible value for your money, Gushers is the lowest-ranked General Mills fruit snack on the list and the second-worst overall fruit-like treat.
13. Fruit Roll Ups
As we noted before, Fruit Roll-Ups (another General Mills brand) is one of the fruit snacks that started it all. However, neither its OG status nor the variations that allow you to tat up your tongue can save Fruit Roll-Ups from being placed so far down on the list. Coming out at 50 calories per snack and offering 9 grams of vitamin C per serving, you'll only be paying around $2.79 for a 10-count of this classic treat. However, despite its value and its small boost of nutrients, the more you look at Fruit Roll Up's nutrition label the worse the snack ingredients become. The treat contains synthetic food dyes like red 40, yellow 5 and 6, and blue 1, and it's composed of 13% added sugar.
Nutrition aside, Fruit Roll-Ups taste pretty terrible. The variety pack of the fruit snack offers three flavors: blue raspberry, tropical tye dye, and strawberry sensation. And none of them taste like any kind of fruit. Tropical tye dye resembles a watered-down pouch of Tropicana Punch, blue raspberry tastes tart and chemical-like, and strawberry sensation is just a sweeter, redder tasting version of blue raspberry. All three flavors have a synthetic taste and a very strange, stiff consistency. And so, given Fruit Roll-Ups' nutrition and mouthfeel, we have no choice but to put baby in a corner.
12. Fruit by the Foot
Not to be confused with Fruit Roll-Ups, a fruit snack of the same family (this is yet another General Mills product), Fruit by the Foot offers three feet of fruity gluten-free fun and, quite frankly, not much else. Aside from being longer than its plastic-wrapped brethren, Fruit by the Foot is also filled with 2 grams more added sugar than Fruit Roll-Ups. However, the two snacks both sell for $2.59 per 6-count box and have synthetic food dyes. And, like Fruit Roll-Ups, while it was once deemed the best after-cool snack, Fruit by the Foot is far from as delicious as we remember.
We tried the variety pack which includes three flavors: berry tye-dye, blue raspberry tye-dye, and strawberry tye-dye. None of these treats tasted particularly fruit-like. Blue Raspberry tye-dye resembles cotton candy, Strawberry has a little more of a fruit flavor but still has a chemical taste, and berry tye-dye, which is clearly just a combination of the other two varieties, is borderline tasteless. However, Fruit by the Foot has a chewy, soft texture and a better flavor than Fruit Roll-Ups. Also, for every 90-calorie serving, kids will be getting 9 milligrams of Vitamin C. And so, at the very least, Fruit by the Foot outranks its closest family member — for whatever that's worth.
11. Betty Crocker Fruit Flavored Snacks
The last member of the General Mills fruit snack clan, Betty Crocker is known for two things: its cake mixes and partnering up with the likes of Star Wars and Mickey Mouse to create half the gummy market's character-shaped fruit-flavored snacks. However, while kids might enjoy chomping down on their favorite Sonic the Hedgehog character and parents are likely pleased to only have to pay $2.99 to score 10 packages of the treats, these fruit snacks are far from an ideal afternoon snack.
On the nutritional end of the scale, Betty Crocker Fruit Flavored Snacks have synthetic color dye and 9 grams of added sugar. And while its shapes may resemble bright and fun cartoon characters, they have a dull and sad taste. However, despite its many flaws, the snack does at the very least contain real fruit juice and offers 18 milligrams of Vitamin C in each 80-calorie serving, enough to make it the last and highest ranking member of the General Mills fruit snack crew.
10. Funables
You know how we said Betty Crocker Fruit Flavored Snacks make up half of the character-shaped gummies in the fruit snack aisle? Funables is the name brand behind the other portion of our favorite character-shaped gummies. However, while baked goods entrepreneur Betty Crocker only dabbles in making and distributing familiar-faced gummy treats, making fun-shaped fruit snacks is literally Funables mission statement. Usually selling character fruit snacks at $2.59 a 10 pouch package, Funables pack 70 calories, 23 milligrams of vitamin C, and 4 milligrams of vitamin E per serving.
However, while this brand has a lot going on in the nutrition department, it also has the usual synthetic food dye suspects, including yellow 5, red 40, and blue 1, in its ingredient list. And in terms of taste, well, the brand's flavors are about on par with Betty Crocker's Fruit Flavored Snacks. Generally speaking, most Funables' fruit snacks have a taste that doesn't even vaguely resemble any food found in nature. The treat's texture is also hard and not at all gummy-like. In the end, it is Funables nutrition and its nutrition alone that helped them trump Betty Crocker.
9. Welch's Fruit Snacks
Welch's Fruit Snacks have been widely regarded as American fruit snack nobility and we feel like it's genuinely earned its fruity blue blood status. The company uses real fruit puree in its snacks and, as a result, its treats sport a load of health benefits. One serving of Welch's Fruit Snacks is 45 calories and will give you 230 micrograms of vitamin A, 23 milligrams of vitamin C, and 3.8 milligrams of vitamin E. And these desserts also manage to taste delicious while offering a lot of nutritional value.
We tried Welch's Mixed Berry Fruit Snacks, which feature a mix of grape, peach, orange, strawberry, and raspberry flavors. The brand's treats actually resemble real fruit and each gummy has a great chewy texture. And, at only $2.69 per 10 pouches, Welch's Fruit Snacks are also a great deal. However, there's a reason it can't rank higher on the list. Welch's Fruit Snacks are filled with artificial flavors and food dyes. But although its nutritional content stops it from being situated in a better spot, this is still a brand that we deem worthy of love and praise.
8. Apple and Eve
Likely most renowned for its apple juice, Apple and Eve also applies its "keeping it simple" philosophy to its fruit snacks. The brand boasts that its version of the treats is made with 99% real fruit. And the remaining 1% percent is composed of natural (not synthetic) flavors. For $2.99, you can buy eight 45-calorie pouches of Apple and Eve's version of this childhood favorite. However, despite the brand's commitment to using real fruit, each serving of this snack offers 10 grams of sugar (8 grams of which have been added) and only 110 milligrams of potassium. And while the taste of Apple and Eve's apple juice put the brand on the map, its fruit snacks' flavor leaves much to be desired.
To the brand's credit, the gummies do taste like real fruit. We tried Apple and Eve's mixed berry variety, which features a combination of a variety of different fruity flavors, and the treat has an authentic, chemical-free taste. However, while Apple and Eve's snacks tasted like the real thing, they were also dry with a leathery texture. The desserts looked and tasted more like dried prunes than fruit snacks. So that little tidbit coupled with the amount you get for the price and its low amount of nutritional benefits left us thinking Apple and Eve should stick with fruit juice.
7. Bear
The next brand on the list is a bit of a dark horse in the fruit snack world. Having just made it onto the scene in 2009, Bear's mission is to make treats that are all-natural. And the nutritional label on the company's fruit snacks back up its claim. Bear Fruit Rolls have no added sugar or food dye. In fact, its strawberry mix is made of just six ingredients: apples, pears, strawberries, and black carrot extract. As with many all-natural foods, the snack is on the pricier side. For $3.69, you'll be buying 5 servings of 60-calorie fruit snacks that offer 0.3 milligrams of iron and 130 milligrams of potassium.
Aside from its price, Bear Fruit Rolls do have one other kryptonite — taste. Like Apple and Eve's snacks, these rolls have a dried fruit-like texture. And although we tried the strawberry flavor, the fruit snack tasted nothing like its namesake. Instead, its flavor resembles a wildcard mixture of other fruits and veggies. It only ranks above the aforementioned all-natural snack brand thanks to its superior health benefits, ingredients, and texture.
6. Good and Gather
The youngest and (depending on who you ask) prettiest sister of Target's two private label grocery brands, Good and Gather is committed to producing food that's free of synthetic flavors and dyes. The brand's fruit snacks are no exception to that rule. However, while Good and Gather Organic Fruit Snacks are certified organic, the dessert also comes with a certified organic price tag. For a whopping $5.49 per 10 pouch-filled container, each snack provides 70 calories and no artificial ingredients. But don't let that quick ingredient factsheet fool you into thinking this brand is a healthier option than Target's Market Pantry variety.
Good and Gatherers Organic Fruit Snacks have one more gram of sugar than Target's other private-label grocery brand fruit snacks while also containing no vitamins. However, we have to give Good and Gatherer's Organic Fruit Snacks its roses. The treats' flavor and texture are also brighter, stronger, chewier, and just all-around tastier than the other Target varieties. But, despite its deliciousness, because of its price and lack of nutritional value, it's been ranked lower than its non-organic counterpart.
5. Market Pantry
Speak of the devil and he shall appear. The second of Target's two private-label grocery brands, Market Pantry, focuses on getting consumers the best product for their money. And quite frankly, Market Pantry's Fruit Snacks really are a good deal. One $2.29 package will get you 10 pouches of fruit-shaped goodness. That makes this brand's fruity product the lowest priced on the list and one of the more nutritionally balanced.
Each pouch rounds out to 70 calories, has 90 milligrams of vitamin C, and features no synthetic dyes. The brand's fruit snacks do, however, have 13 grams of added sugar and a practically nonexistent taste. We tried the mixed berry variation which offers five flavors: grape, orange, cherry, apple, and blue raspberry. Both the grape and apple gummies had no fruit-like flavor at all, the orange tasted somewhat like Sunny D, the blue raspberry had a reminiscence of the blue-like taste typical for the popular artificial flavor, and the cherry featured the smallest whiff of cherry-like flavor. Needless to say, while Market Pantry's nutritional value and price leave Good and Gather in the dust, the Target brand's taste leaves it on the lower end of the fruit snack brand scale.
4. Arizona
We're not going to lie — when we discovered beverage brand Arizona makes fruit gummies the first thought that came to mind was: why? And after trying Arizona Fruit Snacks, we're still asking the same question. To the brand's credit, its gummies have no synthetic colors or artificial flavors and offer 90 milligrams of vitamin C and 90 calories per serving. Plus, unlike other synthetically-dyed fruit snacks, a 10-pack goes for a measly $2.99. But don't go jumping for joy just yet. The fruit snacks brand's cheap price likely has something to do with its taste.
We tried the mixed berry variety which contains five flavors: fruit punch, mucho mango, watermelon, grapeade, and orangeade. At the very least, watermelon and mucho mango tasted vaguely like the fruits they were inspired by. However, grapeade and fruit punch were nearly identical in flavor and appearance and did not have a grape or fruit punch taste. And all of the gummies had a strange fuzzy texture and a hard consistency that made them difficult to chew on. However, these fruit snacks still somehow managed to have a better taste than Market Pantry's. That is to say, while Arizona Fruit Snacks are the lesser of these two evils, we still don't recommend adding this fruit snack to your grocery list.
3. Black Forest Gummies
Like Bear, Black Forest is a company that only focuses on producing fruit snacks made with real ingredients. And speaking of bears, the brand's most recognized product is undoubtedly its Organic Gummy Bears. Coming out at around 100 calories for a nine-piece serving, these gummy bears are made with organic ingredients and no artificial flavors or dyes. However, while a lot of the brand's marketing relies on the fact its gummy bears are created with actual fruit juice, Black Forest Gummies may not be quick to tell you its fruit snacks have no other nutrients. But what about the taste?
Each pack of Black Forest Gummy Bears comes with cherry, lemon, orange, apple, and pineapple-flavored bears. And while they may be made with real fruit, they all only have a hint of fruit flavor. That is to say, most of these treats have a dull taste. Though it does seem that the more you chew them, the more fruit-tasting they become — which is not exactly a good thing. However, while its flavor doesn't blow us away, the bears' taste is not downright offensive and the snack has a great chewy texture, which has allowed it to top Arizona. But Black Forest's lack of nutrients coupled with its price — one $4.39 pack only offers eight servings — has left it in a respectable third place.
2. Annie's
Just like its popular mac and cheese, Annie's Bunny Fruit Snacks are certified organic. These rabbit-shaped treats are filled with real fruit juice and have no artificial flavors or synthetic colors. While these snacks do include 12 grams of added sugar, each pouch comes in at 80 calories and offers 45 grams of vitamin C. However, due to its quality ingredients, Annie's Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks are also on the more expensive side of the fruit snack spectrum. A pack of five pouches goes for around $3.99 a pop.
Despite its price, what makes Annie's stand out from its other natural-based ingredients fruit snack competitors is its taste. We tried the brand's berry patch flavor and found its snacks actually resemble real fruit while having a bright and delicious taste and properly chewy gummy texture. Nutritious, delicious, and food dye free without sacrificing mouthfeel and taste, we feel that Annie's Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks are well worth their price tag.
1. Mott's
Hear the trumpets blowing and the angel's singing? It's time to make way for a company that can make both delicious apple juice and delectable fruit snacks (yeah, we're talking to you, Ms. Apple and Eve). You probably remember sipping on Mott's fruit boxes with popcorn during elementary school parties, and Mott's Fruit Flavored Snacks are just as nostalgic, delectable, and healthy. Made with real fruit and vegetable juice, Mott's gummy treats are only 80 calories a pack and offer a whopping 54 grams of vitamin C per serving. The fruit snacks are also very fairly priced. For $2.99 you can score a box of 10 pleasing lunch box desserts.
And unlike many other fruit snacks in Mott's price range, biting into this brand's fruit snacks won't make you feel like you're dying of a chemical overdose. In fact, the treats taste like a mix of authentic sweet fruits and have a great chewy consistency. Mott's Fruit Flavored Snacks also don't have any unnatural dyes. So for its great price, excellent flavor, and commitment to not using synthetic food dye, we crown Mott's as the best fruit snack brand money can buy.