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Bubblegum bottles
Shaped like little bottles and coated in sharp sugar, bubblegum bottles taste of bubblegum without being gum at all. Here is what goes into them, where the colours come from, and the diet and allergy points worth knowing.
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Bubblegum bottles are gummy sweets shaped like little bottles, flavoured to taste like bubblegum and coated in sharp sugar. Despite the name, the recipes here contain no gum: they are jelly sweets with a bubblegum flavour.
Two recipes from one shop
The UK retailer Sweets and Candy lists small and giant fizzy bubblegum bottles, and their ingredients differ.
Fizzy Bubblegum Bottles. Sugar, glucose syrup, water, gelatine, malic and citric acids, glycerol, sodium carbonate as an acidity regulator, dextrose, flavouring, calcium phosphates as an anticaking agent, and the colours E120, E133 and E171. The listing says they may contain traces of milk.
Halal Giant Fizzy Bubblegum Bottles. Glucose syrup, sugar, apple juice from concentrate, corn starch, beef gelatine, citric acid, tartaric and malic acids, spirulina concentrate, titanium dioxide, flavouring, and concentrates of apple, radish, blackcurrant and black carrot. The retailer says they are made with certified halal gelatine.
What bubblegum flavour is
Bubblegum flavour does not come from any one fruit. It is a blend of flavourings that varies from one maker to another, and neither listing says what goes into its blend: see how is bubblegum made?
The colours
- E120 is carmine, a red made from cochineal insects, so the smaller bottles are not suitable for vegans: see what is carmine?
- E133 is brilliant blue, a synthetic colour. The giant bottles get their blue from spirulina concentrate instead: see what is spirulina doing in my sweets?
- E171, titanium dioxide, is in both recipes. The EU banned it as a food additive in 2022, but the Food Standards Agency did not follow the ban, so it is still permitted in Great Britain: see what are E numbers in sweets?
Diet and allergy points
- Gelatine. Both recipes contain gelatine, so neither is suitable for vegetarians or vegans: see gelatine in sweets explained
- Halal. Only the giant bottles say their gelatine is certified halal: see a guide to halal sweets
- Milk. The smaller bottles may contain traces of milk: see milk in sweets
- Gluten and other allergens. Neither recipe lists wheat, but the retailer says its sweets are packed where wheat, gluten, soya, milk, peanuts and nuts are handled, and it marks the giant bottles as may contain gluten: see pick and mix and allergies
Bottle cousins
Bubblegum bottles are one of a family of bottle shaped sweets: see how are cola bottle sweets made? and how are milk bottle sweets made?
In our pick and mix
We sell 
Fizzy Bubblegum Bottles by the 100 g. Recipes differ between makers, so the card opens up to show the full ingredients and allergens for the bubblegum bottles we actually stock.
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Questions and answers
Is there gum in bubblegum bottles?
Not in the recipes here. They are gummy sweets with a bubblegum flavour, and neither ingredients list includes a gum base.
Are bubblegum bottles vegetarian?
Not the recipes here. Both contain gelatine, which is made from animals, and one is also coloured with carmine, which is made from insects.
Are bubblegum bottles halal?
Some are. One UK retailer sells Halal Giant Fizzy Bubblegum Bottles made with certified halal beef gelatine. Its smaller bottles do not say where their gelatine comes from, so look for a clear halal label.
What flavour is bubblegum?
No single fruit. Bubblegum flavour is a blend of flavourings that varies from one maker to another.
Sources
- Fizzy bubblegum bottles 120g, product listing, Sweets and Candy
- Halal giant fizzy bubblegum bottles 1kg, product listing, Sweets and Candy
- Bubble gum, Wikipedia
- Carmine, Wikipedia
- Titanium dioxide, Wikipedia
Keep reading
- How it is madeHow is bubblegum made?Bubblegum is made like chewing gum, but its base has more elastic, heavier polymers, so it stretches into a bubble instead of breaking. Here is what goes in.
- How it is madeHow are cola bottle sweets made?Cola bottles are cola flavoured gummies cast in bottle shaped hollows in trays of starch, set, then glazed or, for fizzy ones, tumbled in sour sugar.
- Questions people askWhat is carmine?Carmine, E120, is a deep red colour made from cochineal insects that live on cactus. It colours sweets, drinks and lipstick. Why vegans avoid it.
- Questions people askWhat is spirulina doing in my sweets?Spirulina, a blue green alga, gives sweets a natural blue from its pigment, phycocyanin. Why it replaced artificial blues and has no E number.
- Diet, allergens and labelsGelatine in sweets explainedGelatine gives gummies and marshmallows their texture, and it melts below body temperature, which shapes how they feel in the mouth. Who avoids it.
- Diet, allergens and labelsA guide to halal sweetsA halal checklist for sweets: gelatine and its source, carmine, alcohol, glycerol and certification. What to look for, and why a halal mark matters.