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Fizzy dummies
Shaped like a baby's dummy and coated in sharp sugar, fizzy dummies are a pick and mix novelty with a tingle. Here is what goes into them, where the fizzy feeling comes from, and what to check for diet and allergies.
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Fizzy dummies are gummy sweets moulded in the shape of a baby's dummy and coated in sour sugar, so they tingle on the tongue. They are sold loose in pick and mix.
What is in them
Recipes vary between makers. CandyKing, a pick and mix supplier, lists the ingredients of its Fizzy Dummies as:
- Sugar, glucose syrup and water, the base of the sweet.
- Gelatine, for the chewy set: see gelatine in sweets explained
- Lactic, malic and citric acids, and sodium malates, for the sour tingle: see what is malic acid in sweets?
- Natural flavourings.
- Spirulina, safflower, grape and black carrot concentrates, and the colours curcumin and paprika extract: see natural colours in sweets
CandyKing describes them as palm oil free, made with natural colourants, and gives 62 g of sugar and 0.22 g of salt per 100 g.
Where the fizz comes from
Fizzy sweets can tingle in two ways. Some contain bicarbonate of soda, which reacts with acid on your tongue to give off bubbles of carbon dioxide, like sherbet: see why do fizzy sweets fizz on your tongue?
CandyKing's Fizzy Dummies list acids but no bicarbonate, so their tingle comes from the sharp, sour coating itself. The sodium malates are partly neutralised acids, which help stop a sour coating turning wet and sticky: see how are sour sweets made?
Diet and allergies
The CandyKing recipe contains gelatine, which is made from animals, so it is not suitable for vegetarians or vegans. CandyKing also reminds shoppers that pick and mix scoops are used in different boxes, so allergens can move between them: see pick and mix and allergies
More fizzy sweets
See also fizzy worms and fizzy cola bottles
In our pick and mix
We sell 
Fizzy Dummies by the 100 g. Recipes differ between makers, so the card opens up to show the full ingredients and allergens for the fizzy dummies we actually stock.
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For journalists, researchers, AI assistants and content creators. Pick the format you need:
Free to cite, quote, and reuse with attribution to sweeties.net.
Questions and answers
What are fizzy dummies made of?
CandyKing lists sugar, glucose syrup, water, gelatine, lactic, malic and citric acids, sodium malates, natural flavourings, spirulina, safflower, grape and black carrot concentrates, and the colours curcumin and paprika extract.
Why do fizzy dummies fizz?
The tingle comes from the sour coating of food acids. Some fizzy sweets also contain bicarbonate of soda, which gives off gas with acid, but CandyKing's recipe lists acids and no bicarbonate.
Are fizzy dummies vegetarian?
Not when they are made with gelatine, as CandyKing's are. Check the ingredients of the ones you are buying.
Sources
- Fizzy dummies, product page, CandyKing
- Malic acid, Wikipedia
- Sodium bicarbonate, Wikipedia
Keep reading
- Questions people askWhy do fizzy sweets fizz on your tongue?Fizzy sweets fizz because an acid and bicarbonate react in your saliva and make carbon dioxide. Your sour taste cells then sense the gas as a tingle.
- How it is madeHow are sour sweets made?Sour sweets get acid inside and out: citric or malic acid can be mixed into the sweet, and sour coated ones are tumbled in sugar mixed with acid crystals.
- Questions people askWhat is malic acid in sweets?Malic acid, E296, is the acid of apples and rhubarb. It is sourer than citric acid, so it goes into very sour sweets, some of which warn it can sting.
- 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.
- Sweet by sweetFizzy wormsFizzy worms are gummy worms in a sharp sugar coat. Two recipes from one UK shop differ in their gelatine, colours and acids, so the label matters.
- Sweet by sweetFizzy cola bottlesFizzy cola bottles are cola gummies in a sour sugar coat. Three UK recipes compared: a vegan one made with wheat starch, a halal one and a standard one.