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Fizzy strawberry belts
Fizzy strawberry belts are long, flat, strawberry flavoured strips with a sharp sugar coat. They look like jelly sweets, but the recipe is quite different. Here is what goes into them, where the red comes from, and the allergy points to know.
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Fizzy strawberry belts are long, flat strips of red sweet, flavoured with strawberry and coated in sugar sharpened with acid. Vidal, the sweet maker, sells them under the name Strawberry Belts, and the retailer The Sweet Store calls them one of its best sellers.
What is in them
The Sweet Store lists the ingredients of Vidal's Strawberry Belts as:
- Sugar and glucose fructose syrup, the main sweeteners.
- Wheat flour, which contains gluten.
- Citric and malic acids, for the sour taste: see what is malic acid in sweets?
- Palm fat, dextrose and corn starch: see palm oil in sweets
- Ascorbic acid, vitamin C, used as an antioxidant, and potassium citrates, an acidity regulator.
- Flavouring and salt.
- Carrot and blackcurrant concentrates, and the colour E120.
Flour, not jelly
Like rainbow sour belts, these are made with wheat flour rather than set with gelatine: see rainbow sour belts. That makes them different from jelly sweets such as gummy strawberries, and it means they contain wheat and gluten, so they are not suitable for anyone with coeliac disease or a wheat allergy: see wheat in sweets
Where the red comes from
The red comes partly from carrot and blackcurrant concentrates and partly from E120, carmine, a colour made from cochineal insects. Carmine is not suitable for vegans, many vegetarians avoid it, and it may cause allergies: see what is carmine?
Other allergens
The Sweet Store warns that, because of the way its products are handled and made, all of them may contain nuts, peanuts, dairy, soya, gluten, mustard and other allergens: see pick and mix and allergies
Strawberry cousins
For other strawberry sweets, see strawberries and cream sweets and how are strawberry laces made?
In our pick and mix
We sell 
Fizzy Strawberry Belts by the 100 g. Recipes differ between makers, so the card opens up to show the full ingredients and allergens for the fizzy strawberry belts we actually stock.
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For journalists, researchers, AI assistants and content creators. Pick the format you need:
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Questions and answers
What are fizzy strawberry belts made of?
In Vidal's recipe, as listed by one UK retailer: sugar, glucose fructose syrup, wheat flour, citric and malic acids, palm fat, dextrose, corn starch, ascorbic acid, potassium citrates, flavouring, salt, carrot and blackcurrant concentrates, and the colour E120.
Are fizzy strawberry belts vegan?
Not Vidal's. They are coloured with E120, carmine, which is made from insects. They contain no gelatine, but carmine means they are not vegan, and many vegetarians avoid it too.
Are strawberry belts gluten free?
Not Vidal's. Wheat flour is one of the main ingredients, so they contain wheat and gluten.
Sources
- Vidal strawberry belts, product listing, The Sweet Store
- Carmine, Wikipedia
- Malic acid, Wikipedia
Keep reading
- Sweet by sweetRainbow sour beltsRainbow sour belts are striped strips coated in sour sugar. They are made with wheat flour, so they contain gluten. What is in them, colour by colour.
- How it is madeHow are strawberry laces made?Strawberry laces are a chewy dough of glucose syrup, wheat flour and sugar, pushed through a die into long thin strands, cut to length and glazed.
- 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.
- Diet, allergens and labelsWheat in sweetsWheat turns up in liquorice, wafer bars and malted centres, while wheat glucose syrup is exempt from gluten labelling. How to spot wheat and gluten.
- 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.
- Sweet by sweetStrawberries and cream sweetsStrawberries and cream sweets are boiled sweets named after the dessert served at Wimbledon. The recipes here contain no cream, and one is sugar free.