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Sour watermelon slices
Green rind, pink flesh and a sharp sugar coat: sour watermelon slices look like the real fruit in miniature. Here is what goes into them, and why two listings for the same brand can describe quite different sweets.
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Sour watermelon slices are gummy sweets moulded as slices of watermelon and coated in sugar sharpened with acid. Kingsway, a sweet brand based in Loughborough, sells them, and two UK retailers list them with quite different ingredients.
Two recipes, one brand
Kingsway Sour Watermelon Slices, as listed by The Candy King. Glucose syrup, sugar, beef and pork gelatine, corn starch, glycerol, citric and malic acids, pectins, fruit, vegetable and plant concentrates from radish, lemon, safflower, tomato, pumpkin, apple, carrot and blackcurrant, flavourings, and the colours E100 and E133. The retailer describes them as gluten free.
Kingsway Sour Melon Slices, as listed by ToffeeWorld. Sugar, glucose syrup, wheat starch, water, modified maize starch, lactic, citric and malic acids with sodium malate, modified potato starch, flavourings, and black carrot, spirulina and safflower concentrates. The listing warns that they contain wheat and gluten, and it describes them as having a mild sour sugar glaze.
The product names differ slightly, and the listings do not say whether one recipe replaced the other, but the point stands: two sweets that look alike can be made in very different ways.
What that means for you
- Gelatine. The first recipe uses beef and pork gelatine, so it is not suitable for vegetarians, vegans or anyone avoiding pork: see gelatine in sweets explained
- Wheat. The second recipe uses wheat starch, so it is not suitable for anyone who must avoid wheat or gluten: see wheat in sweets
- Starch sets. The second recipe is set with starch alone: see starch jelly sweets explained
That is why it pays to check the label, or the card, every time, even for a sweet you have bought before: see how to read a sweet label
Why they are sour
Both recipes use malic and citric acid, and the second adds lactic acid and sodium malate. Malic acid is sourer than citric acid: see what is malic acid in sweets? and how are sour sweets made?
In our pick and mix
We sell 
Sour Watermelon Slices by the 100 g. Recipes differ between makers, and can change over time, so the card opens up to show the full ingredients and allergens for the sour watermelon slices 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
Do sour watermelon slices contain gelatine?
It depends on the recipe. One UK retailer lists Kingsway's Sour Watermelon Slices with beef and pork gelatine. Another lists Kingsway's Sour Melon Slices with starch and no gelatine. Check the ingredients of the ones you buy.
Are sour watermelon slices gluten free?
Not always. The gelatine version listed by The Candy King is described as gluten free, but the starch version listed by ToffeeWorld contains wheat starch and carries a wheat and gluten warning.
Are sour watermelon slices halal?
Not if they contain pork gelatine, as one of the Kingsway recipes here does. Look for sweets clearly labelled halal: see our guide to halal sweets.
Sources
- Sour watermelon slices, Kingsway, product listing, The Candy King
- Kingsway sour melon slices, product listing, ToffeeWorld
- Malic acid, Wikipedia
Keep reading
- 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.
- Diet, allergens and labelsStarch jelly sweets explainedStarch can set a jelly sweet without gelatine, as in Turkish delight, and trays of starch shape gummies. What that means for vegans, and why they firm up.
- 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.
- Diet, allergens and labelsHow to read a sweet labelWhat each part of a sweet label means: ingredients by weight, allergens in bold, E numbers, the nutrition table, legal warnings and when there is no date.