{
    "id": 1070753,
    "title": "What is in a jelly sweet?",
    "slug": "what-is-in-a-jelly-sweet",
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    "url": "https://sweeties.net/wiki/what-is-in-a-jelly-sweet/",
    "modified": "2026-09-26T02:25:35+01:00",
    "excerpt": "A jelly sweet is mostly sugar and glucose syrup, set with gelatine, pectin, starch or agar, plus water, acids, flavours, colours and sometimes a glaze.",
    "content_text": "Jelly sweets come in all kinds of shapes and flavours, but they share a few basic ingredients. Gummy candies are made mostly of corn syrup, sugar, gelatine, starch and water, with small amounts of colouring, flavouring and food acids. Ingredients are listed in order of weight, so the first few on the label are the biggest part of the sweet.\nA real example\nA published ingredients list for a 400 g carton of Bassett's Jelly Babies gives: sugar, glucose syrup, water, gelatine, concentrated fruit juices, citric acid, flavourings, and colours from plant sources. A published list for Maynards Bassetts Wine Gums gives glucose syrup, sugar, starch, gelatine, malic and acetic acids, colours from plant sources, flavourings, vegetable oils and carnauba wax.\nThe parts, one by one\nSugar and glucose syrup. The bulk of the sweet. Glucose syrup, made from starch, sweetens, softens the texture and adds volume.The gelling agent. This is what turns syrup into a jelly. Gelatine, from animals, is the traditional choice; pectin, starch and agar are the plant based alternatives: see gelatine in sweets explained, pectin sweets explained and starch jelly sweets explainedWater. Part of the recipe, listed third on the Jelly Babies label above.Acids. Citric, malic or acetic acid give a sharp, fruity taste: see what is citric acid in sweets? and what is malic acid in sweets?Flavourings and fruit juices. For taste. Some sweets use concentrated fruit juices as well as flavourings.Colours. In both examples above, the colours come from plant sources: see natural colours in sweetsA glaze or a dusting. Vegetable oil and carnauba wax give a shine and stop sweets sticking together: see what is glazing agent in sweets?\nWhy the powder?\nJelly sweets such as gummies are shaped in trays of starch, filled by machines called starch moguls, and the hot mixture sets in them before being lifted out. Some starch can stay on the sweet: see why are jelly babies covered in powder?\nWhat it means for your diet\nGelatine means a sweet is not vegetarian or vegan, and matters for halal and kosher diets: see beef gelatine and pork gelatineBeeswax or shellac as a glaze means a sweet is not vegan.Starch from wheat matters for gluten, although glucose syrup from wheat is exempt: see wheat in sweetsSugar. Jelly sweets are high in sugar: see how much sugar is in sweets?\nEach sweet in our pick and mix has a card that opens up to show its ingredients and allergens, so you can see what is in it before you buy.",
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