Bite into any of the Starburst candies you have on hand and you’ll instantly notice your mouth watering and flooding with its juices.
You might even be wondering, “why are starbursts so juicy?”
As a matter of fact, it almost feels like you’re drinking juice straight out of the box – and a whole lot of it.
Despite the fruit chew having the tagline “unexplainably juicy,” we’re here to let you in on what its secret might be.
We’re chalking it up to good old science.
Simply put, ingredients in Starbursts react with our saliva, hence the juice we refer to.
The Starburst contain citric acid and the vitamin C content.
These acidic tastes and flavors are so much sharp and tangy.
When these come in contact with your salivary glands, these acidic flavors stimulate salivary glands.
As a result, your mouth produce more saliva in the long run, or at least while you are munching Starburst.
As these salivary glands produce more saliva, the more “juices” you feel are coming out from the Starburst candy.
Found something interesting? Then get to know in detail further.
What are Starbursts Made Of?
As you already know, Starbursts are candy and these contain sugar.
These are almost taffy-like in their texture and taste.
Starbursts are made with gelatin, which may be why it’s not always best for vegans and vegetarians.
In the United States, Starbursts are made with non-vegan gelatin, while those in the United Kingdom explicitly state that their products are safe for vegetarians to consume.
This particular version is also said to be free of artificial colors.
Other ingredients that make up a Starburst fruit chew are the following: sugar; corn syrup; hydrogenated palm kernel oil; less than 2% of citric acid, tapioca dextrin, gelatin, apple juice from concentrate, and modified corn starch.
Natural and artificial flavors are responsible for the overall taste of Starbursts.
In addition to these flavorings, food colors such as red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6, and blue 1 are also used in making these fruit chews.
How are You Supposed to Eat Starburst?
Starbursts come in individual wrappers.
To get a taste of these juicy chews, all you need to do is take a piece, preferably in your favorite flavor, and unwrap its covering.
Do this by unraveling the flaps one by one.
Once you have completely unwrapped this, put the fruit chew in your mouth.
Bite into the Starburst and you’ll notice that it tends to become juicier with every bite.
Savor its taste until the candy dissolves or you have properly chewed it off.
You can also suck on these until it fully dissolves.
Either way, you’ll finish these off in no time.
Another controversial hack of sorts that we have seen on the internet is roasting Starbursts over an open fire.
Think of this as a marshmallow of sorts that’ll melt.
While this is not as common, you’re guaranteed to experience a warm and gooey texture that just bursts with flavor.
Are the Starburst Wrappers Edible?
Starburst wrappers are made with non-toxic ingredients.
These are made primarily with wax paper to prevent the fruit chew from fully sticking to the paper and to keep it in a nice, fresh condition.
Since Starburst wrappers are actually made from non-toxic materials, you can technically consume these and are categorically edible.
Despite this, we must emphasize that while you can eat this, this does not mean that you should consume this at all.
After all, these Starburst wrappers are not made to be eaten.
Instead, you should focus on the delectable treats wrapped inside these.
Although the wrappers may not be harmful at all, this might cause you to come across some digestive issues in the long run as these are not as digestible.
While eating the wrappers alone may not be enough to kill you, preventing such issues by not eating the Starburst wrappers may be the best for you.
We want to reiterate that although you can eat Starburst wrappers if you wish or you simply want to, out of curiosity or otherwise, the candy company has not designed these wrappers to be eaten.
They don’t even market the wrappers as edible.
Bear in mind that if you do try a wrapper or two, you should probably stop at that point.
Eating larger quantities of Starburst wrappers may wreak havoc on your digestive system, especially as these are not made for eating.
Obstructions along your digestive system may just be one of the problems you might encounter later on.
Apart from not being designed for human consumption, you should also think about the hygiene of these products.
If you only choose to eat the wrappers, the fruit chews inside of these will be left out in the open.
Who knows what the candy will be exposed to, right?
Does Starburst Have Juice?
Starburst is definitely juicy and that’s because the fruit chews contain real fruit juice in them.
From the ingredient list we discussed earlier, you might notice that the juice comes from the apple juice concentrate.
While Starburst remains quite vague on its use of natural and artificial flavors, it could be that apart from the apple juice concentrate mentioned above, there could be other types of fruit juice concentrate added into the mix.
For example, with its cherry flavor, there might be cherry juice concentrate added into the mix to achieve its flavor.
This could also be the case for other flavors.
Why are Starbursts so Juicy?
Starbursts seem to be true to its name.
After all, a few bites and chews of this candy will leave a gush of flavors in your mouth that it will make you wonder what’s in it in the first place.
By now, you already know that it’s not actually juice that’s making it juicy.
As a matter of fact, it is so juicy that even Starburst made a commercial about this years ago, with two students pondering why it’s incredibly juicy.
One of the students say that it may even come from the land of intensity, later on showing two muscular men throwing and loading barrels of juice onto equally large trucks.
Another commercial even claims that tiny fighter jets shoot the juice in every Starburst.
While you may be drawing or thinking about different theories as to why Starbursts are so juicy, this phenomenon can be chalked up to the citric acid in this, as well as the vitamin C content.
These acidic tastes and flavors are quite sharp and tangy.
When these come in contact with your salivary glands, these acidic flavors tend to stimulate these said glands.
As a result, you can expect your mouth to produce more saliva in the long run, or at least while you are eating Starburst.
As these salivary glands produce more saliva, the more “juices” you feel are coming out from the Starburst candy.
While these two events can easily be misinterpreted or misunderstood, we hope to at least set the record straight through this account.
Apart from the aforementioned factors, the texture of the fruit chews can also be a contributing factor.
Since these candies are quite chewy and even taffy-like, yet without being rubbery in texture, these may bring in more flavor and “juices” in your mouth as you chew and break it down every time you bite.
Overall, you can think of the Starburst juiciness as a reaction between your saliva coming into contact with the citric acid and other ingredients.
These ingredients, particularly citric acid, are sour and tart, and thus, could increase the flow of saliva.
What is in Starburst That Makes Your Mouth Water?
If you think that it’s the juice concentrate that’s responsible for making your mouth water, you’re wrong.
It’s actually the citric acid in it that makes your mouth water instead.
This is made possible as it comes into contact with your mouth, particularly your salivary glands.
The package, however, only claims that it only has less than 2% of citric acid, so we can guess that a little goes a long way.
Citric acid is sour and tangy. It is often added to candies and other food items to mimic a certain degree of tartness.
If you notice, all of the flavors used by Starburst are citrusy, thereby bearing flavors of tanginess.
From cherry, strawberry, orange, and lemon, each of these fruits are naturally sweet and sour.
The citric acid addition in the ingredients list simply accounts for the tartness aspect of these previously mentioned flavors, helping mimic the real thing.
Related Questions
Do Starburst Have Gelatin?
Yes, Starburst Original Chews and Starburst Gummies both contain Gelatin in the United States.
However, in the United Kingdom gelatin is not found.
Why are my Starbursts soft?
If you exposed your starbursts to high temperatures, most starbursts types will melt, disfigure, discolor, and get too sticky.
You may notice some of them will become powdery on top when exposed to these kinds of conditions.
Another thing is, that moisture is an enemy of all starbursts.
When your starbursts exposed to moisture, they become watery and softer than their original form.
This may be the reason for starbursts getting soft.
Is Starburst diary-free and gluten-free?
All Starburst products contain no dairy products. So they are dairy-free.
As none of the Starburst products contain gluten-based ingredients, all Starburst products are gluten free too!
Are Starburst Halal?
As the Starburst products in the United States generally contain beef or pork Gelatin in the ingredients.
So, Starburst in the US are NOT Halal.
However, Starburst products in the United Kingdom do not have Gelatin and they are Halal-friendly.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starburst_(candy)
https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/are-starburst-vegan
https://getvegan.com/are-starburst-vegan/
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