Agar-agar gummies, a healthy treat

Traditional gummy candies are one of the most vilified foods in recent years. Their sugar and additive content has led dietitians to place them on the list of discouraged foods.

On the other hand, they usually contain gelatin of animal origin. The trend in recent years is to reduce the consumption of animal-derived ingredients, and the market increasingly demands more vegan products.

Still, the consumption of this guilty pleasure is very high, not only among children. A study conducted by Statista Global Consumer Survey in 2020 analyzed the consumption of gummy candies among adults aged 18 to 64 and revealed that 61% of Germans consume them regularly, 59% in the United Kingdom, 49% in Spain, and 50% in the United States.

But is there a way to consume gummy candies in a healthy manner? After all, whether a gummy candy is more or less healthy depends on the ingredients. More and more industrial manufacturers are replacing juices, additives, and sugars with fruits.

To replace animal-derived gelatin, more and more people are opting for agar-agar. Agar-agar allows for the reduction or elimination of sugar content because, unlike other plant-based gelling agents like pectin, agar does not require the presence of other ingredients to gel. This allows for the launch of healthier gummy candies, with a taste very similar to traditional ones and suitable for vegans, celiacs, and all those who consume Halal and Kosher foods.

At Hispanagar, we have perfect agars for gummy candy production, and we also offer Ecoagar, our agar with European ecological certification.