Fun Facts About Gummy Bears

Gummy bears are seemingly simple treats. However, their history and production are actually packed with unexpected twists.

If you’ve ever wondered where they came from, then you’re in luck! Today, I share 10 fun facts about gummy bears you may not know.

1) Gummy Bears Were Invented in Germany

Gummy bears were invented in 1920 by a German confectioner named Hans Reigel. He created the company Haribo, which is a combination of his name and his hometown, Bonn.

Haribo began in Hans Reigel’s kitchen, where he only used a small copper pot and a stove to experiment.

2)Gummy Bears Used to Have a Different Shape

The original gummy bears were elongated and jiggly.

Hans Reigel wanted to make candies in a familiar shape that kids would love. After much brainstorming, he came up with the Dancing Bears - long bears that jiggled and danced. Not only were gummy bears delicious, but they were also fun to play with!

3) You Can Get Free Gummy Bears in Germany

Once a year, the Haribo headquarters in Germany lets kids trade chestnuts and acorns for gummy bears. According to one X user, you can get up to 2 lbs of the chewy treats in exchange for 11 lbs of acorns!

Don’t worry. The tree nuts won’t go to waste. Haribo donates them to wildlife parks as animal feed.

4) Gummy Bears Are Absorbent

Gummy bears are primarily made of gelatin, a protein that absorbs and retains water. If you soak gummy bears overnight, they take in the liquid.

Once you wake up, you’ll be surprised by how big the gummy bears have become. You can experiment with various fruit juices as a soaking solution!

5) You Can Shrink Gummy Bears

On the flip side, you can also shrink gummy bears.

When you soak gummy bears in salty water, the high salt concentration absorbs liquid from the candy. It’s a process called osmosis.

After a few hours, the gummy bears become tiny and cute, but definitely too salty to eat!

6) Gummy Bears Have Been to Space

In 2023, a group of young scientists in East Harlem, New York, thought to launch gummy bears into space. They built a high-altitude balloon and attached a GoPro along with a few pieces of gummy bears.

The gummy bears made it 95,000 feet in the atmosphere before falling into somebody’s backyard.

7) People Use Gummy Bears to Break World Records

Two Harvard students broke the world record for the greatest distance catching a gummy bear in the mouth.

It sounds silly, but catching a tiny bear at 177 feet isn’t easy. The students had to light Harvard’s football stadium at night so that they could see the gummy bear!

8) Haribo Makes 60 Million Gummy Bears a Day

Haribo, one of the most popular gummy bear producers, makes 60 million gummies a day. The company also sells over 1,000 other gummy products all over the world. You can find their gummy bears in 120 countries today!

9) Gummy Bears Are Combustible

There’s no doubt that gummy bears are involved in countless science experiments. In one experiment, a scientist submerged a red gummy bear in potassium chlorate.

Being high in sugar, the gummy bear reacted with the potassium chlorate and ignited in a brilliant display of light!

10) A Virtual Gummy Bear Has Millions of Subscribers

Gummibär is a virtual musician who has over 9.82 million subscribers on YouTube. He’s most popular for I Am a Gummy Bear (The Gummy Bear Song), which has racked up 3.7 billion views since it was first posted 17 years ago.

11) Gummies Are Used to Deliver Supplements

Gummies are delicious, but vegetables are not. Fortunately, gummies packed with vitamins and minerals, are used today to make sure everyone from kids to seniors are getting their supplements. Today, you can find everything from protein gummies to broccoli gummies and mushroom gummies.

Summary

From musical hits to being sent to space, there’s a lot more to gummy bears than we realize. They may seem simple, but gummy bears have a rich history that dates back over a century.

It’s interesting how this chewy treat has become the subject of so many science experiments. Not only that, gummy bears have even set a few world records!