Once You Know What’s In Gummy Bears, You’ll Never Eat Them Again

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Gummy bears are the classic candy of childhood. Their texture is perfectly chewy, their flavors are slightly puzzling and their little facial expressions are just so endearing. But once you’re old enough to learn about what makes these little guys so irresistible, you might find yourself turning the other cheek.

Gelatin, the substance that makes gummy bears so, well, gummy, isn’t the most desirable ingredient imaginable. It’s slightly yellow and basically flavorless, and it can only be made using the remains of our animal friends. That’s right, gelatin is what you get when you boil the skin, cartilage and bones of cattle, chicken, pigs and fish for an extended period of time. It’s then processed into an eerie powder that, once added to a liquid and boiled again, forms our favorite little fruit-flavored bears as it cools.

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It’s also worth noting that a single serving of gummy bears comes with a whopping 18 grams of sugar. The World Health Organization recommends adults only consume 25 grams of sugar daily. And let’s be honest, none of us ever sit down and eat only one serving of any junk food these days.

Just take a minute to think about all of our beloved candies that also require the use of this wonderfully gross gelatin substance. Peach rings, gummy worms, candy corn, marshmallows… ugh, this is depressing.

And if knowing how gelatin is made isn’t irksome enough for you, the video below will certainly give you a gruesome visual of the process. Belgian filmmaker Alina Kneepkens artfully reversed her footage of the process so you can see just how connected your gummy candy is to (spoiler alert) cute little piggies.

After seeing that, there’s not much left to say. So long, gummy bears. It’s been real.