Yummi Gummi Bears

Easter Island Gummi Heads?

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A veritable Stonehenge of gelatinous confections, the Gummi bear line up, looking for the entire world like Easter Island heads. Gummi bears are sometimes also spelled“Gummy” bears.

Wikipedia tells that they come in a variety of shapes, which include:

Rings, worms, frogs, hamburgers, cherries, cola bottles (<-my favorite also!), sharks, lobsters, Octopuses, apples, peaches, oranges Ampelmännchen (German for “little traffic-light men”) and Smurfs.

Close Up of Gummi Bears

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Their colors are attractive, their consistency a delight, -I’d rather chew Gummi Bears than gum. Never mind that you can’t blow bubble with Gummi bears, -their flavor lasts longer than any gum ever could so that is a major selling point.

-Didn’t “Doctor Who” (the Tom Baker incarnation) always carry a pocketful of these? I think they are “jelly babies” but that is just cruel. I’ll eat a Gummi bear or Gummi worm; -I refuse to eat anything called “jelly baby.” This doesn’t explain though why I have no problems eating ‘baby corn’ or ‘baby carrots.’ I guess that I am assuming that “jelly babies’ look like, well, infant children.

Indiana Jones and Temple of Tooth

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This image was tagged with “Gummi worms… why’d it have to be Gummi worms?” Pretty kewl, huh?

Is this a new experience for you? -Happens to me all the time. And I like the color, too!

And Now they’ve Gone Sour…

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These are awesome. I love sour. You can’t make candy too sour for me.

Gummi Fiesta!

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So many shapes and varieties! I love ‘em all! But slow down, dawg! Save some Gummi candy for the children!

Don’t Fit In?

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Gummi bears contain the naturally-occurring sweetener “Xylitol” which studies have shown greatly reduces the ‘mutans streptococci’ bacteria, a bacteria known to cause dental caries (cavities.) The research was carried out by one Liet A. Ly, University of Washington.

Healthday.com reports that researchers tested children whom were given Xylitol-sweetened gummi bears three time per day for this study, and after six weeks showed a marked reduction in the levels of cavity-causing mutans streptococci bacteria!

The stated problem remains that xylitol-sweetened gum in inappropriate for young children, so a better delivery system might in fact be, yes, Gummi bears! A study built around this is being carried out in an East Cleveland primary school.

Now, -have you heard about that terrible revelation about Mountain Dew and dental decay? Mountain Dew contains 3-5X more sugar than any other soft drink, and the acid levels are much higher. This is causing a rampant dental decay in some of the more rural communities in upstate New York for instance. Perhaps PepsiCo (the makers of Mountain Dew) should consider switching from their current sweetener to Xylitol? Think about it.

Love Gummi Bears

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And Gummi bears love you back, unconditionally.