Top 10 Facts About Skittles Sweets
Skittles are oval-shaped, fruit-flavoured sweets that come in a variety of colours. They have a hard sugar shell and a chewy centre, and each sweet is printed with the letter "S". They look very similar to Peanut M&M's, which are also multicoloured and have a letter "M" printed on each sweet.
Skittles are currently sold in 65 countries and are produced by Wrigley Mars. The product has an official UK website. Here are more of our top facts about Skittles sweets...
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1. Skittles launched in Britain in 1974
The original Skittles launched in the United Kingdom in 1974, and were produced by the Galaxy Company.
According to an archived press release by Mars North American Newsroom, Skittles were "first introduced in the United States in 1974, made by a company in England". They were fully rolled out across the US in 1979 by Jack Candies Ltd., a subsidiary of Mars, and in 2023, were the second most popular candy in the United States.
The original five flavours were orange, lemon, lime, grape and strawberry, and since 1982, they have been manufactured in the U.S. for the American market.
The current flavours in Skittles Fruits are blackcurrant, lemon, lime, orange and strawberry.
2. Tropical and Wild Berry Skittles were introduced in 1989
Tropical includes the flavours banana, kiwi and mango, and Wild Berry includes raspberry, wild cherry and strawberry flavours. These two varieties are still produced in 2023, along with Crazy Sour, Desserts and Fruits, the latter being the original variety.
3. Skittles lose their rainbow every June
In 2016, the rainbow colours of Skittles sweets and the packaging temporarily changed to all-white, to support Pride month and the LGBT community. Because the packaging of the Fruits version is already colourful and includes a rainbow (the symbol of the LGBT community), Mars Wrigley decided that the only way to stand out is to produce monotone packaging. However, some media outlets, such as The Huffington Post, mistakenly viewed the move as being anti-gay. Despite this, the colourless Pride Edition has been made available temporarily every June since 2016.
4. The classic Midas Touch TV advert first aired in 2007
In 2007, a funny and clever advert aired on British and American TV stations that features a man called Joel, where everything he touches turns to Skittles. He is sat in an office at his computer desk. He first touches a female colleague's stapler (which she is holding) and it turns into Skittles, which fall to the ground. Then he answers the phone, which also turns to Skittles, and then he bangs on his desk in frustration, and, of course, this also turns to Skittles!
5. Skittles became vegan-friendly in 2009
In 2009, Mars Wrigley stopped using animal-based gelatine in Skittles, making them suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
6. Skittles lime was replaced in 2013, which caused a commotion!
In 2013, Mars Wrigley decided to replace the lime flavour in Skittles Original with apple, although only in the U.S. and Canada, which upset many consumers and created a backlash. The lime became part of Skittles Darkside, although Darkside was discontinued in 2015 but revived again in 2019. and is sometimes released as a limited edition. In 2021, the lime flavour was re-introduced, replacing the unpopular apple flavour.
7. Crazy Sours were introduced in 2014
The new Crazy Sours variety was launched in 2014, and comes in lime green packaging. The flavours included are Sour Pineapple (yellow), Sour Cherry (purple), Sour Raspberry (pink), Sour Apple (green) and Sour Mandarin (orange).
8. Skittles went spicy in 2018
On March 6th 2018, the food website Delish.com announced in their article Spicy Skittles are Now in Stores that the new Sweet Heat Skittles variety had been launched and was "available in grocery stores". The flavours included are Sizzlin' Strawberry, Fiery Watermelon, Flamin' Orange, Lemon Spark and Blazin' Mango. These were still available to buy in 2023 and come in black packaging.
Sweet Heat Family Size pouch (196g) from 2023
9. Skittles became three times bigger in 2020
While there was no change to the standard range, a new Giants range was launched in 2020 and marketed as being "3 times bigger". These are currently available in sharing pouches (141g) and family sized (170g) pouches in Fruits and Crazy Sours varieties.
10. Skittles Desserts launched in 2023
In 2023, a new Skittles Desserts was launched, and are available to buy in a pink-coloured sharing pouch, which comes with the message "No spoon required".
Ingredients
Here is a list of ingredients in Skittles Fruits
SUGAR, GLUCOSE SYRUP, PALM FAT, ACIDS (CITRIC ACID, MALIC ACID), DEXTRIN, MALTODEXTRIN, FLAVOURINGS, MODIFIED STARCH, COLOURS (E162, E163, E170, E160A, E100, E132, E133), ACIDITY REGULATOR (TRISODIUM CITRATE), GLAZING AGENT (CARNAUBA WAX).
"Touch The Rainbow" advert from 2007
Skittles Squishy Clouds Crazy Sours, 94g Share Bag from 2022
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