Fruit Gushers (also simply Gushers) are a Betty Crocker-branded fruit snack introduced in 1991. They are soft and chewy with a fruity-juice center.

History

Fruit Gushers (sometimes simply "Gushers") were introduced in 1991 as a Betty Crocker fruit snack. Each box of Fruit Gushers was list priced at US$2.19 1991 and contained six pouches of Gushers, each of which had nine individual pieces for 90 Cal per pouch.

Composition

Strawberry-flavored Fruit Gushers are composed of pear concentrate, sugar, dried corn syrup, corn syrup, modified corn starch, fructose, and grape juice concentrate. Targeted at children, they were acorn-shaped with a soft "licorice-like" exterior and a liquid inside, included "strawberries and pear puree concentrate", and came in two flavors: "Strawberry Splash" and "Gushin' Grape". In 2003, one serving of any Fruit Gushers variety was one 0.9 oz package with 90 calories, zero protein, 1 g of fat, and 20 g of carbohydrates. In 2018, 90 calories worth of Strawberry Fruit Gushers weighed 28 g and contained 9 g of sugar, one gram of fat, and cost US$0.46 2018.

Varieties

Betty Crocker released a new variety of Fruit Gushers in early 2020: "Galactic Fruit Gushers". These featured the flavors "Asteroid Apple", "Berry Star Cluster", and a mystery flavor labeled "Unidentified Flavored Object"; the latter was part of a contest where consumers could guess at the unknown flavor and win prizes "like sweatshirts, hats, blankets, pop sockets, and more". Galactic Fruit Gushers were sold through Walmart.com for US$5.88 2020. In June 2024, the brand announced that its most-popular flavor, watermelon (previously available from 1997–2013), was returning to store shelves to meet consumer demands; combined with sour-apple flavored Gushers, boxes of six sachets were to be sold for US$6.49 2024, while boxes of ten sachets would sell for US$10.29 2024.

Reception

A 1991 Sun-Sentinel review said that the insides oozed rather than gushed, and found the confectionery surprisingly pleasant. In 2013, Complex magazine ranked Fruit Gushers the second-best fruit snack of all time, coming in behind another Betty Crocker product, Shark Bites. In September 2023, police in St. Marys, Kansas reported seizing fruit snacks and gummies, laced with tetrahydrocannabinol, being packaged as real commercial brands thereof—including Fruit Gushers.