Kasugai Lychee Gummy Candy — DUMP
Munch or Dump rates Kasugai Lychee Gummy Candy by Kasugai DUMP — score 20/90.
Sugar candy in three forms, artificial flavor, emulsifiers and wax. The 'real fruit juice' is mostly cheap apple concentrate, not lychee.
Why this verdict
- Three sweeteners up top: glucose syrup, sugar and sorbitol dominate the whole formula
- 'Natural AND artificial flavor' is doing the heavy lifting, not the trace lychee
- Apple juice concentrate outranks lychee juice; the headline fruit is barely there
- Emulsifier stack plus carnauba wax marks it as ultra-processed (NOVA 4)
- Pure sugar load with zero fiber, protein or micronutrients
Ingredients (13)
- glucose syrup (moderate) — A second refined sweetener used for the caramel character; fast-absorbing sugar with no nutritional value.
- Sugar (moderate) — Added sugar sitting ahead of cocoa; the main flavor driver here.
- sorbitol (moderate) — Sugar alcohol sweetener; poorly absorbed, causes bloating, gas and laxative effects in the amounts used in syrup.
- Concentrated apple juice (moderate) — Cheap juice concentrate used as sweetener and filler; ranks above the lychee it's named for.
- gelatin (safe) — Animal-derived protein that sets the foam; not harmful but not nutritious here.
- citric acid (safe) — Common acidulant for tartness; harmless in this amount but can be rough on tooth enamel.
- Pectin (safe) — Plant-based gelling agent in the fudge ribbon.
- Natural and Artificial Flavor (moderate) — Undisclosed lab-made flavor blend; not harmful but a marker of an engineered product.
- Concentrated Lychee Juice (safe) — The namesake fruit, but present in trace amounts below apple juice.
- Potato Starch Powder (moderate) — Refined starch used as a coating/anti-stick agent.
- carnauba wax (safe) — Plant wax glazing agent for shine; inert in small amounts.
- POLYGLYCEROL ESTERS OF FATTY ACIDS (moderate) — Synthetic emulsifier; a marker of industrial processing.
- Enzyme-Modified Lecithin (Soybeans) (moderate) — Modified soy emulsifier; processing aid, also a soy allergen.