| Product: |
Fox's Glacier Fruits |
| Date: |
22/03/06 (233 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Contain real fruit juice
Disadvantages: Sweets are fattening and cause cavities - but don't they all?
Let’s face it people, this is a boiled sweet we’re talking about, isn’t it? I mean really, how much can one person say about a boiled sweet? And how much different is this one than any other boiled sweet? Well, let’s see what the answers to these questions really are with my below review of Fox’s Glacier Fruits.
You have to understand that I’m really a mint sweet lover at heart. But sometimes I need a change of pace. You see, there we were, stuck at Heathrow airport, waiting to check in. I needed something sweet to suck on which usually gives one a little pick-me-up in these cases. And it's also helpful to have a sweet to suck on during take-off and landings, in order to help clear out your ears from the pressure. So I decided to go over to the newsstand and with my last few pounds and pence, I bought two bags of these sweets. There were 225grs of sweets in each package, and I think they only cost me about £1.50 each - but my research shows me that the going rate for these is about £1.75.
Inside the bag, you’ll find these sweets are individually wrapped in white, grease-proof-like papers, that are slightly transparent so you can just make out the shade of the flavour of the sweet inside. I believe that each wrapper also has the flavour printed on it in different colours. (Please forgive me here if I’m wrong about this bit, but my family finished all of these off and didn’t leave me either the bag or the paper wrappers for me to use as research for this op. Shame on them!)
The Product:
These are little rectangular shaped sweets that are about 1cm long and about ¼c deep and wide. What is particularly interesting about them is how very clear they are. Each of the six colours, which represent the six flavours, are totally crystal clear. Now, I’m thinking that we all know that ice is usually pretty clear itself, and that the association between these sweets and ice is where the word “glacier” comes in. Personally, I think they did a nice job of finding this association, and I do approve of the icy idea involved. Of course, this was originally for the mint ones, but it applies quite well to these fruit ones as well.
As I said before, there are six flavours here. These are: orange, lime, pineapple, strawberry, lemon and blackcurrant. While the pineapple is slightly out of the ordinary, all the other flavours are pretty much run-of-the-mill, aren’t they? Well, yes, but with the distinction here being that - according to the package - these sweets actually contain real fruit juice in them. I find that claim to be attractive, although I couldn’t find any evidence to this claim on the ingredients list.
Of course, you’d expect that each flavoured sweet would be a different colour, and you’d be correct in that assumption here. The orange one is orange, the lime one is green, the pineapple is a dark yellow, the strawberry is pinky-red, the lemon is pale yellow and the blackcurrant is a slightly darker pinky-red colour. I was a bit saddened that I seemed to have gotten so few blackcurrant and strawberry ones and so many lime ones. But I guess that was just the luck of the draw.
The Taste:
Here really is what, if anything, makes the difference. Of course, these are pretty sweet - as one would expect. However, I found that several of the flavours had a pleasant tang to them - a slightly sour punch to offset the sweetness. This was especially evident in the lemon and lime ones, and least in the pineapple ones. The orange ones really tasted orangey to me, but the strawberry ones didn’t have quite enough of a fresh taste to them. My favorite was certainly the blackcurrant, which really had a great strong berry flavour to it, followed closely by the strawberry - which I think didn’t have enough flavour to it. The lime ones actually tasted more lemony to my taste buds, and I could hardly tell the two apart unless I looked at their colours. I also found that the pineapple flavour was nondescript, and if I hadn’t read on the package that this was the flavour that they were supposed to be, I would never have been able to guess what it was. Not being much of an orange flavour lover myself, I can only say that these were surprisingly nice, since they had that bit of a sharp taste to them - much akin to an orange that’s still a bit green. I’m dropping one star from these sweets because of the pineapple flavoured ones, and am suggesting they try to exchange it with apple or - my personal favourite - watermelon!
At first taste, you’ll certainly get that bit of a punch I mentioned and soon afterwards, you’ll taste the sweetness. This is a good thing, since I’d prefer to get initially the flavour on offer and then the sugar - unlike some sweets where it takes a couple of minutes of sucking to taste the flavour behind the sugar. Had this been otherwise, I might have dropped a second star from this product.
Funny thing about these, they hardly have any scent to them at all - but then, most boiled sweets aren't all that fragrant.
The Texture and Consumption:
When you first put these into your mouth, you’ll find that they have a slightly sticky feel to them against your teeth. This doesn’t disappear much as you suck on them, but I’m thinking that this could be because of the natural sugars in the juice which would tend to stay slightly gooey rather than harden like glucose does.
These last quite a good, long time in your mouth, especially if you don’t bite them (like I keep yelling at my kids not to do). I believe that I only needed to consume only one at take-off and another for landing. But if you do bite them (which I did for research purposes only, mind you), you’ll find that they don’t crack up in your mouth like some boiled sweets, and you’ll get more of a chew to them than you’d expect to get. Again, this can only be attributed to the addition of the real, natural fruit juice, which - if it's really there, and I’m beginning to suspect this is no urban legend - would have that effect on a boiled sweet. I don’t think this is a problem, and that’s why I’m not reducing this product by another star.
Bottom Line:
If you’re going to have a boiled sweet, I’m sure many of you will want one that is as healthy as you can possibly find. If that’s so, then I would heartily recommend you buy Fox’s Glacier Fruits, because of the natural fruit juices that they contain. Just do yourself a favour and don’t leave them lying around where your kids can find them, or like me, you’ll end up with an empty spot where the bags used to be. (However, who am I to begrudge them a sweet now and then. That is, as long as they brush their teeth well afterwards! So indulge yourselves a little with these, and then pull out the toothpaste and scrub away - even natural fruit juices can cause cavities.)
Thanks for reading!
Davida Chazan © March 2003, updated March 2006
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Technical Stuff:
The official web page for these can be found at http://www.foxs.co.uk/index.php where you can find the history of the company and where you can purchase these. Information about their Glacier range is at http://www.foxs.co.uk/foxsrange.php?brandid=1
I found these online at http://www.aquarterof.co.uk/product_info.php/produ cts_id/219 for £2.17 for a quarter of a kilogram (250 grams) package.
Fox's Glacier range can be purchased at the following stores: Booths, Co-op, Iceland, Mills News, Morrisons, Sainsbury, Somerfield, Spar, Superdrug, Tesco, TM Retail, Waitrose, WHSmith Travel Stores (like in the airport), Wilkensons, Woolworths, Convenience Stores Nationwide and Forecourts Nationwide.
NOTE: The package says: "MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF NUTS" but for those interested, these are Gelatine free (meaning that they're Kosher!) but absolutely NOT sugar free.
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Summary: Lovely clear fruity sweets - what more could you ask?
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