Oooh You Sour Faced Old Trout (The Natural Confectionery Co Jelly Un-Bear-Ables)

Member Name: fruityzo

Product:	The Natural Confectionery Co Jelly Un-Bear-Ables
Date:	14/06/09 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: No artificial colourings.

Disadvantages: Not suitable for veggies/certain allergy sufferers; A bit pricey.

I had previously come across sweets made by 'The Natural Confectionery Co.' before, but had always been put off by the price. However, I came across a pack of 'Jelly UnBearables' in Tesco for 61p instead of their usual £1.22.

Brief Background:

According to the Natural Confectionery Co's website; the company
"came about when a very little man in Australia had a very big idea...in Australia".
"The little man wondered... 'what if i made a jelly sweets that didn't have all the artificial colours and flavours you usually get in jellies?'
Surely a sweet can't be delicious without maltodextrin, trisodium citrate or e147? Apparently it can."

The Natural Confectionery Co. also carry in their product range: Sour Jelly Squirms, (Non-sour) Jelly Dinosaurs, Jelly Snakes, Party Jellies, & Forbidden Fruits.

The product is made & distributed in the UK by Cadbury Trebor Bassett Ltd.

The Product:

The Unbearables come in a white 180g bag (exactly as shown in the dooyoo picture). The other products in the Natural Confectionery Co. range all have very similar, easily recognisable packaging.

The company obviously don't use artificial colourings, instead going for natural colourings such as Chlorophyll & Anthocyanins (natural plant pigments that can vary in shade).
This in itself is great, but I do think it is a shame that these contain beef gelatine, thus rendering them unsuitable for veggies.
Similarly, they also contain wheat and sulphites, PLUS the possibility of milk traces. Not as accessible to all as I first thought then...

Per 100g, these sweets contain:
325 calories
58.3g sugar
Trace fat & saturated fat.

But hey... who eats sweets to be healthy?!

~ ~ ~ ~

Although the title 'Unbearables' doesn't sound particularly appetising, there is a clear 'window' on the bag, which allows you to see the sweets inside, which in their 5 different colours, look quite appealing.

The sweets come in 5 different flavours: Blackcurrant, Raspberry, Banana, Orange, & Lime.
They are described as 'awesomely sour' on the packet, and from the large-grained, sugary coating, they look like they may well live up to the promise...

The Proof Is In The Eating:

Now for the purposes of a fair and accurate review, I MUST OBVIOUSLY be munching on a bag of these as I'm writing this...

On opening the pack, you are hit with a pleasant fruity smell (nothing too strong), and the individual 'bears' are a good size - much bigger than traditional gummy bear style sweets.

I love sour sweets, so I was hoping that these would live up to their promises on the pack; and I'm glad to say that I wasn't disappointed!

The sweets themselves aren't too chewy, but not too soft either. They have a lovely sharp fruity taste (the kind that makes your mouth water), and this is really complimented well by the rough and uneven texture of the sugar coating.
Each of the 5 flavours is lovely and tangy (I don't even like banana flavoured things, but these were yummy)!

It would be all too easy to munch the whole bag of these, but I will resist to avoid a sugar overload!

Conclusion:

Although these are very tasty and as sour as promised (but in a pleasant way), I have to criticise the flavourings slightly. This is purely due to the fact that if I hadn't read the flavour listing on the back of the packet, I may not have necessarily been able to identify all of the flavours.
I think this is possibly partly due to the citric acid that has been used alongside flavourings to sharpen the taste - resulting in a couple of the flavours tasting quite similar.

I will not give these the full 5 stars, partly for the above reason; but also because when not on offer, I do think that £1.22 is quite expensive for an 180g bag. Especially as they certainly won't last very long, (unless you're very good with your sweets & treats, which I am definitely not)!!

All in all, I think these are a great treat every once in a while.

Summary: Stock up when on offer!