Sharkies Sports Chews

On a trip to Wal-Mart today, I saw a pack of "Sharkies Kids Sports Chews" in the check-out lane. They were advertising the trial size pouches (40 cents). Being a fiend for gummy snacks, I could not help myself. They might serve as a plausible backpacking snack, so I grabbed a pack and decided to do a review of them.

The package states that they're an excellent source of Vitamin C (exact value listed below!), "No High Fructose Corn Syrup", "No Trans Fats", and "No Wheat Gluten & Nuts". All while being certified USDA organic. I have no allergies to gluten or nuts, but that could be a very key point to someone else (although these are packaged in a plant along with Soy, so that's also a consideration). Tropical Splash? I'm normally not a fan of "tropical" flavors, so this may be over before I even get to try them.

Checking the nutritional information (something I just started doing, and only in regards to backpacking food), I was surprised to see that 23g of fruit snacks gave 70 Calories (more than I figured they would - which is good for backpacking), no fats, a respectable amount of cations, and... wait, 58% of the daily recommended dose of Vitamin C? Well now, they have a very nice nutritional value in a pack that weighs less than three AAA batteries.

I opened the package, and quickly grabbed one and ate it. Oops, I'm trying to do a review of these, better take a picture of the next one... The texture was pretty good for a chewy candy. It's not like gummy bears - it feels like it will hold up fairly well in heat. The texture is somewhat similar to Sour Patch Kids - but a little more firm and a little less tacky. The way they're coated, I was expecting a slightly sour flavor, but they're not sour at all. Not overly sweet, either. The tropical flavors, to my abilities, were identified as lemon-lime, mango, passion fruit, and watermelon. But I'm terrible at these things. There may have also been pomegranate.

Curious, I went to find information about non-trial size packages of these. The retail packages will be 45g (12 pieces), and therefore 140 Calories and a full daily serving of Vitamin C. More surprisingly, they also have "Smart Twists" which appear to be similar to Twizzlers in appearance. The nutritional information for a single 20g twist: 70 Calories, 100% Vitamin C, and also has Omega 3s.

The downside is the price. For the little shark pieces, a box of 12 bags is around $18 (3.3 cents/gram), or 12 boxes, each with 5 bags (23g size, though, according to the site) for $48 (3.5 cents/gram). The twists are sold by the case: 12 boxes, each with 5 twists; so 60 twists for $48. It might be something valid for doing mail drops, or to keep a stock of and use when you do day hikes/weekend trips/single-supply backpacking trips. The shelf life seems pretty workable - the trial pack that I picked up today is best by 03/31/13.

If I'm resupplying and come across the trial packs in the future, I'll likely pick them up. Might be something good to keep handy in the hipbelt to grab at quick.