Starburst are a square chewy sweet with delicious fruit flavours and have been a firm favourite among young and old for several decades.
The sweets are individually wrapped in colourful wrappers which are colour coded to match the different flavours. This makes them a great sweet to have on the go as they are wrapped for freshness and wont go hard. However they will still go a bit sticky especially in a hot sweaty pocket!
When Did Opal Fruits Change Their Name?
The sweets were originally called Opal Fruits when they launched in the 1960s and people over 40 will remember them as this and often refuse to use the new Starburst brand name!
The name was changed in 1998 to Starburst in order for the sweets to have the same brand name across the entire World. This was a big change and often thought of in the same way as Marathon changing to Snickers.
Wrigley’s who made the sweets back then changed the name and packaging and to be fair the Starburst name kinda makes more sense, as what is an “opal”? Well glad you asked as an opal is a gemstone, so having different colours and flavours of sweets which kind of look like different gemstones is the reason behind the original name.
What Are The UK Flavours Of Starburst?
There are several different packet shapes and sizes of Starburst in the UK however they all have the same combination of flavours.
In the UK you get: Strawberry, Orange, Lemon/Lime, and Blackcurrant flavoured sweets.
So there are only 4 different ones in each packet!
Are Starburst Sweets Vegan?
Recently the recipe for Starburst has changed and they have now been made to be Vegan friendly!
This is great news for vegetarians and vegans as they can now enjoy these classic sweets. Non vegans will also enjoy these as you cant really taste any difference than before!
Ingredients for Starburst are:
Glucose Syrup, Sugar, Palm Fat, Concentrated Fruit Juices 1.4%** (Apple, Orange, Blackcurrant, Strawberry, Lime, Lemon), Acid (Citric Acid), Modified Starch, Acid (Malic Acid), Dextrin, Flavourings, Maltodextrin, Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid), Emulsifier (Lecithin), Colours (Anthocyanins, Beta-Carotene), Spirulina Extract, **Equivalent to 11.5% Fruit Juice
Are Starburst Discontinued In Australia?
It has been confirmed recently that Starburst sweets are now discontinued in Australia. This is due to supply chain issues getting the sweets to this part of the world!
The company stated that Starburst are manufactured in Europe and imported to Australia, adding an additional shipping cost on that isn’t present with some of their other candies — M&Ms, Skittles, Snickers, and more are produced locally in Australia.