SmartSweets Debuts Vegan Version of Starbursts That Are Healthy

It's s'mores night at your house and it's the first time you've had them since you went plant-based or vegan. You run to the store to buy marshmallows and you think "well, obviously this doesn't have meat or dairy, so I'm in the clear." After a quick glance at the ingredients, you may not realize but there is one additive that makes marshmallows not vegan: Gelatin.

Gelatin is derived from collagen in animal bones. It sneaks its way into our favorite candies like Starbursts. You might have read articles that say Starbursts are vegan-friendly but that isn't the case in the U.S. (In the U.K. it is).

Luckily we don't have to wait around for Starburst to ditch the gelatin because one company, SmartSweets, has done its own rendition of the treat called Sweet Chews. The best part of this plant-based candy is that it's surprisingly healthy. You might not have ever associate healthy with candy, but this brand has made the two go hand-in-hand.

Tara Bosch founded Smartsweets to provide consumers a healthy sweet that they won't feel guilty about. We can all get behind the company's motto: "Kick sugar, keep candy." The low-sugar options include gummy bears, sour blast buddies, peach rings, sweet fish and sweet chews. The gummy bears, unfortunately, are not plant-based but all the other products are.

One bag of Sweet Chew has 120 calories, only 3 grams of sugar and 10 grams of fiber as well as no artificial colors or sweeteners (We might have to add this to our list of high-fiber foods). To put into perspective how healthy Sweet Chew is compared to other sweets, Starbursts have 160 calories, 22g grams of sugar and 0 grams of fiber in only eight pieces.

Bosch has taken sweets that everyone already loves and transformed them into a healthy, guilt-free option. According to a 2019 Impact Report, Smartsweets has helped customers kick over 1 billion grams of sugar since launched in 2016.

You can buy Sweet Chews in a pack of six bags for about $20 or a pack of twelve for about $40. within each bag are three flavors: Mango, Strawberry and Watermelon.