Vitamins With 0% USRDA of... Vitamins
May 3, 2017 6:47 AM Subscribe
Okay, my kid and I have been taking SmartyPants Adult Complete vitamins. They are effing DELICIOUS. So delicious, in fact, that we have trouble limiting ourselves to six vitamins. They are also wicked expensive (like $17 a bottle, egads). We want to know: where can we get gummies that TASTE like these vitamins, but are not, in fact, vitamins? They're softer than normal gummies, coated in tiny sugar crystals, and utterly addictive.
If you want larger versions of basically the same thing, Rowntree's Fruit Pastilles are good.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:52 AM on May 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:52 AM on May 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
I know, right? Gummy vitamins are way too delicious to be a good idea.
The closest I've found are Surf Sweets Fruity Bears; they have the same softer texture and sugary coating. They contain vitamin C, but you'd have to eat like 20 bags in a sitting before you got any adverse effects (excess vitamin C just gets peed out).
Some of the Haribo sugar-dusted gummies might be up your alley; they tend to be firmer than gummy vitamins but softer than regular gummy bears, and the flavors are great. Haribo grapefruit gummies are among my favorite candies ever, and there's a "fruit salad" assortment that I have yet to try but looks delicious.
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:04 AM on May 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
The closest I've found are Surf Sweets Fruity Bears; they have the same softer texture and sugary coating. They contain vitamin C, but you'd have to eat like 20 bags in a sitting before you got any adverse effects (excess vitamin C just gets peed out).
Some of the Haribo sugar-dusted gummies might be up your alley; they tend to be firmer than gummy vitamins but softer than regular gummy bears, and the flavors are great. Haribo grapefruit gummies are among my favorite candies ever, and there's a "fruit salad" assortment that I have yet to try but looks delicious.
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:04 AM on May 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
I feel the same way about chewable vitamins, both the gummies and the chalky crunchy kind, which are like pez or sweet-tarts but made more interesting by the bitterness of the actual vitamin part.
The gummies that come closest to vitamin D-licious for me are all Japanese: Poifull fruit jelly beans and Kasugai fruit gummies. Kasugai is pretty common in groceries and convenience stores, at least here in NYC, but I rarely see Poifull even in Asian food import stores, so I'm tempted to order some from amazon even though the prices there are terrible.
(And yeah, Haribo fruit salad is delicious, and the grapefruits are the best in that mix.)
posted by moonmilk at 8:54 AM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
The gummies that come closest to vitamin D-licious for me are all Japanese: Poifull fruit jelly beans and Kasugai fruit gummies. Kasugai is pretty common in groceries and convenience stores, at least here in NYC, but I rarely see Poifull even in Asian food import stores, so I'm tempted to order some from amazon even though the prices there are terrible.
(And yeah, Haribo fruit salad is delicious, and the grapefruits are the best in that mix.)
posted by moonmilk at 8:54 AM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm not familiar with the vitamins in question, but have you tried Trader Joe's Fruit Jellies? They have a soft bite and are sugar-coated. They might satisfy you.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:57 PM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:57 PM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
As a dedicated answerer (but really as a gummy enthusiast) I actually bought some Smarty Pants vitamins in order to better answer your question. I actually bought the women's complete and the probiotic ones, though, which unfortunately I realized (too late) don't have the same coating. I'd guess they have a similar internal texture, though, since they're both pretty similar to each other.
For the vitamins I have, I think the texture is more similar to gumdrops than most gummy candy. Dots gumdrops have a tougher bite and they stick to your teeth more but they do resemble the gummies. Because of that, have you tried sugar-crusted gumdrops something like this? You should be able to find various brands and flavor mixes from any medium-to-large candy store. Candy warehouse has a lot, for instance.
posted by R a c h e l at 7:49 AM on May 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
For the vitamins I have, I think the texture is more similar to gumdrops than most gummy candy. Dots gumdrops have a tougher bite and they stick to your teeth more but they do resemble the gummies. Because of that, have you tried sugar-crusted gumdrops something like this? You should be able to find various brands and flavor mixes from any medium-to-large candy store. Candy warehouse has a lot, for instance.
posted by R a c h e l at 7:49 AM on May 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
This Raspberry Drops candy at IKEA made me think of you- they are soft with a sugary coating.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:48 AM on May 17, 2017
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:48 AM on May 17, 2017
Response by poster: Thank you so much for your help, everyone - I have found an answer in an unexpected place! I manage the office pantry at work (among other things) and happened to order a bag of Sunkist Fruit Gems for our sugar-hungry team. THEY ARE SO CLOSE TO THOSE DAMNED VITAMINS. Soft, sugar-encrusted, delicious.
posted by julthumbscrew at 9:53 AM on May 18, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by julthumbscrew at 9:53 AM on May 18, 2017 [5 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:03 AM on May 3, 2017