Sugar Savvy

The latest incarnation of sweet gummy items from Life Savers comes in the form of Island Fruits Gummies. There are four flavors: fruit punch, pineapple, strawberry kiwi, and mango melon. My chief complaint is that not all of the flavors distinctly resemble their namesake or are strong enough. Oddly, my favorite was fruit punch because it tasted like Hawaiian Punch and reminded me of the rare times when my sister and I were kids that my mom bought it for us (she was always ahead of the game when it came to reading labels). I don’t usually go for the super-super sweet, but hands down, fruit punch wins.

As for the other three flavors, the pineapple flavor tastes much better than the hard candy iteration of Life Savers; it was subtly sweet and my second favorite. To me, the strawberry kiwi didn’t really taste like strawberry or kiwi — it was just vaguely fruity. Also, strawberries aren’t what I think of when I think of island fruits. And while we’re at it, why can’t things just be kiwi flavored, anyway? And the mango melon had sort of a fake taste to it to me; I would have preferred a mango-flavored Life Saver and a melon-flavored Life Saver, all by themselves.

Overall, they are nice and smooth and pleasing in that regard — they don’t stick together like some products of this ilk often do. Of course, this is just one person’s palate. Try them for yourself. At $1.99 for the peg bag you find hanging up in drugstores and supermarkets and 69 cents for the individual roll, you’re hardly breaking the bank for a little indulgence.