TBH, Low-Sugar Candy…Usually Sucks.
It’s Halloween. You’ve just sorted through your trick-or-treat loot and gleefully selected a piece of candy you’ve never seen before. You pop it into your mouth expecting the dopamine-rush of corn syrup…and instead, you discover that what you thought was candy was, in fact, an imposter.
Sure, that may be dramatic—but if you’ve ever tried low-sugar “candy,” you’ll know that 9 times out of 10, it falls short in terms of taste and quality. Because of this, it’s easy to either A. cheat on our diet or B. sacrifice good taste for a healthier alternative.
Smart Sweets Candy, on the other hand, has made things a lot easier and sweeter.
We first discovered the brand after learning that celebs like Shawn Mendes and Nina Dobrev can’t get enough of the colorful treats, so of course we had to test ’em out for ourselves.
What’s So “Smart” About These Sweets?
Since launching in 2016, Smart Sweets has been on a mission to replace America’s high-sugar, calorie-dense candy with a more nutritious option. They’ve more than succeeded: Forbes, BBC, CNBC, Business Insider, and Entrepreneur have all lauded the brand…and as we mentioned, they quickly became a celebrity-favorite.
In the candy-land that is the Smart Sweets website, you can find gummies (of all shapes, flavors, and colors), Twizzler-dupes, and even caramels—all of which contain up to 92% less sugar than traditional candy. All of Smart Sweets’ ingenious treats are free of artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, and GMO ingredients—which makes zero sense when you think about the fact that candy is pretty much 100% sugar.
What on Earth Are They Made of, Then?
Great question. Since many people have adverse reactions to artificial sweeteners like xylitol, erythritol, and other things that don’t sound like they should be in food, Smart Sweets prides themselves on replicating the sugary-taste of corn syrup with natural ingredients. Think stevia, tapioca fiber, chicory root, and natural fruit flavors.
Smart Sweets’ candies are made with a blend of high-fiber ingredients, which means they’re not only a treat at 1-4g of sugar for the whole, but they’re great for digestion too. No matter which option you choose, you can feel great eating the whole bag!
And to our plant-based friends, Smart Sweets has tons of options for you. The Sweet Fish, Sour Blast Buddy, Peach Rings, Sourmelon Bites, Cola Gummies, Red Twists, Jolly Jems, Caramels, and Lollipops are all 100% vegan-friendly. Only the Fruity Gummy Bears and Gummy Worms are made with gelatin.
It’s Hard to Pick Favorites, But…
Smart Sweets offers a wide range of treats to satisfy any sweet tooth—from sour and fruity to sweet and rich. Here are just a few of the options we can’t stop munching on:
Smart Sweets Fruity Gummy Worms
The Fruity Gummy Worms are a modern take on a childhood favorite. Despite the reduced sugar content, these treats deliver all of the flavor you’d expect from traditional gummy bears. A whole bag contains only 4g of sugar and 110 calories—with a whopping 9g of fiber. Each worm is bursting with natural flavor combos like blue raspberry + cherry, pink lemonade + peach, and strawberry + pineapple.
Smart Sweets Sourmelon Bites
A low-sugar take on the beloved watermelon-shaped gummy from Sour Patch Kids, a whole bag of Sourmelon Bites contains only 3 grams of sugar and 100 calories. These treats are gelatin-free, so vegans can enjoy the delicious watermelon flavor. We don’t know about you, but we’d take a bag of these over Sour Patch Kids any day.
Smart Sweets Peach Rings
Packed full of natural peach flavor, these Peach Rings are a cult-favorite for a reason. Each 100-calorie bag contains only 3 grams of sugar and a whopping 13 grams of fiber. According to Google, a standard peach only has 2g of fiber and 13g of sugar…which means we might argue that these are actually healthier than the fruit itself!
A Treat That Doesn’t Feel Like “Treating Yourself”
As much as we want to satisfy our guilty pleasures and sugar-cravings with full-sugar candy every day, it’s simply not healthy. We decided to give Smart Sweets a shot in an effort to alleviate our sugar cravings while still enjoying our guilty pleasures…and they more than deliverered.
As for where to buy them, you can shop directly from SmartSweets.com if you live in the US or SmartSweets.ca if you live in Canada. You can buy any of the treats separately, but we’d recommend building a box to try a few different flavors. You truly can’t go wrong!
