If you were alive in the 1980s and ’90s, then you remember the glory days of fruit snacks. Some of them were gummy. Some of them gushed. And some of them were oddly stringy. But the undisputed champion of fruity deliciousness was the snack that rolled. General Mills’ legendary fruit roll-ups have been a part of kids’ lunches and snack times since 1983, and over the years, they’ve had their sticky fingers on all sorts of triumphs and controversies. But how were they invented? And exactly how much “fruit” is rolled into that cellophane wrapper?
#fruitrollupchallenge #snacks #weirdhistoryfood
36 Comments
I never cared much for Fruit Roll-ups. However, Fruit by the Foot was waay better and easier on the teeth
This was awesome way to bring in 2025
I just watched The Food That Built America yesterday on this topic and history. Pretty interesting.
George Shalhoub, creator of Joray Fruit Rolls (an apricot-based fruit snack) immigrated from LEBANON and founded his company in 1886.
At least get that part right 😂
I remember the Pizza Fruit roll ups. Never considered ice-cream and fruit rollups. Might have to try it sometime.
I remember the Betty Crocker pudding roll ups. Those were great.
STRING THING!
These were a staple of my childhood, especially the punch-outs.
the narrator is fine, but the music level in the transitions is LOUD.
Totally forgot about string thing, I remember the stars. I love those
Roll up some gushers in a fruit roll up. Thank me later.
So, people complain about th eFood quality of Fruit Roll Ups, but Im more concerned with the fact that they seem to employ only Children in their factory.
Fruit by the foot is better tho😎
10:17 That's not a real tongue.
When I was a kid, I mostly got Fruit by the Foot, primarily because it felt like so much more than Roll-Ups.
i ate 20 fruit rollups in one sitting once and didn’t poop for ten days
I liked the old guy better
They used to actually be a good product made with actual fruit, now they're just "fruit-flavored" corn syrup rolls.
The 7 grams of sugar isn't as bad as the 50 grams in the kid's OJ on the cafeterias.
Guess i should be happy my mom most of the time my mom actually bought us fruit "leather" from whole foods 😂❤ love u mom 😊
Fruit=sugar… Naturally occurring sugar in fruit is called fructose. Who woulda thought 😂
My personal fave growing up was stretch island fruit leather which a organic brand i was not allowed fruit roll ups my mom said there's not real fruit in them she was probably right
Do they still super glue part of the Fruit Roll-Up to the cellophane rapper?
Can we get one on M&M's and their colours ?
5:47 Oh hey, the Garfield fruit snacks! I really liked those ones as a kid, they had a kind of a fruit punch flavor and a neat texture because of the character shapes.
"Fruits" uhuh
Sugar in pure strawberries is pretty damn high
String thing was the best
I think everyone fussing about the new narrator needs to chill out and grab a fruit roll up.
Do one on Raspberry Bubblious gum. Probably spelled wrong. But I absolutely loved the taste of it, then it just disappeared?
the 80's and 90's were great days for fans of gummy candy but im glad to live in the era where gummies have weed in um.
the kosher rolls are great. I had Fruit By The Foot more often as a kid, but Fruit Rollups were my secret favorite because of the flavor. But they were so sticky…
That would’ve been so cool to go to Little Syria in Manhattan and have some of that lazeez (Arabic for sweet, tasty) amardeen as a dessert to a falafel sandwich in the 1920s. Damn you, Robert Moses! He deliberately picked that neighborhood to raze so he could build the Battery Tunnel because of his dislike of Arabs. You can research my claims if you don’t believe me…
At 1:22, "fruit leather." Yes indeed! That's what my family called it In the early 80s when my mother made it from the apricots and raspberries she grew in our garden. A roll of fruit leather was pretty much the kids' equivalent of chewing tobacco. Tear off a strip, wad it up, put it in your cheek, and let it dissolve in your mouth over the next half hour or so. Excellent stuff! Fruit Roll-Ups became big when I was in middle school, so I always thought of it as a inferior copy of Mom's homemade creation. Love ya, Mom!!!
Mexico has its own traditional candy called Cachetada
So food hasn’t been real food in decades… craaazzyyyy… only in America…