Sweet Potato Candy vs. Gummy Candy: What's Actually Different

A standard gummy is built from three things: glucose syrup, sugar, and gelatin, held together with acid and colored with dye. Everything about the texture is engineered after the fact.

Rolled sweet potato candy works the opposite way. The chew comes from the vegetable itself — pectin and fiber in the sweet potato set as the sheet dries, so nothing has to be added to hold it together.

That also changes what's on the label. No gelatin means it isn't animal-derived. No glucose syrup means cane sugar is the only added sweetener. No dye means the color you see is the color the fruit and spice produced.

Neither is health food. But if you'd rather your candy be a short list of recognizable food, the difference on the back of the bag is real.