Gushers Ingredients: What’s in the Pouch (2026)

Last reviewed: November 2026. Reflects the U.S. Gushers Variety Pack label, Tropical and Strawberry (6 pouches, 0.8 oz each), photographed November 2026. General Mills plans to remove synthetic colors from all its fruit snacks by the end of 2027; check the box you’re holding.

Gushers are the fruit snack with the liquid center, and the box sells them as “fruit flavored snacks,” which is accurate. The first two ingredients are corn syrup and sugar, and the fruit is pear puree in third place. Each 80-calorie pouch carries 10 grams of added sugar and nothing else nutritionally except some added vitamin C. The Tropical pouch is colored with four synthetic dyes, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40, and Blue 1, and the Strawberry with Red 40. General Mills has already taken synthetic dyes out of all its U.S. cereals and says fruit snacks are next, by the end of 2027. Gushers are gelatin-free, which surprises people. Here’s all the Gushers ingredients, what the “gush” is made of, and how Gushers compare with Fruit by the Foot, made by the same company and sold on the same shelf without dyes.

Quick answer: what’s in Gushers?

The full Gushers ingredients list

Strawberry: same base ingredients, with Natural Flavor (no artificial flavor) and Color (Red 40 and Other Color Added). Gluten free; gelatin free.

Three things to notice. Sugar appears three times in the first six ingredients: corn syrup, sugar, and fructose, with maltodextrin alongside. Pear puree is third, which is what lets the box say the snacks are made with fruit, but it’s a small, flavor-neutral fruit that mostly adds body. And the Tropical pouch is the one with the dye list, four synthetic colors plus annatto, while the Strawberry pouch in the same box uses Red 40 alone; “other color added” on both means at least one more color the label doesn’t name.

Gushers ingredients explained

Corn syrup, sugar, fructose Flagged, 10 g

Three sweeteners, together 10 g of added sugar in a 23 g pouch, about 43% of the snack by weight. Corn syrup keeps the shell soft; fructose adds sweetness and helps the center stay liquid. For a child, one pouch is about 40% of the American Heart Association’s 25 g daily limit. Our sugar and corn syrup breakdown covers why the type of sugar matters less than the amount.

Pear puree A little fruit

The only fruit in Gushers, used in most General Mills fruit snacks because pear is mild and takes on other flavors. It doesn’t add fiber in any measurable amount: the label shows none. “Tropical” and “Strawberry” are flavors.

Modified corn starch, maltodextrin Fine

Give the shell its chewy, set texture. Maltodextrin is a fast-digesting carbohydrate that behaves like sugar but isn’t counted as one.

Palm and/or palm kernel oil, cottonseed oil Small amount

A little fat keeps the pieces from sticking and gives them a smooth bite. That’s the 1 g of fat and 0.5 g of saturated fat in a pouch.

Glycerin Fine

A humectant that keeps the snack moist and soft, and part of what keeps the center from drying out.

Carrageenan, agar-agar, xanthan gum Fine, no gelatin

Three plant-based gelling agents that do what gelatin does in other gummies. Carrageenan and agar-agar come from seaweed; xanthan gum is made by fermentation. EFSA re-reviewed carrageenan in 2018 and kept it approved; the inflammation research people cite mostly used a degraded form that isn’t the food additive. Because of these, Gushers are gelatin-free, unlike Starburst or Nerds Gummy Clusters.

Monoglycerides, sunflower lecithin Fine

Emulsifiers that keep the oil and sugar evenly mixed. Monoglycerides can come from plant or animal fats; the box doesn’t say which.

Citric acid, malic acid, sodium citrate, potassium citrate Teeth

The tang, and the buffers that soften it. Harmless to eat, but a sticky, acidic snack clings to teeth, which is why dentists put fruit snacks near the top of the list for cavities.

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) Fine

Added at 10% of the daily value, which lets the box say “good source of vitamin C.” It’s the only nutrient Gushers provide besides sugar.

Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40, Blue 1 Flagged

The Tropical pouch’s colors. All four are FDA-approved. Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 were among the dyes in the 2007 Lancet trial that found increased hyperactivity in some children, and the EU requires a warning on foods that contain them. California bans Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and Blue 1 from school food starting at the end of 2027. Our Red 40 and synthetic dyes breakdowns have the full research.

Annatto extract Plant color

A natural orange-yellow from achiote seeds, used here alongside the synthetic dyes.

Natural and artificial flavor Undisclosed

In the Tropical pouch. The Strawberry pouch uses natural flavor only, which is why the box labels the two flavors differently.

What’s the “gush” inside Gushers?

The liquid center is the same ingredients as the shell, in a different state: a thick syrup of corn syrup, sugar, fructose, and glycerin with flavor, color, and acid, kept liquid by its high sugar content and held in by a gelled shell of starch, carrageenan, and agar-agar. The label doesn’t list the center separately, because it isn’t a separate ingredient; it’s the part of the snack that wasn’t set. It’s mostly sugar, which is also why it stays liquid: there isn’t enough water for it to firm up.

When the dyes come out of Gushers

General Mills committed in June 2025 to remove certified colors from its entire U.S. retail lineup by the end of 2027, starting with cereals and school foods. In August 2026 it said all of its U.S. cereals were now free of artificial colors and that fruit snacks and baking products are on track for the end of 2027. In May 2026 it launched new Gushers flavors in the candy aisle made with no colors from artificial sources. The regular Gushers Variety Pack we photographed in November 2026 still lists Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40, and Blue 1 in Tropical and Red 40 in Strawberry, so for now the dyes are still on store shelves. Fruit by the Foot on the same shelf has already switched.

Gushers vs. other fruit snacks

Gushers and Fruit by the Foot from the boxes we photographed in November 2026, both made by General Mills. Welch’s figures are from our Welch’s breakdown. “Sugar by weight” is added sugar divided by serving weight.

Are Gushers bad for you?

The concerns, ranked by evidence:

1. Added sugar. 10 g per pouch from three sweeteners; 43% of the snack by weight.
2. Teeth. Sticky, acidic, and sugary, the combination that does the most damage.
3. Synthetic dyes. Four in Tropical, Red 40 in Strawberry; linked to hyperactivity in some sensitive children; scheduled to go by the end of 2027.
4. No fiber or protein. Nothing to slow the sugar down or keep a kid full.
5. Artificial flavor (Tropical). Undisclosed; low concern.

Gushers for kids, allergies, and diets

Kids: the box is built for lunchboxes. One pouch is about 40% of a child’s daily added-sugar limit. If dyes are a concern, the Strawberry pouch has one dye instead of four, and Fruit by the Foot has none.

Allergies and gluten: labeled gluten-free; no major allergens listed.

Vegetarian and vegan: gelatin-free and vegetarian. The box doesn’t say whether the monoglycerides are plant-derived, so strict vegans may want to check with General Mills.

Cleaner alternatives

For the same snack without synthetic dyes: Fruit by the Foot, from the same company, already colored with spirulina and juice; or the new Gushers flavors labeled “no colors from artificial sources.” For a fruit snack with fruit first: Welch’s, though most of its sugar is still added. For actual fruit in a pouch: freeze-dried fruit or a fruit-only bar with no added sugar. And for a kid who wants Gushers: let them be the Friday snack, with real fruit the other days.

This article is for informational purposes and is not medical advice. Talk to a doctor or registered dietitian about your individual nutrition needs.