New Kids On The Block - Jelly Babies Tropical ! (review)

This summer, one of the nation's favourite sweets got a "hot" new makeover, with Jelly Babies Tropical hitting the shelves, giving fans a taste of the tropics whatever the weather. This is huge news in the confectionery world, because it is the first time ever that new Jelly Babies flavours have been introduced.

We love Jelly Babies here at The Madhouse, as much for the flavours and the soft squishy texture as the pure, childish delight of biting off an unsuspecting Jelly Baby's head with an evil laugh ! The original line-up features five flavours - blackcurrant, strawberry (or is it raspberry? I'm pretty sure there used to be two, both light pink and dark pink), lemon, lime and orange - and they contain apple, lime, orange, strawberry, blackcurrant, lemon and raspberry juice, as well as sugar, glucose syrup, water, gelatine, flavourings and colourings.

The new recruits, on the bottom row in the picture, offer three new tropical flavours : mango (orange), banana (yellow) and pineapple (green). They contain exactly the same ingredients as the originals, minus the strawberry, blackcurrant and raspberry juice.

All three of the new flavours were a unanimous hit at The Madhouse, but we did think it was a shame that they look identical to the original flavours. If they're happy to have the unlikely choice of green to represent pineapple, why not go for totally different colours like blue, white or purple to differentiate them, then they could do mixed bags including both the original and new tropical flavours ?

If you're looking for a fun activity for the kids during half-term, how about making some little cars for your Jelly Babies to drive around on, with fun sized chocolate bars and Smarties as wheels and steering wheels? Great fun and a tasty treat once you've finished playing with them !

Jelly Babies Tropical and Original are available in 190g bags, for a RRP of £1.32 at most major supermarkets.

Disclosure : We received the product in order to write an honest review.