Kraft Heinz Gummy Snack Pack Review: Hot Dog, Pickle, And Mac & Cheese Gummies For The Win

Thanks to German confectionery maker Hans Riegel and his Haribo company, gummy candy overcame its troubling past to become a bullish market centered around squishy little bears. This year, Kraft Heinz partnered up with Frankford Candy to release a new type of gummy candy featuring some of our favorite foods, namely, Oscar Meyer hot dogs, Classen pickles, and Kraft mac & cheese. Frankford Candy's Director of Business Molly Jacobson told Penn Live, "Kraft Heinz Gummy Snack Pack gives fans the opportunity to experience three iconic food brands in a delicious fruit-flavored, gummy candy form."

With Halloween closer than you think, the Kraft, Oscar Mayer, and Claussen gummy candies are ready to put a little trick into masked costumers' treats. We sat down, ready to play with our food, gobbled down a few (too many) of the gummies, and now are here to imbue on you our chew and review...

In our variety pack, the breakdown per food was 15 Claussen Pickle, 15 Kraft Mac & Cheese, and 10 Oscar Mayer individually wrapped gummy candies. Within each package, each gummy resides in a small plastic tray.

Unlike the slightly transparent gummy candies made by Haribo, these are opaque, through and through. Each one is spongy to the touch, but not overly squishy, with some scant white residue dusting the exteriors, most likely there to preserve freshness. Any thought that these candies would have both the smell and taste of the foods they're mocking are erased with one whiff and bite. All three gummy flavors have an as-promised fruity smell to them, and a similar typical, nothing out of the ordinary, gummy fruit taste as well.

The grassy green Claussen Pickle and peach-hued Kraft Mac & Cheese gummies each have their own fun textures that try to emulate their real-life companions, with the pickle being bumpy and the macaroni ridged. The Oscar Mayer Hot Dog gummy is where all the true hotness is going on with these treats. The red dog with a yellow stripe of "mustard" is a single gummy resting in a separate bun gummy with a texture that resembles Circus Peanuts. The bun has a thin forest green "relish" stripe on one edge, and what will be a shock to many hot dog-eating purists, a red "ketchup" stripe on the other. Scandalous!!

Frankford's Kraft, Oscar Mayer, and Claussen gummies are made from malt syrup, sugar, modified food starch, gelatin, citric acid, lactic acid, carnauba wax, palm oil, titanium dioxide, and artificial flavors. You'll also find artificial colors of red 40, blue 1, yellow 5, and yellow 6.

In the 40-count bag, which is 12.17 ounces, the serving size is three gummies. Three gummies total 90 calories, zero total fat, 15 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 19 of which are total sugars, and 1 gram of protein. Please note: These candies present a choking hazard and are recommended for kids and adults over the age of 4.

The Kraft, Oscar Mayer, and Claussen gummy candy variety pack is currently rolling into nationwide stores this September. This Kraft Heinz 40-count bag retails for $7.99 and can be found in familiar places like Big Lots, Meijer, Supervalu, Target, and Walgreens. It can also be ordered directly from the candy manufacturer's website. If a bag of 40 of these gummies sounds overwhelming, a 30-count bag version can be found at Dollar General and Family Dollar in the Halloween candy sections.

In addition to the variety packs, the Kraft Mac & Cheese gummies are sold in an individual box that mimics the real thing. This product is sold year-round at the suggested price of $4, and can be found at retailers such as Amazon, Five Below, and Walmart.

Variety packs are always the best bet for buyers looking to give trick-or-treaters something to choose from when they knock on their doors. The Heinz Kraft gummy variety pack that Frankford Candy is currently offering is another great option found on shelves this time of year. Sure, the taste of these gummies may not incur memories for a lifetime, but the delightful sight of these tricks makes it hard to shake loose these treats from the brain.

The folks over at Haribo are probably not shaking in their gelatin bear claws that these Kraft Heinz-Frankford gummy candies exist. However, the playful foodies at efrutti could perhaps be a little taco shell-shocked, as consumers may lean towards the famous brand names of Kraft, Oscar Mayer, and Claussen over a no-name.

Beyond Halloween hauls, these gummies can also be an entertaining way to start or end a meal or perhaps pair well with real hot dogs, pickles, and mac & cheese. With family, friends, or even frenemies, they make a great chewy conversation piece, where everyone can be both in on and eat the joke.