Why have they stopped selling joosters?!

Can there be any finer sweet than the humble Starburst Jooster? Little jelly bean style sweets of various colours and flavours with an appeal that sees them enjoyed by both young and old. I love them, and I cannot get enough of them which could have a detrimental effect on my teeth and my waist-line.


Starburst Joosters are packaged in a light blue bag having been updated from the more traditional Yellow Starburst / Opal Fruit coloured packaging. Starburst is written in jaunty red on a yellow background with Joosters Jelly Beans scrawled in a comedy type font in the middle of the bag. A clear viewing window completes the front of the bag so potential buyers can see the little Joosters prior to buying them. As is common with most food products the back of the bag is given over to Ingredients and Nutritional Information as well as contact details should the product fail to satisfy.


The Ingredients are pretty much what you would expect from a sweet, with Sugar and flavourings the predominant constituents. One issue worth noting however is that Starburst Joosters do contain real fruit juice and although it accounts for only 7.1% of the total Ingredients it does offer a glimmer of hope for those worried about the sugar and artificial flavour content. For those who wish to purchase a 230g bag of these sweet treats a British pound should be sufficient to procure them.


Opening the bag seemed to be a bit of a task for me, I’ve never been good at opening packets or bags without splitting them and spewing the contents far and wide. With the help of a pair of scissors I manage to open the bag to reveal a multitude of Joosters in various colours, with each colour representing a different fruity flavour. Each Jooster is about the size of a Marrowfat pea but rugby ball shaped, also every sweet has the word Jooster etched on it in white, I pity the poor person who spends his days doing that job. For my first taste I select a green Jooster and bite it in half, a harder jelly like shell gives way to a softer fruity filling that releases a delightful fruity flavour.


Further chewing of the sweet results in its disintegration fairly quickly but that fruity flavour is surprisingly strong and lingers in the mouth long after the sweet has been swallowed. My second taste test calls for a Yellow Jooster to be sucked to oblivion, it takes about one minute for the harder outer shell to be sucked off which then reveals the sweeter and fruitier middle again. As with the first taste a strong fruit flavour soon envelopes my taste buds which is an enjoyable sensation. It takes about four minutes to suck the Jooster to nothing and as before, a fruity tang lingers. Joosters do not seem overly sugary to me, yes they are sweet but not overpoweringly so, I did not feel particularly bloated or sick after eating the bag which can happen with some other sweet brands.


I give Starburst Joosters four stars out of five, with the fifth star removed because I still cannot forgive the renaming of the brand from Opal Fruits. A bag of Joosters will not last you a long time like some boiled sweets might, but I believe there appeal is very much in the delightful fruity flavour each little sweet is brimming with. I find them less sickening than other traditional jelly bean type sweets which can only be good, after all nobody want to feel sick after eating sweets. As for me, well I’ve eaten my whole stash during the writing of this review so I guess it’s off to the shop to stock up again without delay.