Suppasugiru: Super Sour Fruit Soft Candy from Meiji

Quite a few people in the world, including me, love super sour candy as well as extremely spicy snacks, and such products are of course also available at supermarkets and convenience stores here in Japan.

For example, when I think of Japanese candy that is famous for its extreme sourness, what comes to mind right away is Nobel Super Lemon and UHA Mikakuto Shigekix Gummies as I wrote about them in this article.

They are both long-selling items and characterized by the extreme sourness that only comes from a white powder coating on the surface.

In addition to them, actually, there is one more product that became a topic of conversation, because of its extreme sourness and acidity, in recent years in Japan, and that is what I introduce here “Suppa-Sugiru (スッパスギール)”.

Meiji Suppasugiru

The Suppa-Sugiru is a soft chewy candy produced and sold by Meiji. In its name, “Suppa (スッパ)” stands for “Suppai (酸っぱい)” meaning “Sour” in Japanese, while “Sugiru (スギル)” means “To an excessive degree”.

Hence, the product name, Suppasugiru literally means “too sour”, and as you can see from the package front, caution is necessary for eating this candy. 

By the way, the Japanese treat Meiji Suppasugiru has a vinegared grape & blueberry flavor and in fact, these treats look like real blueberries.

Features 

When you look closer, you can see this fruit candy is coated with white particles, and based on the official website of Meiji Chewing Gum, the white stuff seems to be citric acid powder.

Consisting of citric acid powder on the surface, extremely sour candy dough in-between, and candy dough whose sour taste lasts long at the center, the Suppasugiru ball has a 3 layer structure and contains as much as 800 mg vitamin C in total.

Taste and Texture

Indeed, the Suppasugiru vinegared grape-blueberry candy is quite sour, but not extreme for me. It is more on the fruity side rather than vinegary, and texture-wise, it is similar to Morinaga Hi-Chew.

Ingredients

Lastly, let’s see the specific ingredients. According to the list on the back of the package, this Japanese sweet mainly consists of sugar, starch syrup, vegetable fat, starch, gelatin, brewed vinegar, sweetened condensed milk, fruit vinegar, grape and blueberry juice, and vitamin C.