Gummy bears (German: Gummibär) are small, fruit gum candies, similar to a jelly baby in some English-speaking countries.

[1] Even during Weimar Germany's hyperinflation period that wreaked havoc on the country, Haribo's fruit-gum Dancing Bear treats remained affordably priced for a mere one pfennig per pair at kiosks.

[1] The success of gummy bears has spawned the production of many other gummy candies made to resemble animals and other objects, such as rings, worms, frogs, snakes, hamburgers, cherries, sharks, penguins, hippos, lobsters, octopuses, apples, peaches, oranges, Ampelmännchen, Smurfs and spiders.

The traditional gummy bear is made from a mixture of sugar, glucose syrup, starch, flavoring, food coloring, citric acid and gelatin.

The original design for each type of candy is carved into plaster by an artist, then duplicated by a machine and used to create the starch molds for the production line.

Those with porcine gelatin or from animals not slaughtered in either of the two contradictory ritualistic fashions do not conform to kashrut or halal dietary laws.

[11] There has been concern that gelatin in most gummy bears may harbor prions, particularly those that cause bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle and new-variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease in humans.

Based on studies, the United States FDA and other national organizations and countries consider the risk of BSE transmission through gelatin to be minuscule[clarification needed] as long as precautions are followed during manufacturing.