Haribo Sugarless Gummy Candy Reviews

2006Product reviews / comedic writingclassic

Also known as: Haribo Sugar-Free Gummy Bear Reviews · Amazon Gummy Bear Reviews

Haribo Sugarless Gummy Candy Reviews is a viral 2013 internet meme of hundreds of elaborately written Amazon reviews vividly describing extreme gastrointestinal distress from lycasin.

Haribo Sugarless Gummy Candy Reviews are a collection of elaborately written Amazon product reviews for Haribo's sugar-free gummy bears, describing in vivid and often literary detail the extreme gastrointestinal distress caused by the candy's sugar substitute, lycasin. The first notable review appeared in 2006, and the page exploded into internet fame in late 2013 and early 2014 when media outlets picked up the reviews4. The Amazon listing became one of the internet's all-time great examples of comedic collaborative writing, with hundreds of reviewers competing to outdo each other's descriptions of digestive catastrophe.

accidental fame memespoop humor memesproduct review memesdelayed virality memes

Overview

The Haribo Sugarless Gummy Candy Reviews are Amazon product reviews for a sugar-free version of Haribo's gummy bear candy. The reviews read less like typical product feedback and more like horror fiction. Reviewers described their experiences with the candy's laxative effects using increasingly dramatic prose, biblical metaphors, and elaborate narrative setups2. The candy's main sweetening ingredient is lycasin, a syrup based on the sugar alcohol maltitol. While the human body can easily process regular sugar, only about 40% of maltitol gets absorbed in the digestive tract5. The rest ferments in the intestines, producing gas, and because maltitol is an osmotic laxative, it pulls water through the intestines on its way out5. Haribo did include a warning label noting that "excessive consumption may cause a laxative effect," but most buyers either missed it or underestimated what "laxative effect" meant in practice3.

On June 13, 2006, Amazon user Luke Meyers posted a 1-star review for the Sugarless Haribo Gummy Candy product page, describing "painful gastrointestinal distress" caused by the lycasin in the candy4. Over the following years, hundreds of additional reviews piled on with similar complaints, each one trying to top the last with more colorful descriptions of bathroom emergencies. By 2014, the product had accumulated over 690 reviews4. On May 17, 2008, a user named Jane T. uploaded a video review to Expo TV warning that the lycasin in the gummies could have a laxative effect, one of the earliest multimedia reviews of the product4.

Origin & Background

Platform
Amazon
Key People
Luke Meyers, Amazon review community
Date
2006

On June 13, 2006, Amazon user Luke Meyers posted a 1-star review for the Sugarless Haribo Gummy Candy product page, describing "painful gastrointestinal distress" caused by the lycasin in the candy. Over the following years, hundreds of additional reviews piled on with similar complaints, each one trying to top the last with more colorful descriptions of bathroom emergencies. By 2014, the product had accumulated over 690 reviews. On May 17, 2008, a user named Jane T. uploaded a video review to Expo TV warning that the lycasin in the gummies could have a laxative effect, one of the earliest multimedia reviews of the product.

How It Spread

The reviews simmered on Amazon for years before breaking through to mainstream attention in late 2013. On October 23, 2013, the news site Ryot published an article spotlighting the Amazon page and pulling out several standout reviews. Two weeks later, on November 5, Cracked listed the gummy candies among products "making our lives a living hell".

The real explosion came in January 2014. On January 14, a Reddit user named fragile_november posted a link to a specific review titled "My Date with Andrea," in which a man recounted his experience with candy-induced diarrhea while on a date. The post pulled in over 410 upvotes and 20 comments on r/humor. Four days later, screenshots of the best reviews landed on an Imgur gallery that spread across social media.

Then the journalists got involved. On January 20, 2014, Vice writer River Donaghey published a first-person account of eating the gummy bears in the Vice offices on a Saturday night. His piece included a minute-by-minute timeline starting at 7:25 PM with his first handful and ending at 3:10 AM when he crawled back to bed "a shell of a man, fingers pruned from dehydration". Five days later, YouTuber skippy62able uploaded a video of himself consuming a 5-pound bag of the candy, documenting the intestinal fallout.

BuzzFeed News compiled the most extreme review quotes into a listicle that drove another wave of traffic to the Amazon page, pulling lines like "What came out of me felt like someone tried to funnel Niagara Falls through a coffee straw" and "Be sure to also buy a tub of Oxyclean with this to get the blood and diarrhea stains out of your underwear, clothes, furniture, pets, loved ones, ceiling fans". The article's popularity pushed the reviews into Facebook shares and Twitter jokes, making the Haribo sugar-free gummy bears one of the most talked-about Amazon products of the year.

The story also attracted attention from business press. Forbes reported on the science behind the reviews, explaining how lycasin leads to the documented side effects. Bored Panda later compiled 20 of the most popular reviews, noting that commenters pointed out the laxative effect wasn't unique to Haribo. One commenter shared that sugar-free meringue cookies caused the same reaction: "2 days of reversing a s**t-ton of these from my body. OMG thought I turned myself inside out".

How to Use This Meme

The Haribo sugar-free gummy bear review format typically follows a pattern:

1

Set the scene. Establish a normal, innocent situation (a date, a flight, a workday, a walk around the neighborhood).

2

Introduce the candy. Mention buying or receiving the gummy bears, usually with no idea what's coming.

3

Escalate dramatically. Describe the onset of gastrointestinal symptoms using increasingly extreme metaphors, literary references, or military terminology.

4

Reach the climax. The bathroom scene, written with the intensity of a war correspondent filing from the front lines.

5

Close with a warning. Either a deadpan recommendation to others or a broken, defeated sign-off.

Cultural Impact

The reviews turned an ordinary Amazon product page into a piece of internet folklore. Major publications including Vice, Forbes, BuzzFeed News, and Cracked all covered the reviews. The Vice article by River Donaghey went especially viral because the writer actually consumed the candy and documented the results in real time, including recording audio of the aftermath that he warned was "not for the faint of heart".

The reviews also sparked a secondary wave of content creators attempting their own gummy bear challenges. YouTuber skippy62able's 5-pound bag challenge video brought the meme to video audiences. Review Party Dot Com dedicated a two-part series to the topic, with the writer eating the bears in controlled doses over multiple days and ultimately experiencing far milder effects than the reviews promised, leading him to write a mock conspiracy-theory review blaming "Fauci" and "Jeff Bezos" for fake reviews.

One unexpected practical observation from the Bored Panda comment section: people noted that the sugar-free gummies might work as a colonoscopy prep alternative. "People due for a colonoscopy might find these preferable to the gallon of liquid glorp they would otherwise have to drink," one commenter wrote.

The meme also raised real questions about product labeling and consumer expectations. While Haribo included a laxative warning on the packaging, the placement and wording clearly failed to communicate the severity of the effects to many consumers. The reviews spread to other sugar-free products in the Haribo line, with similar complaints appearing across the company's sugar-free range.

Fun Facts

The sugar substitute lycasin tastes almost identical to real sugar. Vice's River Donaghey noted that "Splenda and other artificial sugars have nothing on Lycasin, aside from the alleged diarrhea part".

One BuzzFeed-featured reviewer described the experience of gas escaping for "4.5-5 seconds" continuously, claiming their "external anal sphincter could not do its job" and remained open the entire time.

The Review Party Dot Com writer ate the bears over three sessions (3 bears, then 6, then 17) and experienced only mild gas, proving that individual reactions vary wildly.

Many reviewers gave the product 5 stars despite their horror stories, a strategy to keep the reviews visible and not flagged as malicious.

River Donaghey dreamed about being led to "the most magnificent and ornate bathroom" by a well-groomed gentleman before waking up at 11:51 PM and sprinting to the real toilet.

Frequently Asked Questions

Haribo Sugarless Gummy Candy Reviews

2006Product reviews / comedic writingclassic

Also known as: Haribo Sugar-Free Gummy Bear Reviews · Amazon Gummy Bear Reviews

Haribo Sugarless Gummy Candy Reviews is a viral 2013 internet meme of hundreds of elaborately written Amazon reviews vividly describing extreme gastrointestinal distress from lycasin.

Haribo Sugarless Gummy Candy Reviews are a collection of elaborately written Amazon product reviews for Haribo's sugar-free gummy bears, describing in vivid and often literary detail the extreme gastrointestinal distress caused by the candy's sugar substitute, lycasin. The first notable review appeared in 2006, and the page exploded into internet fame in late 2013 and early 2014 when media outlets picked up the reviews. The Amazon listing became one of the internet's all-time great examples of comedic collaborative writing, with hundreds of reviewers competing to outdo each other's descriptions of digestive catastrophe.

accidental fame memes poop humor memes product review memes delayed virality memes

Overview

The Haribo Sugarless Gummy Candy Reviews are Amazon product reviews for a sugar-free version of Haribo's gummy bear candy. The reviews read less like typical product feedback and more like horror fiction. Reviewers described their experiences with the candy's laxative effects using increasingly dramatic prose, biblical metaphors, and elaborate narrative setups. The candy's main sweetening ingredient is lycasin, a syrup based on the sugar alcohol maltitol. While the human body can easily process regular sugar, only about 40% of maltitol gets absorbed in the digestive tract. The rest ferments in the intestines, producing gas, and because maltitol is an osmotic laxative, it pulls water through the intestines on its way out. Haribo did include a warning label noting that "excessive consumption may cause a laxative effect," but most buyers either missed it or underestimated what "laxative effect" meant in practice.

On June 13, 2006, Amazon user Luke Meyers posted a 1-star review for the Sugarless Haribo Gummy Candy product page, describing "painful gastrointestinal distress" caused by the lycasin in the candy. Over the following years, hundreds of additional reviews piled on with similar complaints, each one trying to top the last with more colorful descriptions of bathroom emergencies. By 2014, the product had accumulated over 690 reviews. On May 17, 2008, a user named Jane T. uploaded a video review to Expo TV warning that the lycasin in the gummies could have a laxative effect, one of the earliest multimedia reviews of the product.

Origin & Background

Platform
Amazon
Key People
Luke Meyers, Amazon review community
Date
2006

On June 13, 2006, Amazon user Luke Meyers posted a 1-star review for the Sugarless Haribo Gummy Candy product page, describing "painful gastrointestinal distress" caused by the lycasin in the candy. Over the following years, hundreds of additional reviews piled on with similar complaints, each one trying to top the last with more colorful descriptions of bathroom emergencies. By 2014, the product had accumulated over 690 reviews. On May 17, 2008, a user named Jane T. uploaded a video review to Expo TV warning that the lycasin in the gummies could have a laxative effect, one of the earliest multimedia reviews of the product.

How It Spread

The reviews simmered on Amazon for years before breaking through to mainstream attention in late 2013. On October 23, 2013, the news site Ryot published an article spotlighting the Amazon page and pulling out several standout reviews. Two weeks later, on November 5, Cracked listed the gummy candies among products "making our lives a living hell".

The real explosion came in January 2014. On January 14, a Reddit user named fragile_november posted a link to a specific review titled "My Date with Andrea," in which a man recounted his experience with candy-induced diarrhea while on a date. The post pulled in over 410 upvotes and 20 comments on r/humor. Four days later, screenshots of the best reviews landed on an Imgur gallery that spread across social media.

Then the journalists got involved. On January 20, 2014, Vice writer River Donaghey published a first-person account of eating the gummy bears in the Vice offices on a Saturday night. His piece included a minute-by-minute timeline starting at 7:25 PM with his first handful and ending at 3:10 AM when he crawled back to bed "a shell of a man, fingers pruned from dehydration". Five days later, YouTuber skippy62able uploaded a video of himself consuming a 5-pound bag of the candy, documenting the intestinal fallout.

BuzzFeed News compiled the most extreme review quotes into a listicle that drove another wave of traffic to the Amazon page, pulling lines like "What came out of me felt like someone tried to funnel Niagara Falls through a coffee straw" and "Be sure to also buy a tub of Oxyclean with this to get the blood and diarrhea stains out of your underwear, clothes, furniture, pets, loved ones, ceiling fans". The article's popularity pushed the reviews into Facebook shares and Twitter jokes, making the Haribo sugar-free gummy bears one of the most talked-about Amazon products of the year.

The story also attracted attention from business press. Forbes reported on the science behind the reviews, explaining how lycasin leads to the documented side effects. Bored Panda later compiled 20 of the most popular reviews, noting that commenters pointed out the laxative effect wasn't unique to Haribo. One commenter shared that sugar-free meringue cookies caused the same reaction: "2 days of reversing a s**t-ton of these from my body. OMG thought I turned myself inside out".

How to Use This Meme

The Haribo sugar-free gummy bear review format typically follows a pattern:

1

Set the scene. Establish a normal, innocent situation (a date, a flight, a workday, a walk around the neighborhood).

2

Introduce the candy. Mention buying or receiving the gummy bears, usually with no idea what's coming.

3

Escalate dramatically. Describe the onset of gastrointestinal symptoms using increasingly extreme metaphors, literary references, or military terminology.

4

Reach the climax. The bathroom scene, written with the intensity of a war correspondent filing from the front lines.

5

Close with a warning. Either a deadpan recommendation to others or a broken, defeated sign-off.

Cultural Impact

The reviews turned an ordinary Amazon product page into a piece of internet folklore. Major publications including Vice, Forbes, BuzzFeed News, and Cracked all covered the reviews. The Vice article by River Donaghey went especially viral because the writer actually consumed the candy and documented the results in real time, including recording audio of the aftermath that he warned was "not for the faint of heart".

The reviews also sparked a secondary wave of content creators attempting their own gummy bear challenges. YouTuber skippy62able's 5-pound bag challenge video brought the meme to video audiences. Review Party Dot Com dedicated a two-part series to the topic, with the writer eating the bears in controlled doses over multiple days and ultimately experiencing far milder effects than the reviews promised, leading him to write a mock conspiracy-theory review blaming "Fauci" and "Jeff Bezos" for fake reviews.

One unexpected practical observation from the Bored Panda comment section: people noted that the sugar-free gummies might work as a colonoscopy prep alternative. "People due for a colonoscopy might find these preferable to the gallon of liquid glorp they would otherwise have to drink," one commenter wrote.

The meme also raised real questions about product labeling and consumer expectations. While Haribo included a laxative warning on the packaging, the placement and wording clearly failed to communicate the severity of the effects to many consumers. The reviews spread to other sugar-free products in the Haribo line, with similar complaints appearing across the company's sugar-free range.

Fun Facts

The sugar substitute lycasin tastes almost identical to real sugar. Vice's River Donaghey noted that "Splenda and other artificial sugars have nothing on Lycasin, aside from the alleged diarrhea part".

One BuzzFeed-featured reviewer described the experience of gas escaping for "4.5-5 seconds" continuously, claiming their "external anal sphincter could not do its job" and remained open the entire time.

The Review Party Dot Com writer ate the bears over three sessions (3 bears, then 6, then 17) and experienced only mild gas, proving that individual reactions vary wildly.

Many reviewers gave the product 5 stars despite their horror stories, a strategy to keep the reviews visible and not flagged as malicious.

River Donaghey dreamed about being led to "the most magnificent and ornate bathroom" by a well-groomed gentleman before waking up at 11:51 PM and sprinting to the real toilet.

Frequently Asked Questions