Choosing Healthier Fruit Roll-Ups and Fruit Strips

The snack food aisle is filled with enticing snacks that claim to be bursting with fruit and veggies. Unfortunately, many of these snacks are not what they appear.  Fruit roll-ups and fruit strips are examples of healthy looking snacks that are often just well-marketed candy.

Healthy fruit roll-ups should have:

• Real fruit as the first ingredient
• Minimal added sugar, including from concentrated fruit juice
• No fillers (starches or complex carbohydrates)
• No artificial ingredients (preservatives, colors, or flavors)

What to look for when choosing healthier fruit roll-ups

1. Real fruit should be the first ingredient

Fruit strips and fruit roll-ups should only contain dehydrated fruit.  Whole fruit is a nutrient dense and naturally sweet snack.

How do you know if a fruit strip contains real fruit?  Read the ingredient list.  Fruit, typically in the form of a puree, should be the first ingredient.

Also, look for fiber on the Nutrition Facts label.  Real, whole fruit contains fiber.  And the more fiber a fruit roll-up or fruit strip contains, the more whole fruit in the snack.

2. Minimal or no added sugar

Added sugar is the last thing we need to be eating.  Yes, a little added sugar is okay, but the typical American eats almost a half cup of added sugar each day and this excess sugar consumption is making us overweight and chronically ill.

Corn syrup, tapioca syrup, and cane sugar are all forms of added sugar that are common first ingredients in fruit snacks. 

Apple and pear juice concentrate sound healthy, right?  Think again!  The FDA considers fruit juice concentrates to be a form of added sugar! (1)  

What about fruit snacks containing organic sugar?  Organic forms of added sugar cause the same health problems as conventional sugar. 

Fruit roll-ups made from mostly organic sugar or organic fruit juice concentrates are organic candy, not healthy snacks.  

When evaluating the amount of added sugar in a fruit bar, we looked at the location of added sugar on the ingredient list.  Was added sugar the first ingredient?  Was it the second?  Or was added sugar farther down the ingredient list?

The sugar from a whole piece of fruit part can be part of a healthy diet.  However, sugar from fruit does make it tricky to calculate the exact amount of added sugar in each snack.  

Therefore, quantity of added sugar was estimated based on the location of added sugar on the ingredient list.  And yes, if added sugar is the first ingredient, the “fruit roll-up” is actually candy.  All forms of added sugar are listed below in red.

3. Avoid fillers such as starch and complex carbohydrates

While starch and complex carbohydrates are not considered added sugar, they are polysaccharides (polymers of sugar) and our body rapidly digests them into sugar.  

Polysaccharides, along with refined grains like all purpose flour, are high Glycemic Index (GI).  Eating predominantly high-GI foods is associated with chronic disease and strongly associated with heart disease. (2,3)

Polysaccharides found in fruit roll-ups and fruit strips include: pectin, maltodextrin, modified corn starch, xanthan gum, and locust bean gum.  Avoid these highly processed ingredients.  They are not nutrient dense.

4. Avoid artificial ingredients (colors, preservatives and flavors)

Artificial colors, preservatives and flavors are frequently used in processed snacks. 

These artificial ingredients are an inexpensive way to enhance the fruit-like flavor and color to a processed food.  

Though several kid favorite snacks have been reformulated in the past year to remove artificial colors and preservatives, it is still important to check a product’s label for these ingredients.

For more detail on why it is best to avoid artificial colors and preservatives, check out previous posts on choosing healthier breakfast cereals and choosing healthier granola bar.

Which popular fruit roll-ups and fruit strips are healthy?

We evaluated top selling fruit leathers and fruit strips based on the following criteria. (4-13)

Unfortunately, while many fruit roll-ups have fruit as the first ingredient, they could not be rated as “wise”.  This is because they simply had too much added sugar.  

Criteria used to evaluate fruit roll-ups and fruit strips

Some fruit strips and fruit roll-ups are healthy snacks

Fruit strips and roll-ups tend to be a bit healthier than fruit snacks.  The first ingredient in a healthy fruit strip is generally pureed fruit.  However, the majority of fruit roll-ups still contain a decent amount of added sugar and fillers like modified corn starch, so it is important to read the ingredients and shop carefully.

Examples of Healthier Fruit Strips and Fruit Roll-Ups:

A healthy fruit strip should be mostly fruit, preferably all fruit. 

Added sugar (even fruit juice concentrates) should be low on the ingredient list, which indicates a relatively low amount in the snack. 

We found one healthy fruit leather made mostly from fruit puree.  However, if you have the time, consider making homemade fruit roll-ups.  

Homemade Blueberry Fruit Roll-Ups

Homemade Blueberry Fruit Roll-Ups Ingredients:  Blueberries, apple.

Want to try to make your own fruit leather?  Check out our homemade blueberry fruit leather recipe!

Stretch Island Fruit Leather

Stretch Island Fruit Leather Ingredients (Strawberry):  Apple puree concentrate, pear puree concentrate, strawberry puree, lemon juice concentrate, strawberry juice concentrate with other natural flavors.

Examples of Fruit Strips and Roll-Ups for Occasional Treats:

Healthy-looking fruit strips and fruit roll-ups can contain excess added sugar.  Juice concentrates are a form of added sugar, so consider only eating these snacks as an occasional treat.

Clif Kid ZFruit Rope

Clif Kid ZFruit Rope Ingredients (Mixed Berry):  Apple puree concentrate*, apple juice concentrate*, natural flavors*, malic acid, pectin, colored with fruit and vegetable juice, sunflower oil*, carnauba wax*.

Simply Balanced Fruit Strips

Simply Balanced Fruit Strips Ingredients (Wild Berry):  Apple puree concentrate, apple juice concentrate, natural flavor, citrus pectin, lemon juice concentrate, strawberry juice concentrate, raspberry juice concentrate, blueberry juice concentrate, citric acid, ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), vegetable and fruit juice (carrot, blueberry) for color.

SunRype Fruit to Go

SunRype Fruit to Go Ingredients (Apple Wildberry):  Apple puree concentrate, concentrated cherry, raspberry, blueberry, cranberry and boysenberry juices, natural flavor, strawberry juice concentrate, lemon juice concentrate, citrus pectin, natural flavor.

Trader Joe’s Fruit Wrap

Trader Joe’s Fruit Wrap Ingredients (Apple Wild Berry):  Apple puree concentrate, apple juice concentrate, strawberry puree concentrate, raspberry puree concentrate, citrus pectin, elderberry juice concentrate, natural flavors, lemon juice concentrate.

Examples of Fruit Roll-Ups to Avoid:

Many fruit rolls-ups are fruit flavored candy masquerading as a healthy snack.  Other fruit strips contain unwanted artificial ingredients.  It is best to avoid the following fruit leathers and fruit rolls.

Annie’s Really Peely Fruit Tape

Annie’s Really Peely Fruit Tape Ingredients (Bendy Berry):  Pear juice concentrate*, apple juice concentrate*, dried apple*, sunflower oil*, tapioca starch*, raspberry puree*, strawberry puree*, color* (carrot* and blackcurrant* extracts), citrus pectin, ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), citric acid, natural berry flavor.

Betty Crocker’s Fruit By the Foot

Betty Crocker’s Fruit By the Foot Ingredients (Strawberry Splash):  Pear puree concentrate, sugar, maltodextrin, corn syrup, palm oil, carrageenan, citric acid, sodium citrate, monoglycerides, acetylated monoglycerides, color (carrot and apple juice), Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), malic acid, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, natural strawberry flavor, potassium citrate.

It is best to avoid carrageenan, a polysaccharide polymer, commonly used in processed food.  An explanation on why it is best to avoid carrageenan is can be found in a previous post on choosing healthy granola bars.

Betty Crocker’s Fruit Roll-Ups

Betty Crocker’s Fruit Roll-Ups Ingredients (Strawberry):  Corn syrup, dried corn syrup, sugar, pear puree concentrate, palm oil, citric acid, sodium citrate, fruit pectin, monoglycerides, malic acid, dextrose, Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), acetylated monoglycerides, natural flavor, color (red 40, yellows 5 & 6, blue 1).

Joray Fruit Rolls

Joray Fruit Rolls Ingredients (Strawberry):  Dried apricots*, corn syrup solids, sugar, enriched flour, dehydrated strawberries, citrus fiber, citric acid, artificial flavor, Red 40. *Contains sulphur dioxide (to preserve color).

Mott’s Fruity Rolls

Mott’s Fruity Rolls Ingredients (Strawberry Splash):  Pears from concentrate, corn syrup, dried corn syrup, sugar, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), citric acid, sodium citrate, acetylated monoglycerides, fruit pectin, malic acid, dextrose, vegetable and fruit juice added for color, natural flavor.

Conclusions about fruit strips and fruit roll-ups

Fruit leathers, fruit strips, and fruit roll-ups are healthy sounding snacks.  However, many fruit roll-ups contain too much added sugar and possibly even artificial ingredients.  These products are fruit flavored candy, not healthy snacks.

Fruit, in its whole, unprocessed form, is the healthiest fruit snack we can eat.  Fruit snacks made from whole, minimally processed fruit are the next best thing.

Did you know that you can make your own homemade fruit roll-ups?  With just two ingredients and some time, you can make delicious and healthy blueberry fruit roll-ups!

Find other healthy store bought snacks and foods

Check out these other popular foods and snacks!  Learn which favorite packaged foods are healthy and which ones best to avoid or enjoy as an occasional treat.

• Healthier breakfast cereals
• Healthy crackers and snacks
• Healthy granola bars
• Healthy Trader Joe’s shopping list (pantry staples)

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References:

1. Definition of Added Sugar, FDA Federal Register, May 2016, § 101.9(c)(6)(iii) (link)
2. Whole Grains and Fiber, American Heart Association Website (link)
3. Always Hungry? Conquer Cravings, Retrain Your Fat Cells & Lose Weight Permanently, David Ludwig, MD, PhD (link)
4. Stretch Island Fruit Leather Strawberry, Stretch Island Website (link)
5. Clif Kid Organic ZFruit Mixed Berry Rope, Clif Bar Website (link)
6. Simply Balanced Fruit Strips Wind Berry, Target Website (link)
7. SunRype Fruit to Go Apple Wildberry, SunRype Website (link)
8. Trader Joe’s Fruit Wrap Apple Wild Berry, Product Package
9. Annie’s Organic Really Peely Fruit Tape Bendy Berry, Annie’s Organic Website (link)
10. Betty Crocker’s Fruit By the Foot Strawberry Splash, Betty Crocker Website (link)
11. Betty Crocker’s Fruit Roll-Ups Strawberry, Betty Crocker Website (link)
12. Joray Fruit Rolls Strawberry, Joray Website (link)
13. Mott’s Fruity Rolls Strawberry Splash, Mott’s Website (link)