What Are Some Facts About Candy Starburst?

Here you'll find nutritional information as well as historical and fun facts about the Starburst candies.

Starburst is the brand name of the chewy, fruity, square candies manufactured by the Wrigley Company. Wrigley is a subsidiary of Mars, Incorporated, which has been making the candy since 1960.

The History of Starburst

• In 1960, when Mars, Inc. began making the fruity soft taffy candy, it was called Opal Fruits.
• The four original flavors were lemon, lime, strawberry and orange.
• In true British invasion style, Opal Fruits took America by storm in 1967, only the name was changed to Starburst.
• In 1995, Starburst jellybeans and candy canes came onto the scene.
• In 1998, the name Opal Fruits was phased out in the UK and Ireland and was replaced with the Starburst name so that the brand would be more uniform in a global economy.
• Starburst Sour Fruit Chews were introduced in 2002.
• In 2003, Mars Australia introduced Starburst Squirt – a jelly candy with a liquid center.
• In 2008, a supermarket chain in the UK revived the Opal Fruits brand labels for 12 weeks.
• In 2010, Starburst introduced GummiBursts Flavor Duos – gummy candies with liquid centers of a different flavor.

Nutritional Information

Each piece of Starburst candy contains 4% of the daily recommended dose of vitamin C, 3 grams of sugar, 4 grams of carbohydrates and 20 calories. If you were to eat 12 pieces of Starburst candy, you would accrue 5 Weight Watchers points.

Additionally, you would have consumed roughly 240 calories and about 5 grams of fat. The sweets, though gluten-free, are not vegetarian because they contain gelatin.

More Facts About Starburst Candy

• There are currently at least 15 varieties of Starburst products on the market worldwide.
• The current US Starburst slogan is “It’s a Juicy Contradiction.”
• In the UK and Australia, the current slogan is “Tastes Like Summer.”
• In the US, Starburst candies are manufactured in Waco, TX.
• Starburst candies are ideal models for Andy Warhol-esque pop art projects as they are already multi-colored and square.

So the next time you take a date to the movies, you can wow her with these facts about your favorite candy, Starburst.