meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Ghost Town: Strange History, True Crime, & the Paranormal

374: The Dark History of the Gummy Bear

Ghost Town: Strange History, True Crime, & the Paranormal

Ghost Town

Social Sciences, History, True Crime, Science

3.7938 Ratings

🗓️ 21 January 2026

⏱️ 14 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A sweet treat has a dark fascist past.

More Ghost Town: https://www.ghosttownpod.com

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/ghosttownpod (7 Day Free Trial!)

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ghosttownpod



Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Did you know we have completely ad-free early access to all of our episodes?

0:04.2

Well, we do. Not only that, but we have dozens of bonus episodes waiting for you.

0:09.2

Head on over to patreon.com slash ghost town pod. And you can check it out for seven days absolutely free.

0:16.1

That's patreon.com slash ghost town pod.

0:20.1

Nazi so sweet. I'm Jason Horton. I'm Rebecca Leeb. And this is

0:25.0

Ghost Town. Gummy bears are perhaps one of the most ubiquitous candies, and in my experience, has a devoted, devoted following.

0:46.6

So I have to ask you, Jason, what is your stance on gummy bears?

0:50.5

I love gummy bears. I love gummy candies.

0:53.5

You're a gummy man. I'm a good. That's, I mean, I love all candy. I eat candy all the time. It's really gross. Right now I'm eating, right now, I've switched from Mike and Ikes to runts. Yeah. Do you know runs? Oh, I know runts. Oh, I know. It's hard to find runts at the store. That's not in a... No, runts are there like little...

1:11.7

No, I know, but there's like run clusters and there's run ropes. Oh, okay. These are... Are you thinking of nerds? Yes. No, runts are the tiny fruits. Oh, they're tiny fruits. They're actually really hard to find, actually, to order them. Seriously, they, the production, the Wonka production on runts has, I guess,

1:30.3

slow down.

1:31.5

Yeah.

1:31.9

So, yes, I'm a huge fan of gummy fruit flavored.

1:36.4

I mean, I love chocolate, but my go-to is like something like gummy bears.

1:40.6

Married to, to gummies.

1:42.1

Yes.

1:42.8

Cheat on gummies with a chocolate. Or a little tiny bowl of runts. Little tiny? No. I mean, in the still life that Runts would be, they're just small. They're cute and small, but you eat a ton of them. I'm getting them in boxes of 12. That's how I'm rolling. From Amazon? From where? Yeah, yeah, if I usually find like, yeah, someone from Amazon. Or no, actually, or eBay. Okay, eBay runs. Yeah, I get my eBay runs. Incredible. Of course, gummies are very popular. The gummy market did an estimated $21.4 billion in sales and is projected to reach $52.4 billion by

2:20.2

2030. You are a case in point. But few people know the real story behind these chunky, colorful,

2:27.7

toothsome little bears until now. Today on Ghost Town, the dark, secret-ish history of the gummy bear. First, it's important to know

2:37.8

how gummy bears are made. Very simply put, gelatin candy is made by drawing collagen proteins out of

2:43.1

animal products, mostly bones, but also skin, tendons, and connective tissues, and cooking them

2:48.3

down to a powder. That's why they're not vegan. A lot of people

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ghost Town, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ghost Town and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.