Skittles recently released its own drink in 2024 called Skittles Drinks. These colorful drinks come in four flavors: original, wild berry, sour and tropical. They can be bought online and in person in bulk and individually in stores like Walmart or Amazon.
While different in taste, each flavor has generally the same ingredients and nutritional facts. The only difference between the drinks are the ingredients used for coloring, like Red 40 or Blue 1. The first three ingredients are common, non risk consumables; filtered water, sugar apple juice from concentrate and natural flavors. However, they each contain minimal amounts of acesulfame K, an artificial sweetener that has been linked to an increased risk of cancer and pregnancy complications.
Acesulfame K has potential side effects of disrupting the metabolism, which can affect body weight, blood sugar and appetite regulation. While there are researchers who support these claims with some evidence, The National Cancer Institute has found no evidence of a link to cancer and the FDA declared it is safe to consume.
The presence of artificial food dyes may also raise concerns over the consumption of the Skittles Drinks. The FDA has been criticized for not evaluating Red 40 in over a decade and the media has begun asking questions regarding the safety of its consumption. Blue 1 currently lacks research of long term effects of its consumption and also may be recommended to not be consumed.
The serving size for the Skittles Drink is one bottle, 414 mL each. Each drink is 140 calories and contains no fats or cholesterol. They have 10 mg of sodium, 32g of carbohydrates and 32g of sugar. These drinks do not have protein content.
Skittles Drinks may be a fun beverage to try-out but shouldn’t be consumed regularly. Like any drink with a high sugar content, it is important to track how much you drink and stick to the serving size. Looking at the ingredient list and confirming you have no allergies to what is in the drink is also a must.
