Fruit Stripe Gum Has Been Discontinued After 5 Decades as Fans Mourn: 'A Piece of My Childhood Just Died'

The candy aisle mainstay is officially out of production, but fans could still find remaining stock in some stores

After over a half-century on the market, Fruit Stripe Gum is no more.

The candy's producer, Ferrara Candy, announced that Fruit Stripe Gum will no longer be a part of their product lineup, according to Food & Wine.

"We have made the difficult decision to sunset Fruit Stripe Gum," the company said in a statement to the publication.

However, they noted that "consumers may still be able to find the product at select retailers nationwide," but did not specify where remaining stock could be found.

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The company further explained to Food & Wine that "The decision to sunset this product was not taken lightly, and we considered many factors before coming to this decision, including consumer preferences, and purchasing patterns.”

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News of Fruit Stripe Gum's discontinuation was first shared by OldTimeCandy.com, who wrote "We are sad to announce that Fruit Stripe Gum has been discontinued by the manufacturer. We are disappointed too."

Fans of the gum took to Reddit on the subreddit r/nostalgia to share their feelings about the discontinuation.

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"RIP Fruit Stripe Gum. Despite the truth behind the memes of it lasting a brief time, the flavor for that brief time is unmatched in the chewing gum world. You shall be missed," wrote one user.

The sentiment was echoed by a fellow user, who wrote, "A piece of my childhood just died."

"The wildest three second ride that your tastebuds ever knew," chimed in another.

According to Ferrara Candy, Fruit Stripe Gum was created in the late 1960s. The company also highlights that each stick of brightly-flavored gum is striped just like Yipes, the Zebra mascot, and comes packaged with a temporary tattoo of Yipes.

Fans of retro sweets likely remember that Klondike's Choco Taco was discontinued after almost 40 years in the summer of 2022, causing a similarly disappointed reaction from diehard fans of the decades-old ice cream treat.

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