08.29.10

Sin A Mango Ginger Chew

Posted in 3.0 Wasabi Pea Rating, Caramel/Taffy, Sweet at 12:04 am by Boo



[Editor’s note: This chew was guest reviewed by the BadGardens as your usual JSFRer may have a mango allergy and really doesn’t feel like scientifically proving that fact. Ergo, guest review]

The mango chew looked tasty. It was from Indonesia, said the box. The ingredients were:


“Sucrose, Maltose, Tapioca, Mango Juice , Mango Flavor, Starch, Peanut Butter.”

Peanut Butter? Eh … why not? Some kind of stabilizer, like esther gum — maybe?

Cannot say with certainty. Popped it into my mouth, and it was tasty, but nothing spe– wait. Hot. Not cayenne hot, but … ginger hot. How?

Double-checked the ingredients. No ginger. Flipping the box over and over. The picture on the front … does look suspiciously like a mango nuzzling up to a ginger root. Hrm. And then, on one corner, the words “Mango Ginger Chew.” Maybe the front of the box says “Warning: Ginger” in a language that I don’t read. But nowhere in the ingredients list. Peculiar. I am an inveterate ingredient reader. Tapioca? Nah. Starch? That’s generic enough — it might be that “starch” is the missing ginger.

I have nothing against ginger, but I cannot take much of it. Ginger beer is too strong for me — and when I’m not expecting it, well….

And finally (several days later, but I will collapse them for the benefit of the reader), on the package of the itself — only visible in small type underneath the flap — are the true ingredients of the chew: pain, evil, and mango.

Or if you’re feeling less over-the-top and more down-to-earth, try “Sucrose, Maltose, Choice Ginger, Starch and Vegetable Oil Mango Juice Mango Flavor.” Mangoes eschew commas.

Choice Ginger, no less. This means the ingredients on the box are the ingredients of tasty, tasty lying.

Seriously — what’s up with having two sets of ingredients on one food? I cannot imagine that this box is used for anything else. I assume that there’s a different (less gingery and more peanutty) type of mango chew, and one of the box sides got mixed up. I almost feel bad for the person who expected Choice Ginger and got Peanut Butter.

Packaging-wise, it’s good. The box contains several (ten?) individually-wrapped snacklets. They’ve been out of the box for at least a week now, and still the individual snacklets are fresh when I open their individual wrappers (as they should be).

So, down to the actual snack itself. Chewy-wise, it’s comparable to a salt-water taffy, but a bit more firm. Not quite dig-it-out-of-your-teeth-with-your-fingernails, but a good chew. The mango taste is good, but it’s all up front at the beginning … then the ginger taste starts to come in, and comes on strong. I find that it’s a little too strong for my full and proper enjoyment, but not so strong that it limits me to one at a sitting.

I give it a good solid

Rating of 3 Wasabi Peas out of a possible 5 plus or minus based on your feelings about ginger (lots), mango (little), and chewy sweets (fairly).

Leave a Comment