History of Blue Raspberry Treats

Who doesn’t love blue raspberry icees or otterpops? Blue raspberry is such an iconic flavor but have you ever wondered what its origin is? Keep reading to find out.

As we all know, blue raspberry is not an actual flavor. It was originally created in a lab in the 1970s by ice-pop makers. The four flavors of ice-pops at that time were watermelon, raspberry, strawberry, and cherry. Since all of these flavors had colors that were so similar, it was hard to differentiate between them. Therefore, ice pop colors used various shades of dye to distinguish each flavor. The dye was helpful until the FDA shared a report that the same dye in ice pops caused tumors in rats.

In reaction to the report, ice pop companies expanded their colors to blue and purple. The famous blue-raspberry color comes from the dye Blue No.1. As for the taste, the treat was originally the same ingredients as the resberry ice pop just with the blue color. However, companies over time started creating their own version of a blue rasberry called the White Bark Raspberry. It is tarter than a red raspberry.

Now whenever you have a blue rasberry jolly rancher you know where the color comes from!

https://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/pop-culture/article/what-is-blue-raspberry-flavor

https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/horticulture/fruits-1/documents/what-is-a-blue-raspberry