en fuego

Get Ready for Spicy Starburst and Skittles

What and why? Photo: Wrigley Jr.

Always working overtime to satisfy America’s sweet tooth, Wrigley believes the people have spoken again, and that this time, they’ve demanded spicy fruit candy. There’s clearly no other way to read what it brought to the annual Sweets & Snacks Expo going on this week in Chicago. Reps came armed not with one hot confection in an intense-looking black bag festooned with flames, but with two such candies: Sweet Heat Skittles and Sweet Heat Starburst.

According to People, there are five Skittles flavors: Fiery Watermelon, Blazin’ Mango, Flamin’ Orange, Sizzlin’ Strawberry, and one called Lemon Spark that’s more electrical burn than hot taste sensation. On the Starburst side, there are four flavors: the Fiery Watermelon, Strawberry Mango, and Flamin’ Orange repeat, and then there’s a Pipin’ Pineapple. Both will be available in 99-cent packs, but not till this winter.

In the words of an A.V. Club writer who tried them, they cause a “noticeable chili-like burn” on your tongue. If a question still remains about why this is happening, it’s probably the same answer that explains why America has shoved spice into its sodas, whiskeys, bagels, taco shells, and even its vape pens.

Get Ready for Spicy Starburst and Skittles