Jenny Gellhorn
A rainbow of Skittles pours out of a Skittles bag
On Sunday, January 21st, a seemingly inconsequential bag of Skittles purchased at a Players’ vocal rehearsal led to a debate that is consuming the SCH Community.
Skittles candy, a division of Mars products, is a common staple of children’s Halloween baskets. They come in five different colors: red, purple, green, yellow, and orange, each pigment modified by variations of artificial colors. But, the question is: do they each have their own artificial flavors?
M & Ms, another staple Halloween candy, is also presented in five different colors, but they each have the same chocolate taste. This candy, along with Reese’s Pieces, does not have multiple flavors but is only multicolored for an aesthetic display.
On that Sunday rehearsal, many SCH students, like junior, Patrick Gaghan claimed that Skittles are only colored for their aesthetic displays. However, a “blindfolded taste test” led to different results. Senior, Ryan Agnew and sophomore Roman Bostick correctly identified a lime and a grape skittle without seeing the color beforehand. Patrick Gaghan was unable to identify any color of skittle correctly.
So, what’s the answer? On the Skittles ingredient list, there is just one mention of the flavoring: artificial flavor(s). No specific fruit flavors are mentioned. However, the front of the Skittles package does name the five different flavors.
Some scientists argue that the brain allows your taste buds to associate different tastes with different colors. Along with eight out of ten students, I believe that all Skittles are flavored differently. Skittles has never explicitly responded to the conversation about color and flavor. However, their “Limited-Edition Grey Skittles” every June that celebrate Pride Month tell a different story. Each Skittle in the bag is said to be flavored differently, and the skeptics cannot use color to deny it.