Haribo Maoam Stripes > Reviews (9)

I have a bit of a fetish for sweets recently, chewy sweets to be exact (this is subject to change). Finding myself in the sweets aisle of Tesco, yet again, looking for something different, I stumbled on the MAOAM stripes.

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The MAOAM stripes are fruity flavoured chewy sweets, made by ‘Haribo’.

When I initially discovered the pre-pack bag of MAOAM stripes, I wasn’t very impressed. Not only having an amusing and unpronounceable name, the packaging appeared a bit silly and naff. In fact if I hadn’t inspected closer and noticed that; ‘Haribo’ produced them; I very probably wouldn’t have bought them.
The bag that contains the stripes, is bright red, sports the ‘MAOAM’ logo in bubbly bold writing and has cartoon depictions of various fruits, doing odd things; such as, bouncing about (see pictures). The packaging could definitely be described as eye catching and I guess, appealing to children
Contained within the bag are the ‘MAOAM stripes’. These stripes are approximately two inches in length, one inch in width and two millimetres thick. Huzzah ! The individual stripes are again packaged in very bright colours, sporting the ‘maoam’ logo and a cartoon fruit doing something silly (see pictures); the colour and fruit co-ordinating with the flavour of the particular stripe.
(Talk about excessive packaging … despite being recyclable, it can’t be good for the environment!)

The ‘MAOAM stripes’ are available to buy in pre-pack bags, single stripes and larger versions (six in a pack) … Apparently!
I personally have only been able to find the pre-pack bag and I have scoured my local city and my local supermarkets: in a quest to find the others in the range … to no avail!

There are six different flavours of stripes: Lemon, Cherry, Orange, Raspberry, Strawberry and cola. The stripes are 7g each and there are approximately twenty in each pre-pack bag; there is no regularity to the amounts of each flavour within the pack, it differs on every purchase.

The sweets do not contain artificial colours. (hmmm very healthy???) They do contain fruit extracts, sugar and gelatine (for full list of ingredients, please read the packaging).

The MAOAM stripes (pre-pack bag) are available in most supermarkets priced at £0.94. This price is very typical for similar sweets, actually a few pence cheaper. Bargain!
As for the rest of the MAOAM stripes variety, I have no idea of their price or where to purchase them from: as I have been unable to locate them myself.

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The MAOAM range was introduced to the United Kingdom in 2001. Primarily there were only the ‘MAOAM stripes’, however; due to their success, the MAOAM range gradually increased. Now there are a few ranges and varieties available, including; MAOAM minis and MAO mix.

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To look at; the colour of MAOAM stripes; are pastels; practically white, with hints of colour representing the appropriate flavour. They appear to have ‘bits’ in them: which I assume (well, hope!) to be bits of the fruit.

The MAOAM stripes smell very fruity and appealing.

On tasting them, I was mucho impressed; every flavour was refreshing and intensely fruity. Distinctly tasting like the fruit flavour intended.
The Lemon and Orange flavours are very sour and bitter; the Raspberry flavour tastes like tart raspberries; the Cherry and Strawberry flavours are very smooth and pleasant.
Although there is meant to be a ‘cola’ flavour, I have yet to see or taste it (something else to add to the elusiveness of these stripes).
I personally HATE the raspberry flavour and LOVE the cherry flavour.

Although these sweets are deliriously delicious and monstrously moreish: I wouldn’t advice bulk consumption; they are decidedly sickly after about four or five.
The sweets are very chewy and satisfyingly so, as; they aren’t too soft that they would stick to your teeth; and they aren’t too hard that they could potentially pull out a filling. They are just perfect!
The size of the sweets is perfect too, two bites and its gone (unless you have a super sized mouth, then you could attempt it all at once) no time to get sticky fingers!

Although I heartily recommend these sweets I have some pretty major complaints:
- Haribo advertise the entirety of the MAOAM stripes range, however the availability of any variety other than the ‘pre-pack bag’; seems to be non-existent.
- The stripes flavours in the pre-pack bag are so very disproportionate; there are Orange and Lemon flavours in abundance and yet merely one or two of the Cherry flavour. (As the Cherry flavour was my favourite, I found this very disconcerting.)
- There is no nutritional information at all given on the packaging.

The biggest complaint of all for me was: discovering while writing this review, that the MAOAM stripes contain ‘gelatine’ (gelatine is made from the boiled bones, skins and tendons of animals) … being vegetarian this alarming information has just ended my beautiful relationship with these sweets! … ‘Ignorance WAS bliss’.

Despite my complaints and my newly found resentment towards them (why oh why gelatine?): I thoroughly recommend these sweets wholeheartedly.