Why These Trader Joe's Gummies Are The Store's Worst Gluten-Free Dessert By Far

No trip to Trader Joe's would be complete without a jaunt down the most technicolor aisle of all. Trader Joe's offers tons of great candies but nobody's perfect, and even the beloved grocery giant misses the mark from time to time. To ensure a tasty treat every single visit, skip the Super Sour Scandinavian Swimmers. We appreciate that they're accessible to gluten-free foodies, but in Tasting Table's ranking of 15 gluten-free desserts from Trader Joe's, these rather inconsistent gummies fell to last place. 

Despite the promised "super sour" flavor, TJ's playful take on the classic Swedish Fish arrives on the palate neither tart nor tangy. Perhaps this underwhelming performance was somewhat skewed by the fact that our alleged "variety" bag of gummies was far from varied. The vast majority were actually red, star-shaped gummies, which are red berry flavor (?). This was the least compelling flavor on offer, so once we'd eaten the rest of the bag, they were just left swimming around at the bottom. 

It's worth addressing that elsewhere, in another Tasting Table ranking of nine Trader Joe's gummies, we gave Super Sour Scandinavian Swimmers second place with high marks for their perfectly balanced flavor profile, with complementary notes of sweet and sour. As such, we're willing to consider the possibility that we just got an "off" batch with whack flavor distribution (or lack thereof). Still, to avoid our fate, we would advise potential purchasers to give each bag of Super Sour Scandinavian Swimmers a thorough inspection for variety before tossing 'em into the shopping cart.

A Reddit thread dedicated to Trader Joe's Super Sour Scandinavian Swimmers similarly mentions the candy's inconsistent quality. "I just got some yesterday in illinois, but they were not as good as they usually are," one disgruntled shopper shared. "I hope they haven't changed anything and it was just a bad batch." Others agreed, with one Redditor noting, "I too had a subpar batch not that long ago. The squish was right but the flavor was off." At the time of writing, the product is currently listed as "not available" on the Trader Joe's website.

Another post dedicated to them proffered similarly mixed reviews. Some comments called the fish unpleasantly sour, while others complained they weren't sour enough. Fans seem to disagree on the swimmers' flavors, too, with many claiming the red starfish, which we didn't like, were the best, while others fought for the pink, blue, and orange. According to Trader Joe's, the flavors include red berry (starfish), huckleberry (dolphin), orange (tang fish), and strawberry (clam shell). But the jury's out on whether any of them are good.

All in all, the gummy candy nails the fruit-jelly consistency that gives Trader Joe's regular Scandinavian Swimmers such a fun mouthfeel. But, when it comes to sourness level and overall taste, we remain unconvinced, and pious to the O.G. Instead, we would recommend that gluten-free foodies opt for TJ's cinnamon coffee cake muffins instead — the dessert that topped our ranking — and leave these swimmers out to sea where they belong.