What Happens if you Eat Expired Sour Patch Kids Candy?

Sour Patch Kids candy have been around since the 1970s and they are a kid favorite. They offer a super sweet taste to start with and finish with a punch of sour so strong it usually makes my eye twitch a little.

Personally, I am not a huge fan of sour candy, but my son loves it! We recently came across a box of Sour Patch Kids Bunnies that were obviously leftover from last Easter.

Let’s take a deep dive into everything we need to know about expired Sour Patch Kids candy!

Do Sour Patch Kids have an expiration date?

All candy can expire, and it will expire eventually. The biggest element of the candy expiring is actually how the sour patch candy is stored.

Sour Patch Kids should be stored in their original packaging in a cool dark place like a cabinet or pantry. Moisture, Heat, and Sunlight are the biggest factors that can affect Sour Patch Kids.

If the original packaging gets wet, you will probably be fine as long as the inner plastic bag is not affected. If the candy itself gets wet, and it is not eaten right away, then it can grow mold and bacteria.

If the Sour Patch Kids are exposed to high heats and sunlight, the candy can actually melt and no longer be good to eat.

How to read Sour Patch expiration date?

The expiration date on the Sour Patch Candies was actually very clearly written on the side of the package where you would open the box. They are stated as “Best Before” a certain date.

Unlike other candies I have seen, Sour Patch candies, also wrote the expiration date on the bag itself.

Both dates were written in a date/month/year pattern. So, the expiration date on this box of candy was 24 November 2022. About 4 months past the “Best Before” date listed.

Can you eat sour patch after expiration date?

Let’s go ahead and examine our expired Sour Patch Kids candy and see if they are safe to eat past the expiration date. We are going to use our 5 senses and common sense.

Visual: I looked over the outside packaging to see if there were any damage or holes and there appeared to be nothing wrong with the packaging. I opened the box and found the candy to be inside a plastic bag that was sealed. There was no damage to the inner bag.

Sound: Since Sour Patch Kids are not sealed using a jar or vacuum, there was no sounds to report.

Touch: I opened the inside plastic packaging and noticed a little bit of sugar residue on one side of the bag. This sugar was moist and clumped but it appears to be due to settling. The Sour Patch Candy itself was not wet or moist, it appeared dry, and the candy was still flexible. The box itself claims the candy should be soft and chewy and by touch that appeared true.

Smell: I smelled the candy and instantly recognized a sweet aroma of candy. No odd or unusual smells from the bag at all.

Taste: I tried one of the candies, and it still was soft and chewy. The taste seemed completely normal and no strange aftertaste. I got the sweet tasting start and eye puckering sour afterwards.

Since these candies were only 4 months expired, I was not expecting anything to be bad, but you can never be too careful.

If these candies had been older, I may have noticed that the candy was very hard and no longer flexible when bent. This would be more a sign of the quality deteriorating and less of them being unsafe to eat.

As a general rule of thumb, when you open the candy, store the remaining candy in a Ziploc style bag or use a chip clip to seal off the plastic inner bag. I would try to finish all candy within a few weeks, or the candy will get hard, and the taste quality will go down as well.

I would estimate a box of Sour Patch Kids can easily be eaten upto 1 year or more after the “Best By” date as long as they are stored in ideal conditions away from heat, moisture, and direct sunlight.

For more information about expired foods, check out “What Happens if you use Expired Funfetti Frosting?” and “Can I use expired Shake and Bake?“