Candy-Flavored String Cheese Exists. Why? Your Guess Is as Good as Ours

Kids and teens need plenty of calcium, but it’s hard to get enough of it when they prefer candy to cottage cheese. To entice picky diners, Eater reports that a Wisconsin-based company called Cow Candy has created fruit-flavored Monterey Jack cheese sticks, designed to be a sweet alternative to sugary treats.

Contrary to its name, Cow Candy’s products aren’t packed with sugar. According to the manufacturer, each cheese stick contains just 1 to 2 grams of the addictive additive and gets its taste and color from natural fruit flavoring. And just like conventional cheese sticks, they're packed with calcium.

Cow Candy’s current selection of flavored cheese snacks includes grape, orange, honey, and two branded flavors—Pinkie Pie Strawberry and Optimus Prime Fruit Punch—inspired by a recent partnership with toy manufacturer Hasbro. If these flavors sound strange, keep in mind that they’re designed for kids and that adults also enjoy fruit-flavored milk products, like yogurt.

"I like to explain to people that think we are a bit out-there (which we are totally OK being), that fruit and cheese have been paired together for eons," Cow Candy founder Danyel O'Connor told The Huffington Post in an email. "Even today, as adults, we enjoy cheese and wine together or pair our cheeses with grapes, apples, figs and the like. Cow Candy is just the juvenile expression of this pairing (P.S. strawberry milk exists and so does yogurt with fruit flavorings―and a whole lot more sugar)."

Whether you’re intrigued by candy-flavored cheese or think it sounds like a Willy Wonka plot gone wrong, you can sample them for yourself by visiting select grocery stores in states including Minnesota, Arizona, and California. Cow Candy products are also available for online purchase.

[h/t Eater]

Photos courtesy of Cow Candy