Sugar Squishies: What 'Sugar' and 'Maltose' Mean on a Squishy Label

Why they’re called sugar squishies

The sugar in sugar squishies is a name, not an ingredient. “Sugar” and “maltose” describe for a look or a feel: a glossy, see-through gel that looks like syrup, a grainy skin that looks like a sugar cube, a fill of tiny beads, or just a candy shape. When we sorted the 29 listings in our own catalog that use the words, they split into at least five different kinds of toy, and the word alone doesn’t tell you which one you’re buying.

Maltose is a real sugar. Also called malt sugar, it is a disaccharide made of two glucose units, and it takes its name from malt, the sprouted grain it comes from (Wikipedia, Maltose). Maltose syrup is used in Cantonese char siu, and in 1960s Hong Kong maltose syrup sandwiched between two saltine crackers was a cheap street food. That thick, glossy syrup is the picture squishy makers are borrowing when they call a clear gel toy “maltose”. Nothing in the listings says any sugar goes into the toy itself.

Five things “sugar” means across our listings

Here is how the sugar and maltose words are used across our catalog, grouped by what the listing actually describes:

What the word points to	What the listing says	Examples
Clear “maltose” gel	A translucent gel body that dents and comes back	Maltose Cube (“pale-pink gel cube”), Maltose Lemon, Lavender Gel (“translucent lavender maltose ball with glossy elastic skin”), all $12
Bead fill (“sugar ball”)	Small beads inside a skin, with a soft crunch or shift when pressed	Color Changing Heart 2 Pack (“sugar-bead fill, so there’s a soft crunch”), Mint Green Poop Sugar Ball
Grainy sugar-cube skin	A sandy or grainy surface on a slow-rise shape	Sugar Stress Cube (“grainy, sandy finish”), Jumbo Sugar Cube (“slightly sandy to the touch”), Malt Sugar raindrop
Sugar-coated candy look	A bumpy, sugar-coated finish on a gumdrop shape	2 Pack Candy Squishy (“bumpy, sugar-coated skin”), 4 Pack Candy Squishy (“gritty sugar-coat finish”)
Just a description	“Sugar” used for decoration or feel only	a taro brick with a “sugar-speckle finish”, a duck with a “malt-sugar pull”, a “sugar-glazed” croissant

Two listings even say “maltose-style fill” for something that isn’t a clear gel toy: a crystal banana and a glitter pumpkin, both slow-rising, with a dense fill under a stretchy skin. So “maltose” can mean the clear gel toy itself, or just a thick, slow fill inside another shape.

What’s inside the Sugar Squishy collection

Our Sugar Squishy collection has 11 listings. Sorted by what each listing says is inside:

• 3 bead-filled sugar balls: the Mint Green Poop Sugar Ball ($17.99), the Color Changing Heart 2 Pack ($19.99) and the 2 Pack Shark Sugar Balls ($19.99), whose listing says it is stuffed with glitter beads.
• 4 grainy malt-sugar shapes: the Sugar Stress Cube, the Jumbo Sugar Cube, the Malt Sugar raindrop and a splat-style malt cube, each $17.99.
• 3 gel-filled pieces: the 4 Pack Sugar Squishy Set of gel stress balls ($29.99), the Sugar Filled Squishy with a “gooey gel core” ($17.99), and a sugar popsicle “packed with squishy gel” ($17.99).
• 1 that doesn’t say: the sugar dumpling ($17.99) is described as soft and slow-rising, with no word on the fill.

So a “sugar filled squishy” in this collection is a gel-core dumpling, not a bag of sugar, and three different fills share the same collection name. None of these 11 listings names a skin or fill material, a weight or a size.

How to read a sugar squishy listing before you buy

Because the name tells you so little, look for these words in the description instead:

• “gel”, “jelly”, “maltose”, “translucent”: a clear or milky gel body. Our gel listings describe a dent that comes back, not a foam-style slow rise.
• “bead”, “sugar ball”, “crunch”: a bead fill. The listings describe beads that shift under the skin.
• “grainy”, “sandy”, “sugar-coat”: this describes the surface. The inside can still be anything, so read on.
• “slow rising” with no fill word: it could be foam or a gel core. If that matters to you, ask before ordering.

If you are choosing between a gel squishy and a foam one for how long it will last, our post on PU foam versus gel covers what PU foam is and why it cracks with age.

You can’t eat a sugar squishy

A sugar squishy is a toy shaped and named like a sweet. None of our listings calls a squishy edible or food grade (one describes a lime squishy as looking “almost edible”, which is about the color). The fills they do describe are gel, beads and slow-rise cores, not food.

Food-shaped toys are designed to look tempting. Keep candy-shaped squishies with the toys, not in lunch boxes or snack bowls, and away from children young enough to put things in their mouths.

FAQ

Why do they call them sugar squishies?

The name describes the look or feel, not the ingredients. Clear gel squishies borrow “maltose” from the glossy malt-sugar syrup; others are called sugar because of a grainy, sugar-cube skin, a sugar-bead fill or a candy shape.

What do they put in sugar squishies?

Going by our listings: a translucent gel, small beads, or a slow-rise core under a skin. The exact material is not stated on any of the 11 listings in our Sugar Squishy collection.

Is a maltose squishy the same as a sugar ball?

No. A maltose squishy in our catalog is a clear or milky gel shape that dents and comes back. A sugar ball has beads inside that shift when you press it, and one of our listings mentions a soft crunch.

Is a maltose sugar stress ball edible?

No. Maltose is a real sugar, but the maltose sugar stress ball only borrows its name and look. Treat it as a toy and don’t let anyone taste it.