What is the Fruit Roll-Up trend on TikTok?

TikTok is home to far too many trends, challenges, and fleeting crazes to keep track of. Each new week brings a new fad to the platform only to quickly be replaced by the next hot track, spunky dance, or dangerous challenge.

One of TikTok’s odder challenges revolves around the consumption of a Fruit Roll-Up. The very same lengthy strips of fruit snack that we delighted in as children prompted a challenge on the video-sharing platform that finds participants racing to finish their Roll-Up first. The Fruit Roll-Up trend crops up on the platform every few months, spurring challenges and featuring in a few hundred videos before disappearing in favor of the next popular TikTok trend.

What is the Fruit Roll-up trend all about?

The goal behind the Fruit-Roll Up trend is simple: you have to finish your Roll-Up before any of the competition and do so without the use of your hands. 

It’s a simple, innocent, and charming trend. It takes joy in the simple act of competition, but adds just enough silliness to make the challenge an enduring classic. 

Videos participating in the Fruit Roll-Up trend tend to utilize a sound Mario Kart fans will instantly recognize. The audio, titled “123Start,” is perfectly suited to any race, beginning with a quick countdown before shifting into frenetic, speedy music to urge competitors on. 

One of the funniest things about the Fruit Roll-Up challenge appears in the name itself. See, fans of Fruit Roll-Ups will be well aware that the fruity snacks featured in the challenge aren’t Fruit Roll-Ups at all. They’re Fruit by the Foot, a lengthy strand of similarly tasty fruit-flavored pectin. Fruit Roll-Ups, on the other hand, are sold as squares of tasty snack rolled into a tube, and often featuring pictures or brilliant colors plastered all over them.

Fruit by the Foot has even commented on a few videos participating in the Fruit Roll-Up challenge, but thankfully the company doesn’t seem too salty about the mix-up. Its comments on videos are perpetually positive, congratulating winners and delighting in candid moments. 

A slight twist on the Fruit Roll-Up challenge has taken second-tier to the popular trend, but remains a favorite among some participants. It sees two competitors attempt to tackle the same Fruit by the Foot — Lady and the Tramp style — before concluding in a sweet, fruit-flavored kiss. 

The trend has been around since at least 2019, but it continues to see new entries trickle in to this day. It’s just too delightful to disappear completely as new people catch on to the trend and can’t resist the urge to attempt it themselves.