Tic Tac

Tic Tac (officially styled as "tic tac") is the brand name of small, hard sweets manufactured by the Italian confectioner Ferrero. The individual mints are commonly known as Tic Tacs.

They were originally produced in 1969 and have been a popular product throughout their history. They are usually sold in small transparent plastic boxes with a flip-action living hinge lid. Originally, Tic Tacs were dyed the specific colors. Now, in many countries, the transparent plastic boxes are colored for the specific flavors and the actual Tic Tacs remain white inside.

History

During the 1990s, "double packs" were introduced, featuring a regular Tic Tac container with two flavors inside. Available combinations were Tangerine & Lime, Orange & Grape, Berry & Cherry, and many more.

Grape was eliminated in 1976 because of health concerns about the red dye amaranth (FD&C Red #2), a suspected carcinogen. The Orange Tic Tacs continued on their own without the Grape.

Other innovations included:
*Holiday gift packs for Christmas, Easter, and St Valentine's DayBesides the original Fresh mint flavor, several new varieties were added over time, including: cinnamon (or "Winter Warmer"), orange, spearmint, peppermint, mandarin, wintergreen and lime. In 2005 a limited edition flavor of lemon was introduced.

Since 1980, its tag line has been "The 1½ Calorie Breath Mint." This has changed since the size of each individual piece was increased and the caloric value increased to 1.9 calories.

It currently occupies the #1 position in the U.S. breath mint category.

In the UK, Ireland and Australia Tic Tacs are noted as being less than 2 kilocalories with the slogan "2 hours of tic tac freshness in less than 2 calories". A more recent, humorous TV advertising campaign encourages potential purchasers in the UK to "Shake your tic tac". The most recent advertising campaign features the slogan "refreshing little lifts".

In Canada, New Zealand and Australia, the Tic Tac slogan is 'it's not just a mint, it's a tic tac'.

In 2006, Tic Tac introduced a "Bold" edition with stronger flavors. With 1.9 kilocalories per mint (advertised as having "less than 2 calories") it comes in two flavors, Mint and Fruit.

Orange Tic Tacs are featured in the 2007 film "Juno." Film promoters distributed boxes of the mints prior to the film's release.

In 2008, Tic Tac introduced "Tic Tac Chill," which are slightly larger than ordinary Tic Tacs and come in a dual-opening packaging, using the traditional living hinge or a sliding opening on the front of the case. These currently come in two flavors, Exotic Cherry and Paradise Mint. Tic Tac Chill mints are also sugar-free, instead being sweetened with xylitol.

With the slogan "It's not just a mint, its a tic tac!"

Tic-Tacs usually expire within 15 to 16 months.

Flavors

Tic Tacs come in several different flavors. Here are some examples:

* Passion Fruit (also called Maracuja) (Summer edition, 2007, France; Netherlands; Australia, Latvia, Brazil, Belgium, United Kingdom and New Zealand)
* Mango (Summer edition, 2007, Australia and Netherlands)
* Melon Mix (2008) (Summer edition, 2008, Serbia)
* Tropical Acerola (Summer edition, 2007, France; Australia, Netherlands, Latvia from 2008)
* Pink Grapefruit (Summer edition, 2007, France and Australia)
* Cinnamon (first alternative flavor from 1970s, "limited edition" in UK called "Winter Warmer")
* Tangerine
* Orange (added after the Tangerine was popular in the double pack)
* Wintergreen (added in 1980s)
* Cool Cherry (added in 2008)
* Spearmint (added in 1980s)
* Lime (added in 1990s)
* Fresh mint (Europe/US); Peppermint (Australia)
* Fruit Festival (limited edition)
* Citrus Twist (limited edition)
* Tropical Twist (passion fruit)
* Extra Mint Cherry (Brazil)
* Honeycomb
* Extra Strong
* Hexa (Brazil)
* Carnaval (Brazil)
* Bold! (strong flavors, fruit and mint varieties)
* Lemon Mint (Australia, Argentina, Belgium and Brazil)
* Eucalyptus (Winter edition, 2007, Slovakia)
* Paradise Mint CHILL (2008)
* Strawberry (2008) (Chrismas Edition)
* Cherry (2008) (Summer edition, 2008, France)

Nutrition facts

For Fresh mint (Europe/US); Peppermint (Australia)

Nutritional Information

Per 100g - Energy 1658 KJ (390 Kcal), Protein 0g, Carbohydrate 97.5g, Fat 0g.

Per Tic Tac - Energy 8.5 KJ (2 Kcal), Protein 0g, Carbohydrate 0.5g, Fat 0g.

Ingredients

Sugar, Fructose, Rice Starch, Dextrin, Stabilizer (Gum Arabic), Flavorings, Glazing Agent (Carnauba wax), Filling Agent (Magnesium stearate).

Each pack weighs 15-18g and contains about 36 Tic Tacs. New packs in Australia weigh 24g and contain 50 Tic Tacs, and the Tic Tac "Big Box" weighs 49g and contains 100 Tic Tacs. The "Big Pack" weights 29 grams (1 ounce) and contains 59 pieces.

Each Tic Tac weighs just under 0.5g. Since US federal regulations state that if a single serving contains less than 0.5g of sugars it is allowable to express the amount of sugar in a serving as zero [ [http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_07/21cfr101_07.html 21 CFR 101.9 (c)(6)(ii)] ] , and since a single serving of Tic Tacs is a single Tic Tac, Tic Tacs are labeled in the US as containing zero sugar.

ee also

* Kate Kelton

References

External links

* [http://www.tictacusa.com/ The official US Tic Tac website]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A959943 h2g2 description of Tic Tac]
* [http://www.kate-kelton.com/tictac/ Tic Tac commercial featuring Kate Kelton]
* [http://tictac.MSHB.net German Tic Tac Fansite]