Tic Tac is a brand of small, hard mint manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero. They were first produced in 1968 and are now available in a variety of flavours in over 100 countries. Tic Tac are usually sold in small transparent plastic boxes with a flip-action living hingelid. Originally, Tic Tac were dyed specific colours for different flavours, although in many countries the transparent plastic boxes are now coloured and the actual Tic Tacs are white. Tic Tac has featured advertising that emphasizes the low calorie count of the mints. Most flavours of the mint have approximately 1.9 calories per mint. There is also some controversy over the fact that in the United States, Tic Tac list the sugar content as 0g despite the mints being approximately 90% sugar. This stems from the fact that a serving size is one 0.49g mint, and the FDA permits manufacturers to list sugar as 0g if they contain less than 0.5g. In at least some jurisdictions, the 0g now features a footnote that clarifies "less than 0.5g".
History
Tic Tac were first introduced by Ferrero in 1968, under the name "Refreshing Mints." In 1970, the name was changed to Tic Tacs, after the distinctive sound of the mints rattling in their container. Besides the original "Orange" and Fresh Mint flavors, several new varieties were added, including aniseed, cinnamon, an orange and lime mix, spearmint, peppermint, Powermint, sour apple, mandarin, tangerine, berry, fresh orange, strawberry, wintergreen, pink grapefruit, orange and lime together, cherry, passion fruit, pomegranate, mango, lime, and popcorn. The grape flavour was eliminated in 1976 because of health concerns about the red dye amaranth, a suspected carcinogen. Orange Tic Tacs were sold without the Grape. Other offerings have included holiday gift packs for Christmas, Easter, St Patricks Day, and Valentine's Day. Since 1980, the Tic Tac slogan has been "The 1½ CalorieBreath Mint." In the UK, France, Ireland, Italy and Australia Tic Tacs are noted as being less than two calories with the slogan "Two hours of Tic Tac freshness in less than two calories." In Canada, New Zealand and Australia, and used once in the United States, the Tic Tac slogan is "it's not just a mint, it's a tic tac." In India, the Tic Tac slogan is "Refreshment to be shared." During the 1990s, "double packs" were introduced, featuring a regular Tic Tac container with two flavours inside. Available combinations included Tangerine and Lime, Orange and Grape, and Berry and Cherry. In 2006, Tic Tac introduced a "Bold" edition with more intense flavours of Mint and Fruit. In 2008, Tic Tac introduced Tic Tac Chill, which is slightly larger than ordinary Tic Tacs and comes in a dual-opening packaging, using the traditional living hinge or a sliding opening on the front of the case. These come in three flavours: Exotic Cherry, Berry Blast, and Paradise Mint. Tic Tac Chill mints are also sugar-free, the Exotic Cherry ones instead being sweetened with xylitol. May 2010 Australia Trademark Registrar's office rejected Ferrero application to trademark their Tic Tac container as not being unique enough to distinguish its products from other manufacturers. Orange, Mint, Spearmint, Mintensity, Peach and Passion, Strawberry Mix, Cherry, Elaichi and Banana are available in India. Tic Tac sometimes provides limited editions to promote films, such as a banana and mandarin flavor for the 2015 movie Minions. Orange Tic Tacs featured prominently in the 2007 filmJuno, in an orange box with white colour candies as are sold in Canada and Brazil. Film promoters distributed boxes of the candies prior to the film's release.
Manufacturing
Forty-five percent of the world's Tic Tacs are manufactured in the Ferrero factory in Cork, Ireland. Tic Tacs are also manufactured in Australia, Canada, India and Ecuador.
Nutrition facts
For Fresh mint ; Peppermint
Nutritional information
Per 100 g – Energy 1663 kJ, Protein 0.1 g, Carbohydrate 97.5 g, Fat 0.4 g. Per Tic Tac – Energy 8 kJ, Protein 0 g, Carbohydrate 0.5 g, Fat 0 g.
Ingredients
, fructose, maltodextrin, peppermint essential oil, rice starch, gum arabic, filling agent, glazing agent. Each pack weighs 15–18 g and contains about 38 Tic Tacs. New packs in Australia and Canada weigh 24 g and contain 50 Tic Tacs, and the Tic Tac "100 pack" weighs 49 g and contains 100 Tic Tacs. The "Big Pack" weighs 29 grams and contains 60 pieces. The "Bottle Pack" weighs 98 grams and contains 200 pieces. Each Tic Tac weighs just under 0.5 g. US Federal regulations state that if a single serving contains less than 0.5 g of sugars it is allowable to express the amount of sugar in a serving as zero.
