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Information about Tic Tacs

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US Cinnamon-flavored tic tacs


This article describes a brand of mints. For the betting signalling system, please refer to tic-tac.


tic tac (officially styled in lower case letters) is the brand name of small, hard mints manufactured by the Italian confectioner Ferrero. The individual mints are commonly known as tic tacs.

They were originally introduced to the United States in 1969 and have been a popular product throughout the world. They are usually sold in small transparent plastic boxes with a flip-action 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. Different flavors and forms of tic tac candies have maintained the success of the brand in a rapidly changing consumer environment.

The name "tic tac" is an example of ablaut reduplication.

History

During the 1970s, "double packs" were introduced, featuring a regular tic tac container with two flavors inside. Available combinations were Tangerine & Lime, Orange & Grape, and 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 Day
  • Silvers - individually wrapped mints designed for candy bowls
  • 30% Bigger Mints - featuring tic tacs that are 30% bigger
Besides 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®." It currently occupies the #1 position in the U.S. breath mint category. This has changed since the size of each individual piece was increased and the caloric value increased to 1.9 calories.

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".

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.

Flavors

Tic tacs come in several different flavors. Here are some examples:
  • Passion Fruit (Summer edition, 2007, Netherlands)
  • Mango (Summer edition, 2007, Australia and Netherlands)
  • Tropical Acerola (Summer edition, 2007, Australia and Netherlands)
  • 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)
  • Spearmint (added in 1980s)
  • Lime (added in 1990s)
  • Fresh mint (Europe/US); Peppermint (Australia)
  • Fruit Festival (limited edition)
  • Citrus Twist (limited edition)
  • Tropical Twist
  • Honeycomb
  • Extra Strong
  • Passion fruit (Australia and New Zealand)
  • Hexa (Brazil)
  • Carnaval (Brazil)
  • Bold! (strong flavors, fruit and mint varieties)
  • Lemon Mint (Australia, Argentina and Brazil)

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 30 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.

See also

External links

Tic-tac (also tick-tack and non-hyphenated variants) is a traditional method of signs used by bookmakers to communicate the odds of certain horses. It is still used in on-course betting in the UK.
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mint is a candy characterized by the presence of mint flavoring or real mint oil, whether it be peppermint oil, spearmint oil, or another natural or artificial source. Wintergreen and other oils or flavors are frequently used in mints, however they are not of the mint (mentha)
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Anthem
Il Canto degli Italiani
(also known as Fratelli d'Italia)


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confectionery refers to food items that are (or at least are perceived to be) rich in sugar. Different dialects of English also use regional terms for confections:
  • In Britain, Ireland and some Commonwealth countries, "sweets", or "sweeties

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Ferrero S.p.A.

Family business
Founded 1946
Headquarters Alba, Piedmont,
 Italy

Key people Pietro Ferrero, Chairman, Co-CEO and Founder
Giovanni Ferrero, Vice Chairman and Co-CEO
Industry Food
Products Confectionery
Revenue €5.
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1930s  1940s  1950s  - 1960s -  1970s  1980s  1990s
1966 1967 1968 - 1969 - 1970 1971 1972

Also:
*:1969 (number)
*:

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In linguistics, the term ablaut designates a system of vowel gradation (i.e. regular vowel variations) in Proto-Indo-European and its far-reaching consequences in all of the modern Indo-European languages. (For the general phenomenon, see Apophony.
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Reduplication, in linguistics, is a morphological process by which the root or stem of a word, or only part of it, is repeated.

Reduplication is used both in inflections to convey a grammatical function, such as plurality, intensification, etc.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1950s  1960s  1970s  - 1980s -  1990s  2000s  2010s
1977 1978 1979 - 1980 - 1981 1982 1983

Year 1980 (MCMLXXX
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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Motto
"Dieu et mon droit" [2]   (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
"God Save the Queen" [3]
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Anthem
Amhrán na bhFiann  
The Soldier's Song


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Anthem
Advance Australia Fair [1]


Capital Canberra

Largest city Sydney
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A calorie is a unit of measurement for energy. Calorie is French and derives from the Latin calor (heat). In most fields, it has been replaced by the joule, the SI unit of energy.
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P. edulis

Binomial name
Passiflora edulis
Sims

For the German pop group, see Passion Fruit (band).

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Mangifera
L.

Species

About 35 species, including:
Mangifera altissima
Mangifera applanata
Mangifera caesia
Mangifera camptosperma
Mangifera casturi
Mangifera decandra

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M. glabra

Binomial name
Malpighia glabra
L.

Acerola (Malpighia glabra), also known as Barbados cherry or wild crapemyrtle
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C. verum

Binomial name
Cinnamomum verum
J.Presl

Cassia ("Chinese cinnamon") is also commonly called (and sometimes sold as) cinnamon.

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C. reticulata

Binomial name
Citrus reticulata
Blanco

The tangerine (Citrus reticulata) is an orange or red colored citrus fruit.
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C. sinensis

Binomial name
Citrus sinensis
(L.) Osbeck

The orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus tree Citrus sinensis (syn. Citrus aurantium L.
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Wintergreen is a term that can refer to various groups of plants:
  • Wintergreen once commonly referred to plants that continue photosynthesis (remain green) throughout the winter. The term evergreen is now more commonly used for this characteristic.

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M. spicata

Binomial name
Mentha spicata
L.

Mentha spicata (Spear Mint or Spearmint; syn. M.
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Lime is a term referring to a number of different fruits (generally citruses), both species and hybrids, which are typically round, green to yellow in color, 3-6 cm in diameter, generally containing sour pulp, and frequently associated with the lemon.
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Mint - online financial services (credit cards, insuance and loans)

Mint is an online financial services brand and part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Groups Retail - Direct Channels Division. The Mint credit card was introduced as a replacement for the RBS Advanta card.
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honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal wax cells built by honey bees in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen.

Beekeepers may remove the entire honeycomb to harvest honey. Honey bees consume about 8.
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P. edulis

Binomial name
Passiflora edulis
Sims

For the German pop group, see Passion Fruit (band).

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Sugars, brown
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 0 kcal   0 kJ

Carbohydrates     97.33 g
- Sugars  96.21 g
- Dietary fiber  0 g  
Fat 0 g
Protein 0 g
Water 1.77 g
Thiamin (Vit. B1)  0.
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Fructose (or levulose) is a simple sugar (monosaccharide) found in many foods and is one of the three most important blood sugars along with glucose and galactose. Honey, tree fruits, berries, melons, and some root vegetables, such as beets, sweet potatoes, parsnips, and
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Dextrins are a group of low-molecular-weight carbohydrates produced by the hydrolysis of starch. Dextrins are mixtures of linear α-(1,4)-linked D-glucose polymers. They have the same general formula as carbohydrates but are of shorter chain length.
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