Tic Tac

For other uses, see Tic tac (disambiguation).

US Cinnamon-flavored Tic Tacs

Tic Tac (officially styled as "tic tac") is a brand of small, hard mints manufactured by the Italian confectioner Ferrero. The individual candy pieces are commonly called Tic Tacs themselves.

Tic Tacs were first produced in 1969. They are usually sold in small transparent plastic boxes with a flip-action living hinge lid. Originally, Tic Tacs were dyed specific colors for different flavors. Now, in many countries, the transparent plastic boxes are colored but the actual Tic Tac piece are white.

History

Tic Tacs were first introduced in 1969. Besides the original Fresh mint flavor, several new varieties were added including: cinnamon (or "Winter Warmer"), orange (in 1976), spearmint, peppermint, mandarin, wintergreen, orange and lime together (from 2005 to 2009), cherry, passion fruit (in 2007), pomegranate (in 2010), and lime. The grape flavor was eliminated in 1976 because of health concerns about the red dye amaranth (FD&C Red #2), a suspected carcinogen. Orange Tic Tacs continued on their own without the Grape. In 2005 a limited edition flavor of lemon was introduced.

Other innovations have included holiday gift packs for Christmas, Easter, St Patricks Day, and Valentine's Day.

Since 1980, the Tic Tac 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.

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

In the UK, Ireland, Italy and Australia Tic Tacs are noted as being less than two kilocalories with the slogan "Two hours of Tic Tac freshness in less than two calories". A more recent, humorous TV advertising campaign encourages potential purchasers in the UK to "Shake your Tic Tacs". 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 India, the Tic Tac slogan is 'Refreshment to be shared.'

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

The orange Tic Tacs featured in the 2007 film Juno are in an orange box because the movie was filmed in Canada and Tic Tacs there are in colored packaging with white color candies. In the USA the candies are orange and the packaging is clear. 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 come in three flavors, Exotic Cherry, Berry Blast, and Paradise Mint. Tic Tac Chill mints are also sugar-free, the Exotic Cherry ones instead being sweetened with xylitol and the Paradise Mint ones being sweetened with aspartame.

Flavors

Tic Tacs come in many flavors:

• Passion Fruit (also called Maracuja) (Summer edition, 2007, Italy, France; Netherlands; Australia, Latvia, Brazil, Belgium, Poland, United Kingdom and New Zealand)
• Mango (Summer edition, 2007, Australia, France, Hong Kong and Netherlands. Introduced in Singapore, 2009)
• Melon Mix (2008/2009) (Summer edition 2008 - Serbia/2009 - Italy, United Kingdom])
• Tropical Acerola (Summer edition, 2007, France; Italy, Australia, Netherlands, Latvia from 2008, Summer 2009 Germany, Poland)
• Pink Grapefruit (Summer edition, 2007, France and Australia; United States, 2012)
• Cinnamon (first alternative flavour from 1970s, "limited edition" in UK called Winter Warmer; discontinued in the U.S. in 2010; Still available in Brazil)
• Tangerine
• Orange (added after the Tangerine was popular in the double pack)
• Wintergreen (added in 1980s)
• Cool Cherry (UK - added in 2008)
• Spearmint (added in 1980s; discontinued in 2010 - Still available in the United Kingdom)
• Lime (added in 1990s)
• Fresh mint (Europe/United States); Peppermint (Australia)
• Fresh Melons (Germany)
• Fruit Festival (limited edition)
• Canadian Longwood (Select areas of Manitoba only)
• Citrus Twist (limited edition; discontinued in 2010)
• Melon Mango
• Pink (To support the fight against breast cancer)
• Tropical Twist (UK - passion fruit)
• Extra Mint Cherry (Brazil)
• Australia, Delhi 2010
• Peach Passion UK summer edition
• Grape and Lychee UK summer edition
• Holiday Twist
• Extra Strong
• Green Apple (added in 2010)
• Chocolate
• Carnaval (Brazil)
• Raspberry
• Lemon Mint (Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Hong Kong and Poland)
• Eucalyptus (Winter edition, 2007, Poland and Slovakia)
• Paradise Mint Chill (2008)
• Strawberry (2008) (Christmas Edition)
• Cherry (2008) (Summer edition, 2008, France, Poland, Brazil)
• Up! (flavors like Passion Fruit and Acerola, with vitamin C) (Brazil)
• Alpine Mint (Germany)
• Cherry Passion (combo of cherry and passion fruit flavors) (Brazil)
• Citrus Punch (Limited Edition Big Box, triple flavour: Orange, lemon and grapefruit).
• Coconut and Pineapple ("Goût Coco Ananas", 2009, France, Poland)
• Piña Colada
• Fruity Limited Edition (Orange and Cherry) 2010 (World Cup Edition) (England)
• Aniseed (discontinued)
• Taste Melons ("Gout Melons", France)
• Exotic Cherry Chill
• Powermint (added in 2010)
• Arctic Rush
• Grape & Lychee Twist
• Cherry Passion
• Peach Passion
• Peach Fusion
• Wild Cherry

ITV advert break

An advertisement for tic-tacs in January 2009 gained worldwide fame when ITV cut to the advert just as Everton's Dan Gosling scored the winning goal against deadly rivals Liverpool after 119 minutes of TV coverage without a goal. ITV received a warning for that incident.

Nutrition facts

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

Nutritional information

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

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

Ingredients

Sugar, Maltodextrin, Tartaric acid, natural and artificial flavors, rice starch, Gum arabic, Filling Agent (Magnesium stearate), Artificial colors, Glazing Agent (Carnauba wax).

Each pack weighs 15-18 g and contains about 36 Tic Tacs. New packs in Australia weigh 24 g and contain 50 Tic Tacs, and the Tic Tac "Big Box" weighs 49 g and contains 100 Tic Tacs. The "Big Pack" weighs 29 grams (1 ounce) and contains 60 pieces.

Each Tic Tac weighs just under 0.5 g. Since 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, and since a single serving of Tic Tacs is a single Tic Tac, Tic Tacs are labeled in the US as containing zero sugar.

External links

• The official Italian Tic Tac website
• The official US Tic Tac website
• The official German Tic Tac website