20 August 2007

Contents of a Hacks Cough Candy

Those black Hacks candy are so old-school, it's hard not to love them! I have a few lying around so I decided to check out the ingredients listed on the wrapper (all in Malay):
  • Glukosa
  • Sukrosa
  • Mentol
  • Minyak Kayu Putih
  • Minyak Adas Manis
  • Pati Marrub-Marrub
  • Cecair Tolu
  • Sebatian Tinktur Benzoin
  • Pati Tussilag-Tussilag
  • Pewarna yang dibenarkan (Karamel cecair BE45, Pes Hitam H9669)
I've never seen any candy with so many medicinal herbs! At least, that's what I assume from the weird names (tolu, tussilag, marrub...). But in the end, those herbs are worthless because they only form 0.52% of the candy. The contents based on percentage:
  • Glukosa - 63.7%
  • Sukrosa - 35.78%
  • Mentol - 0.18%
  • Minyak Kayu Putih - 0.15%
  • Minyak Adas Manis - 0.11%
  • Pati Marrub-Marrub - 0.03%
  • Cecair Tolu - 0.02%
  • Sebatian Tinktur Benzoin - 0.02%
  • Pati Tussilag-Tussilag - 0.008%
  • Pewarna yang dibenarkan (Karamel cecair BE45, Pes Hitam H9669)
Pati Tussilag-Tussilag must be a super-rare herb! Probably need to hike 40 days and 40 nights to find the plant, plus a sacrificial lamb or two before bringing it back to be formulated in Hacks candy.

Jokes aside, I'm concerned about "Sebatian Tinktur Benzoin". Isn't benzoin some kind of alcohol? And not the overpriced ones they charge at bars either.


2 comments:

William said...

I don't think benzoin is an alcohol. Most probably some benzene ring structure.

Pes Hitam!

Standrewman said...

Tusilago is Coltsfoot a common flower that looks like dandelions. I was just researching the ingredients in HACKS and found your blog. So these candies are a conglomeration of a lot of old home cold and throat remedies: menthol, eucalyptus, anis (your basic licorice flavor), tolu (a classic herb used to treat colds), tincture of benzioin (used as a skin repair but also can be inhaled), horehound (a flowering plant in the mint family).