Altoids
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Altoids are a brand of breath mints that have existed since the turn of the 19th century. Altoids are less popular in Britain—their country of origin—than in the regions to which they are exported. Callard & Bowser-Suchard manufacture and produce Altoids at a plant in Bridgend, Wales, although Wrigley, the brand's owner, announced in mid 2005 they planned to move Altoids' production to an existing plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in order to manufacture its products closer to where they are sold.
The history of Altoids dates back to the reign of King George III. The brand was created by a London-based Smith & Company in the 1780s but eventually became part of the Callard & Bowser company in the 1800s. Their advertising slogan has been "The Original Celebrated Curiously Strong (insert flavour here) Mints" for a number of years, referring to the high concentration of peppermint oil used in the original flavour lozenge. The "Story of Altoids" text is printed on the paper liner inside certain tins.
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[edit] The Story of Altoids
"The Story of Altoids" is a small story inside every pack of Altoids explaining their creation.
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Altoids, the Original Celebrated Curiously Strong Mints, were first produced in England at the turn of the 19th century during the reign of King George III. Smith & Co. (est. 1780), the small London firm that developed the original "curiously strong" recipe, later became part of Callard & Bowser, a prestigious English confectioner founded in 1837. Altoids peppermints are specially formulated peppermint lozenges many times stronger than ordinary mints. Their curious strength comes from the generous use of real peppermint oil, as prescribed in the original recipe developed by Smith & Co. at the turn of the 19th century. Today, all Altoids varieties including: Peppermint, Wintergreen, Spearmint, Liquorice, Cinnamon, and Ginger are made to the same exacting standards as the original Altoids recipe developed more than 200 years ago. |
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[edit] Ownership
Callard and Bowser-Suchard was sold by Beatrice Foods to Terry's of York in 1982 [1], which was then acquired by Kraft General Foods International/Philip Morris Tobacco Company in 1993. Wrigley's of Chicago agreed to buy the C&B and Life Savers units from Kraft in November 2004 for USD$1.48 billion after beating out competitors Hershey, Mars, Nestlé and Cadbury. The purchase was completed in June, 2005.
[edit] Flavors and varieties
[edit] Mints
Altoids mints are currently available in eight flavors: peppermint, wintergreen, spearmint, cinnamon, ginger, liquorice, chocolate, and creme de menthe. "Sugar-Free Smalls", tiny square mints sweetened with sorbitol and sucralose, are also available in peppermint, wintergreen, and cinnamon. In 2007, dark chocolate-dipped mints were introduced in three flavours: peppermint, cinnamon, and ginger.
[edit] Sours
Sour hard candies in round tins, introduced in 2002.Flavors include tangerine, citrus (discontinued late 2007), raspberry, apple, mango, and passion fruit.
[edit] Gum
The sugar-free chewing gum, introduced in 2003, is made in Italy. Flavors include peppermint, cinnamon, spearmint, wintergreen, cherry, and apple.
[edit] Altoids Strips
In 2003, breath strips in peppermint and cinnamon flavours were introduced. As of 2007, they appeared to have been discontinued, as no references appear on the manufacturer's web site.
[edit] Ingredients and nutritional information
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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (December 2006) |
Note: The regular varieties of Altoids (peppermint, wintergreen, spearmint, cinnamon, ginger and liquorice) contain gelatin and thus are not vegan.
Note: "Keep in mind that ingredients and formulations change, so nutrition information may also change."[2]
[edit] Mints and specialty
- Serving Size: 3 pieces
- Calories: 10
- Fat: 0g
- Sodium: 0mg
- Carbohydrate: 2g
- Sugars: 2g
- Protein: 0g
- Peppermint: Sugar, gum arabic, oil of peppermint, gelatin, corn syrup. In April of 2006, the ingredients were changed to sugar, gum arabic, artificial flavour, oil of peppermint, gelatin, glucose syrup.
- Spearmint: Sugar, natural flavour, gum arabic, gelatin, corn syrup, blue 1, yellow 5.
- Cinnamon: Sugar, gum arabic, artificial flavour, gelatin, corn syrup, red 40 lake, peppermint oil, natural flavor.
- Wintergreen: Sugar, less than 2% artificial flavour, gum arabic, gelatin, corn syrup, natural flavour.
- Ginger: Sugar, gum arabic, natural flavour, gelatin, corn syrup.
- Liquorice: Sugar, natural flavour, gum arabic, gelatin, corn syrup.
[edit] Sours
- Serving Size: 5 pieces
- Calories: 20
- Fat: 0g
- Sodium: 0mg
- Carbohydrate: 5g
- Sugars: 4g
- Protein: 0g
- Apple: Sugar, corn syrup, malic acid, citric acid, artificial flavour, fumaric acid (for tartness) carnauba wax, red 40, natural flavour.
- Citrus: Sugar, Corn syrup, citric acid, malic acid, natural flavour, carnauba wax.
- Mango: Sugar, Corn syrup, malic and citric acids (for tartness), natural and artificial flavour, carnauba wax, soy lecithin (emulsifier), artificial colour (yellow 6).
- Passion Fruit: Sugar, corn syrup, malic acid and citric acids (for tartness), natural flavour, carnauba wax, artificial colour (red 40, blue 1) (note, for passion fruit only: serving size: 5 pieces (5g), total carb: 5g, sugars 4g))
- Raspberry: Sugar, corn syrup, malic and citric acids (for tartness), natural and artificial flavour, carnauba wax, artificial colour (red 40, blue 1), soy lecithin (emulsifier).
- Tangerine: Sugar, corn syrup, citric acid, malic acid, natural flavour, carnauba wax, red 40, yellow 5.
[edit] Gum
- Serving Size: 2 pieces
- Calories: 5
- Sodium: 0mg
- Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrate: 2g
- Sugars: 0
- Sugar Alcohol: 2g
- Protein: 0
- Peppermint: Gum base, xylitol, isomalt, sorbitol, mannitol, gum arabic, oil of peppermint, natural flavour, artificial colour, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, wheat maltodextrin, artificial flavour, carnauba wax.
- Cinnamon: Xylitol, gum base, sorbitol, isomalt, mannitol, gum arabic, artificial and natural flavour, artificial color, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, red 40, carnauba wax.
- Sour Cherry: Gum base, maltitol, sorbitol, isomalt, citric acid, gum arabic, mannitol, malic acid, tartaric acid, artificial flavor, aspartame, natural flavour, acesulfame potassium, red 40 lake, carnauba wax, blue 1 lake.
- Spearmint: Sorbitol, gum base, xylitol, hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, acacia, mannitol; less than 2% of: natural and artificial flavours, oil of spearmint, aspartame, malitol, acesulfame. K, colours (titanium dioxide, yellow 5 lake, blue 1 lake), soy lecithin, carnauba wax, BHT.
- Wintergreen: Sorbitol, gum base, xylitol, acacia, hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, natural and artificial flavours, mannitol; less than 2% of: magnesium stearate, aspartame, acesulfame K, color (titanium dioxide), soy lecithin, carnauba wax, BHT.
[edit] Sugar Free Smalls
- Peppermint: Sorbitol, modified corn starch, wheat maltodextrin, natural and artificial flavour, magnesium stearate, gum arabic, sucralose (sweetener).
- Wintergreen: Sorbitol, maltodextrin, natural and artificial flavour, maltitolo, megnesium stearate, gum arabic, colour added, sucralose (sweetener), soy lecithin (emulsifier).
- Cinnamon:
[edit] Breath Strips
- Cinnamon: Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, flavour, maltodextrin, corn starch modified, hydroxypropylcellulose, triacetin, polysorbate 80, ethyl alcohol, sucralose, potassium acesulfame, red 40.
- Peppermint: Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, flavour, maltodextrin, corn starch modified, hydroxypropyl cellulose, triacetin, polysorbate 80, ethyl alcohol, sucralose, titanium dioxide, potassium acesulfame.
[edit] Dark Chocolate Dipped Mints
- Serving Size: 2 pieces
- Calories: 15
- Fat: 0.5g
- Sodium: 0mg
- Carbohydrate: 2g
- Sugars: 2g
- Protein: 0g
- Peppermint: Semisweet chocolate, (sugar, cocoa liquor processed with alkali, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural vanilla flavor), sugar, acacia, natural flavours (oil of peppermint), gelatin, corn syrup, confectioner's glaze, modified corn starch.
- Ginger: Semisweet chocolate, (sugar, cocoa liquor processed with alkali, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural vanilla flavor), sugar, natural flavor, acacia, gelatin, corn syrup, confectioner's glaze, modified corn starch.
- Cinnamon: Semisweet chocolate, (sugar, cocoa liquor processed with alkali, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural vanilla flavour), sugar, acacia, natural and artificial flavours, gelatin, corn syrup, confectioner's glaze, modified corn starch, colour (red 40).
[edit] Altoids in popular culture
[edit] Altoids tins
For over a century, Altoids were packaged in cardboard cartons similar in size and shape to the familiar tins of today, which were introduced in the 1920s for extra protection and convenience in carrying the mints.[3] Consumers of Altoids are known to collect the tins, reuse them to store small items, or modify them for other uses.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.kraft.com/100/timeline/time_1980s.html
- ^ http://www.altoids.com/faqs.do?faqId=82 Altoids website
- ^ Classic Arcade Games Online - Wintergreen Altoid - Altoids.com
- ^ The New York Times > Technology > Circuits > Curiously High-Tech Hacks for a Classic Tin
[edit] Further reading
- Grant, Jeremy. "New brands take a toll on Wrigley" Financial Times, London Ed. 26-Oct-2005, pg 27.
- Terdiman, Daniel. "Altoids, the curiously strong tin; The container stylishly stores battery chargers, iPods and more." New York Times 2-Feb-2005.
- "Wrigley to buy Altoids and Life Savers from Kraft." Candy Industry ISSN 0745-1032; Volume 169; Issue 11 1-Nov-2004.
- What's News. The Wall Street Journal, Business and Finance, pg A1. 15-Nov-2004.
- Pare, Mike. "Wrigley to invest $14M to make Altoids in its Chattanooga, Tenn., plant." Chattanooga Times/Free Press, Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. 23-Aug-2005.
[edit] External links
[edit] See also
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