Chief among Halls cough drops ingredients is menthol, a cough suppressant and oral anesthetic. But these cough drops also include a range of other ingredients — particularly sweeteners, artificial coloring, and natural and artificial flavors. Halls Cough Drops IngredientsHalls has more than two dozen flavors of cough drops, plus a few "supplement drops" and "throat drops." As you might expect, the ingredients and specific nutritional information vary between flavors, but there are a few things you can expect to pop up in almost every flavor of Halls. All of the Halls cough drops contain menthol for its cough suppressant and oral anesthetic properties; menthol content varies between 5 and 10 milligrams per cough drop in the "Relief" lineup, depending on which flavor you get. One notable exception is the Relief line's extra-strong menthol flavor, which has 15 milligrams of menthol. On the flip side of the scale, the "Soothe" line of cough drops has less menthol, typically about 2.5 milligrams per cough drop. Next up, you'll find coloring agents such as FD&C blue 1, FD&C blue 2 and FD&C red 40, which also vary between flavors. Sweeteners vary between cough drop flavors too. Most of the non-sugar-free cough drops are sweetened with sucrose or glucose syrup, or both, although the "Relief" cherry flavor contains not just glucose syrup and sucrose but the artificial sweetener sucralose. The sugar-free flavors are typically sweetened with aspartame and acesulfame potassium, also known as acesulfame K. Although all three of these artificial sweeteners have FDA approval, the Center for Science in the Public Interest explains that they're also the subject of prolonged controversy, thanks to animal studies that strongly suggest they can cause cancer. Other ingredients that sometimes pop up include eucalyptus oil, soy lecithin, potassium citrate, citric acid, acetic acid, beta carotene, isomalt, vaguely described flavoring agents and honey. Flavors in Halls Cough DropsHalls offers a range of flavors to choose from. The "Relief" line includes cherry, extra-strong menthol, honey lemon, ice peppermint, methol-lyptus, strawberry and tropical fruit flavors. You can also choose from sugar-free "Relief" flavors: black cherry, assorted mint, citrus blend, honey berry, honey lemon, mountain menthol and cherry. Other Halls cough drops flavors including honey (with natural and artificial flavors), honey vanilla, honey ginger and honey chamomile — all in the "Soothe" line. Other choices from Halls include a line of "throat drops" intended to "soothe everyday throat irritations," with pectin as the active ingredient; a small line of cough and sore throat pops for children; and a line of supplement drops. They also sell a paired energy/sleep drop combination, with the day drops containing vitamins C, B6 and B12, while the night drops have vitamin C and 3 milligrams of melatonin. Calories in Cough DropsThe American Diabetes Association recommends carbohydrate-counting as a strategy for managing food intake and blood sugar for people who have diabetes. If you're on a high-protein diet or trying to lose weight, you might also want to count carbohydrates — although you shouldn't eliminate them from your diet entirely. In general, there are 10 calories in cough drops from Halls, per single cough drop. The sugar-free line weighs in at 5 calories apiece. Although the Halls label doesn't break down nutrition content by macronutrients (carbohydrate, protein, fat) the way food items would, the cough drops have no discernible sources of fat or protein content. As noted at Washington State University and a great many other sources, there are 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate. So if you're counting carbs in Halls sugar-free cough drops, you could count each cough group as 1.25 grams of carbohydrate, or count the regular cough drops as 2.5 grams of carbohydrate. The manufacturer's recommended dosage for adults and kids age five and older is to dissolve one drop in your mouth, repeating every two hours as needed. Ask your doctor before giving Halls to children under five years old — and keep in mind that to some youngsters, cough drops might look like candy. Menthol poisoning Cough drops, sometimes called throat lozenges, help to soothe the throat and curb the reflex that makes you cough. The most common medication in a cough drop is menthol. This is an organic compound made from peppermint, eucalyptus, and other mint oils. Menthol helps cool the airway passages and soothe the throat. Other cough-drop brands don’t contain any medication. They use pectin or honey to coat and calm the throat. It’s possible to overdose on cough drops containing menthol, but it is incredibly difficult. Most cases of menthol poisoning occur because of the ingestion of pure menthol. Over-the-counter cough drops don’t contain pure menthol. The menthol is usually watered down and mixed with other ingredients. To put it in perspective, a typical cough drop contains between 3 and 10 milligrams (mg) of menthol. The lethal dose of menthol is estimated to be roughly 1,000 mg (1 gram) per kilogram of body weight. In other words, someone who weighs 150 pounds (68 kg) would likely have to eat more than 6,800 cough drops containing 10 mg of menthol in a short period of time to risk the chance of a lethal overdose. Some people love the sweet taste and calming effects of cough drops and may want to take them even when they don’t have a cough. However, eating more than the recommended amount of cough drops (or anything for that matter) can result in a few unwanted symptoms. You’ll probably experience some type of indigestion or a stomach ache before any more serious symptoms of overdosing on cough drops occur. If you manage to eat a very large amount of cough drops, you might experience the following symptoms:
There has been one report of a man who experienced serious symptoms after eating 2 entire bags of menthol cough drops every day for 20 years. He experienced:
Luckily, his symptoms disappeared after he stopped eating menthol cough drops. Keep in mind that cough drops also contain a fair amount of sugar. Eating an excessive amount of cough drops on a regular basis may also lead to weight gain over time. People with diabetes should use extra caution when eating cough drops as they can cause blood sugar to rise. Sugar-free varieties of cough drops are available, but eating too many of them can have a laxative effect. This is especially true for cough drops that contain a sugar substitute known as sorbitol. Eating large amounts of sorbitol can lead to:
The safety of menthol cough drops during pregnancy isn’t known. You should talk to your doctor before taking menthol cough drops while you’re pregnant. Though very unlikely to occur from cough drops, knowing the signs of a medical emergency from an overdose is still very important. The following symptoms are signs of a medical emergency:
An allergic reaction to one or more of the ingredients found in cough drops is also possible. Call 911 of you notice any of the following symptoms of an allergic reaction:
You should call 911 or contact the national toll-free Poison Help Line (1-800-222-1222) if you think you or someone you know has overdosed on cough drops or another medication. Once in the emergency room, a doctor will monitor the person’s vital signs, such as pulse, breathing rate, and blood pressure. Depending on the person’s symptoms and what medication they overdosed on, they may receive:
Only one case of death from menthol poisoning has ever been reported in the medical literature. In this case, the man overdosed by inhalation of menthol while he was cleaning a peppermint factory. There are no known cases of death from overdosing on menthol from cough drops. Overall, the outlook will depend on how much of the medication was swallowed and how quickly the person receives medical treatment. In general, the faster medical treatment is received for an overdose, the better the outlook. While it’s possible to suffer negative symptoms from consuming too many cough drops, you aren’t likely to ingest enough to cause any serious harm. Still, you should always read the label and try not to exceed the recommended dose. If you’re worried about overdosing, look for cough drops that don’t contain menthol. Honey cough drops (such as Zarbee’s Honey Cough Soothers) or cough drops that contain pectin (like some flavors of Luden’s throat lozenges), which is naturally found in fruit, are sweet and soothing alternatives. Gargling with salt water is another way to soothe your throat. You should keep cough drops out of the reach of children as children may think they are candy. Cough drops also present a choking hazard to young children. If you’re taking cough drops for a sore throat or cough, and your symptoms don’t improve within seven days or get worse, see your doctor. Keep in mind that you can call the Poison Help Line even if you just have questions about poison prevention. It doesn’t have to be an emergency. |