Tic Tac is one of the most famous candy brands in the US. The products are available at many convenience and grocery stores, and contain zero calories per serving.
But how can a mint containing sugar have zero calories? What other ingredients are in Tic Tacs and are they bad for you? And which flavor is the healthiest?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Tic Tacs to give our take on whether or not they're bad for you.
We'll also pick the healthiest flavor, and explain our recommendation.
Key takeaways:
- Tic Tacs actually do contain calories
- Tic Tacs contain many ingredients we consider unhealthy
- We do not currently recommend Tic Tacs
Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in the Orange flavor of Tic Tacs are shown below:
image source: https://www.tictac.com/
Sugar is the first ingredient, and a 2019 medical review suggests that added sugar in excess is associated with increased risk of obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
But if sugar is the first ingredient, how can Tic Tacs claim to provide zero calories?
The answer has to do with serving size. Tic Tacs have a serving size of one single piece, even though a container has 38 pieces. So while the brand can list 0 calories per mint, the total container can have over 180 calories according to MyFitnessPal.
Artificial flavors were shown to cause toxic effects to animals in a 2013 clinical trial, and the researchers concluded that “...it is advisable to limit the uses of these food colorants and/or food flavor additives especially those used by children.”
Natural flavors are a healthier option than artificial flavors, but still may have unhealthy effects in humans as we discussed in our article on is Fresca bad for you.
Yellow 6 is an artificial colorant found to be contaminated with carcinogens in a 2012 medical review.
Overall, we consider Tic Tacs to be bad for you because they’re essentially a blend of sugar and flavoring additives with no nutritional value.
Which Tic Tac Flavor is the Healthiest?
The ingredients in Tic Tac Freshmints are shown below:
image source: https://www.tictac.com/
Sugar, artificial flavors and natural flavors are included, and we explained in the previous Ingredient Analysis section why we consider these ingredients to be unhealthy.
However, Freshmints are free of artificial colors, making this the healthiest Tic Tac flavor in our opinion.
Every other flavor that we came across on the brand’s website while researching this article contained artificial color(s).
So while we don’t recommend Tic Tacs overall from a nutritional perspective, we would recommend this flavor over others for consumers intent on purchasing from the brand.
