I Say, I Say, I Say, What's The Difference Between Cough Medicine And Chocolate? (Covonia Mentholated Cough Mixture)

Member Name: janharper

Product:	Covonia Mentholated Cough Mixture
Date:	06/12/08 (656 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Effective

Disadvantages: Tastes horrible

Covonia cough syrup comes in three different varieties. There is the one for tickly coughs which I bought by mistake and it did me no good at all. The one for sore throats and the chesty cough variety which I am about to review.

First of all, make sure that you get the right mixture for your particular cough. The 'tickly cough' one is designed to stop you coughing but if you have a chesty cough, you need to cough to clear your lungs.

I stopped smoking more than eleven years ago but I still get a chesty cough one, or twice during the winter. This is the only cough preparation that really works for me. If it doesn't, it is an indication that I need to see a doctor.


***Packaging***

This chesty cough syrup comes in a dark brown bottle with an orange, yellow and white label. It has a white screw cap with a red sealing ring on the bottom. If the seal is broken the bottle has been opened and may not be fresh, or could have been tampered with, so check this.

I recently returned a bottle to the shop because the seal was broken and I hadn't noticed. I have open seen people opening products like this and sticking their noses in the bottle to smell the medicine. Yuk!

This product does not come in a cardboard box like some over packaged products of the same kind.


***Ingredients***

The main ingredients of this medicine are levomenthol, squill tincture, liquorice extract, peppermint oil, anise, capsicum, ethanol, glucose and magnesium silicate. These combine together to calm the cough and to act as an expectorant and clear mucus from the lungs.

I was quite surprised to find so many E numbers in a product like this. It contains 5 different E number chemicals:

E215 Potassium benzoate.

This is a preservative which acts as an antibacterial and antifungal. It can be found in cucumbers, pickles, table olives and pineapple juice. Anyone who suffers from asthma (which I do), aspirin sensitivity, or urticaria may have allergic reactions to this chemical, or it may aggravate their symptoms.

This is not recommended for consumption by children and can also be found I Spanish food like Serrano ham.



E217 Sodium propyl 4-hydroxybenzoate.

This chemical is a preservative and is not recommended for children and it is banned in Australia and France.


E219 Sodium methyl 4-hydroxybenzoate.

This is another preservative and it is not recommended for children. Again, it is banned in Australia and France. The Hyperactive Children Support Group claims that there is a link between E219 and behavioural disorders in children.


E422 Ammonium Phosphatides

This chemical can be manufactured synthetically, or from glycerol, or rapeseed oil. It is used to enable the various constituents to combine better so that they don't separate after manufacture. It is also obtained as a by product from making soap from animal products, so it may not be suitable for vegetarians.

This is found in chocolate products including Cadburys Dairy Milk.



E150 The caramel group of colours.

This is used to make the syrup a nice brown colour and to sweeten it. These are a mixture of sulphites and ammonia. Caramel is not recommended for consumption by children.


***Taste***

This has the most awful taste and I have often joked that anyone who is given this mixture would not dare to cough again in case they had to take some more.

This has a horrible, bitter taste which is hard to get rid of, despite all the E numbers used to cover up the taste.

Although it is my first choice because it is so effective, it would certainly be at the bottom of my list where a pleasant taste is concerned.


***How To Take***

Adults, children over 12 years of age and the elderly should take 1 or 2, 5mil spoonfuls of this every four hours.

Children between 5 and 12 should take 1 spoonful according to the instructions on the bottle but it I not recommended for children under 5 years of age.

Personally, I would not give this to children under 12 because of the E numbers 215, 217, 219 and 150.


***Precautions***

This is not recommended for anyone with stomach ulcers, or who is taking diuretic medicines because it might react with those drugs.

During pregnancy medical advice should be taken before using this product. Diabetics need to be aware that this syrup contains 1.53g sucrose per 5 mils.

There is a warning about the E numbers listed above on the back of the bottle but you need to peel off the top label before you would notice these.

Allergic reactions, although not expected, can include skin rash, flushing, itching, low blood potassium levels, sodium and water retention.

Anyone noticing side effects after taking this medicine should consult a doctor.


***Verdict***

I find this cough medicine excellent for shifting troublesome chesty coughs. I have used it for several years now and would not change me brand.

However, even the addition of those caramel flavourings doesn't make this pleasant to take. It wasn't so effective I would certainly change to something else. If you can stand the taste this is an excellent product.

I would not recommend it for children and if I had young children I wouldn't give this cough medicine to them. After all, there has to be a reason why some of the ingredient are banned in Australia and France.


So you now know that the connection between cough medicine and chocolate is E422.

Summary: Great for adults but I wouldn't give this to children.