Cherry Tunes - the lozenge for scaredy cats! (Tunes Cherry Sugar Free Throat Lozenges)

Member Name: beckles88

Product:	Tunes Cherry Sugar Free Throat Lozenges
Date:	27/10/09 (98 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tastes quite pleasant

Disadvantages: Not all that effective

Overview

Tunes is probably one of the first brands that I think about when I think of cold and cough sweets (along with Halls). Traditionally tunes were square shaped and came packaged in a row. The new lozenges are oval shaped and come in a box I suspect that they are Tunes attempt at competing with Hall's Soothers.

What does a Cherry Tune look like?

The Tune lozenges are a bevelled oval shape a bit like a pebble they have a dip in the middle and are a bright red colour. I would say they are a similar size to a 1p but oblong instead and they have a glossy see through look, with a slightly sticky texture.

What is a Cherry Tune made of?

The ingredients of Cherry Tunes are as follows: Sweeteners (Isomalt, Sucralose), Citric Acid, Cherry Juice, Flavouring, Menthol, Vitamin C, Colour (E129). A 100g of Cherry Tunes contains no fat and enough Vitamin C to meet your recommended daily allowance due to the lozenges containing real cherry juice. A novel way of consuming your daily Vitamin C however the pack warns that with excessive consumption Tunes can cause laxative effects, I'm not sure what constitutes excessive but I've never had any worries.

Nutritional Information:

per 100g
Energy 1007 kJ / 240 kcal
Protein 0g
Carbohydrate 96g
of which sugars 0.2g
Fat 0g
Fibre 0g
Sodium 0g
Vitamin C 60mg (100% RDA)

Packaging

Cherry Tunes now come in a little flip lid box which is similar to a cigarette box but smaller, the packs come in 37g sizes and each box contains approximately 15 lozenges. The box is red with Cherry Tunes written in white on the flip lid there is also a white oval which has an image of a lozenge and some cherries in it. The box says 'Now Longer Lasting, Same Great Taste' and 'Sugar Free'. The box looks nice but it is more difficult to fit in your bag/pocket than the traditional roll of sweets and is also more likely to come open and spill the contents into your bag. The sweets are not individually wrapped which saves the rustling noise in lectures/work/on the bus, etc but does mean the sweets sometimes stick together or make your fingers slightly sticky.

Taste

Personally I am not keen on really mentholy tasting sweets as I'm a bit of a wuss so I quite like Tunes. They have a rich cherry taste when you put them in your mouth due to the cherry juice, there is a slight menthol taste but nothing amazingly overpowering. If you let the lozenge melt on your tongue you get a slight relief from the menthol on the back of your throat but this isn't that strong and only momentary so I end up eating two or three at once. I generally get bored of letting the lozenge melt and end up chomping it which doesn't improve the effectiveness of the lozenge. The cherry flavour of the lozenge isn't as nice as sweets such as cherry drops but it is still quite a pleasant flavour for throat sweets. If you like a strong menthol taste I would avoid these as they don't have it. Tunes also come in a Blackcurrant flavour which I haven't had the chance to try.

Price

A 37g box normally costs around 45p from supermarkets or chemists which is the rough price for most throat sweets like these if not a bit cheaper.

My Opinion

The sweets promise to help you breathe better during a cold because they include the active ingredient Menthol from mint plants. I would say that you do get a slight relief after each sweet but this relief doesn't last long. I also find it very easy to go through a box in a couple of hours due to the sweet nature of them and the fact that they aren't that effective. Blackcurrant Soothers are still my favourite as they taste even sweeter but are probably even less effective. If you are a bit of a wuss like me and are not fond of the menthol flavour I would recommend these sweets, they are nice tasting, do have a slight effect and are reasonably priced. However, if you like your menthol flavour I'd probably go for something like Fisherman's Friend which is stronger tasting but probably more effective.

Summary: Good if you don't like the taste of menthol!