On CandyFavorites, our description for Altoids reads:
“Altoids are one of the oldest breath mints and are still made from the same formula that dates back to the reign of England’s King George”.
Unfortunately this is no long true as the formula was changed in April this year when they substituted ‘corn syrup’ with ‘glucose syrup’ and ‘artificial flavor’…and as a result they don’t taste quite the same, at least to us seasoned Altoids customers.
I’m sure they have their reasons for making this change, just as Coca-Cola did at the end of the 1980’s when they took the original Coke off the market and launch ‘New Coke’….which fortunately only lasted for six months before they returned to the original ‘7X’ formula of classic Coke…after a public outcry and lost sales which resulted in Pepsi becoming the No.1 Cola drink in the US for the first time in over 100 years.
Hmmm!!! If King George were to come back to life he would “off with their heads” for committing such a travesty to a wonderfully traditional product such as Altoids…and we’d all say “here! here! long live the King” for peppermint Altoids will surely be dead within a generation, now that they can’t claim the heritage of being made to the same formula for all these years.
This brief update was provided to us by Anthony Clements and we greatly appreciate him keeping us abreast of the never ending changes in the candy industry!!
10 Comments
I think Altoids has changed its recipe, perhaps again, in just the last several months. Writing the company, they deny anything. But as a long-time habitual user, I find the taste has become distinctly chemical-tinged and unpleasant.
They had corn syrup in England?
My Altoids tin of peppermints lists only sugar, gum Arabic, natural flavors, and gelatin as the ingredients.
Also says “distributed by” Callard & Bowser, LLC of Chicago. So, who and where are they made???
I agree flavor has changed to less good, more chemically and also 5 calories instead of 10. I do not like this change. I am a diehard fan and am greatly disappointed! Are the original peppermint Altoids still available?
I wish we could say that the Original Formula is still available but, alas, formulas change and change they do. The candy industry has seen so much change in the past few years and as bad as a formula change may be, it’s far better than a product being discontinued. Such is life or so the saying goes…
Altoid Peppermints are no longer Curiously Strong. Bring back the original recipe for us fans.
Used to love Altiods Wintergreen. They are not special any more – so sweet and lost their great flavor punch.. sad.
I knew they had to be different.Also the mints are more irregular than they used to be.
ALTOIDS no longer “curiously strong”, they just curiously suck!
ALL artificial ingredients!
I hate them now.
Do you know if Altoids were available in 1978 across the country, specifically Minnesota?