Mints these days are becoming more and more filled with sugar. Sugar helps bacteria growth and can actually make your breath smell worse then you began with! How can you know that you are getting the right thing? Here's a guide to buying mints:

Read the Ingredients:

Reading the ingredients definitely helps. Identify these ingredients:
Sugar (AKA sucrose, glucose, dextrose, maltose, (high fructose) corn syrup, etc)
Mint flavor (shown as artificial and/or natural flavor)
NOTE-- Artificial flavor could be artificial sweeteners like splenda

Now, every good mint has either no or little sugar. If you do see sugar, good mints have it toward the end of the ingredients list. If it does have sugar, you won't get as much mint out of it. Make sure the artificial/natural flavors are towards the beginning, or else you won't get as much mint as you paid for.

Choosing the form (liquid and solid):

solid forms are dissolved by your own saliva. This can be bad if you get dry mouth easily. They are not as good, because there is no force to push them in to your mouth's skin, so usually the effects don't last long. That and they need something to hold them all together, so most companies use sugar.

Liquid forms are the best, they can get into the hard to reach areas, and can work if you have dry mouth. They can sink into the skin of your mouth, and don't need sugar. They are the best I've tried.

NOTE ABOUT 'LIQUID ICE'-- liquid ice is a gelatin outside with a vegetable oil and mint inside. These are small, but not so powerful, because of the vegetable oil contents. They are too small too, if you had two at once they work.

Price:

Of course, most good mints are 2 dollars per unit. I would get quality over quantity.

Size:

If you keep mints in your pocket, size can be an issue. Large tins like Altoids are bulky, and get in the way. Make sure you get something that will fit.

Flavor:
Flavor changes intensity. If you are looking for something mild try freshmint, or wintergreen. For more intense, try spearmint. For the ultimate, try peppermint, cool mint, or Cinnamon.

Recommendations:

Listerine pocket packs
Listerine pocket mist
ice breakers
ice breakers liquid ice (for people who don't want something so powerful)
any peeper spray on the market

So use these tips next time you shop for mints.

 

 

 

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Very nice... though I don't always use mints for refreshments, I didn't know choosing mints is a delicate process. I love mints, the "spicier", the better. A pack of strong mints can be gone in a day with me... Though of course, I do have problems drinking water or eating other things afterwards... I don't know why I ever treated mint like candy. I've only ever eaten the solid mints before, usually the ones in cans. I admit, some mints have a lot of sugar in it, and I don't really enjoy those, so I usually get the expensive ones, but who cares, as long as I'm eating what mint should be, I don't mind. Mint should be minty, not sweet. The next time I go off to buy a pack of mints, I'll be sure to look at the ingredients.

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I love Mints!!! Especially mint flavored Ice cream. Thanks for the info, I probably wouldve never have known about it if it wasnt for you. Thanks.!!

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Exactly how I am.

Nice guide pcf, I'll keep it in mind.

 

 

 

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You make it seem an art to select and purchase mints. My personal preference for mints are the cool ones that give a freezing effect. I have tried many mints before and I think that Altoids Curiously Strong Peppermints are the best. I usually finish a pack in day. The mints that I don't like are the ones that are spicy like Cinnamon. I think the mix between cool and spicy has a really bad taste.

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Well, I don't buy a lot of mints, but I absolutely love spearmint flavoured mints. I really didn't know that you have to study the mints in the shop in this detail! I usually just choose a packet from the shelf and shove it in my basket

Next time I buy a packet of mints, I'll look at the label just for interest. The ingredients and nutritional info still won't put me off from buying the pack if i fancy them though

I did know that most mints nowadays consist of a lot of sugar, but wasn't aware how much. It is interesting to know about all these artifical ingredients in mints.

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Wow. A whole guide dedicated to mints. Very detailed, i like it alot.

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It's about time someone put toether a well thought out guide to buying mints. I always just grabbed what I thought would 1) Taste good, and 2) keep my breath from stankin' up the whole room.

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