- Fizzies
Fizzies are a tablet that, when added to water, will create a soft drink.
History
Origin
In the 1950s, chemists at Emerson Drug Company, creators of
Bromo-Seltzer antacid medicine, worked to create a drink tablet that when added to water, would create instant soda pop.Lem Billings , best friend of PresidentJohn F. Kennedy invented the idea for Emerson by adding a fruit flavor that children liked. Once perfected, they named their invention Fizzies. The small tablet was dropped into a glass of water, they fizzed and created a sweet, effervescent drink.The formula for the product changed with the times and as various artificial sweeteners were banned by the FDA - It had been sweetened with
cyclamates ,sucaryl , andsaccharin . While the brand was owned byWarner-Lambert Pharmaceutical Company, it was sold unsweetened with the instructions calling for the addition of "one tablespoon of sugar and ice."1990s
After the introduction of
NutraSweet , the brand was resurrected by Premiere Innovations, Inc. in the mid-90s but its availability was short-lived and the company disappeared.Present
As of
2006 , Fizzies are once again available in seven flavors — sour apple, lemon-lime,root beer , cherry, orange, blue razz and fruit punch. Fizzies are manufactured by Amerilab Technologies in Plymouth, Minnesota, [http://www.amerilabtech.com/] and are marketed as anostalgic drink to thebaby boomer market. In this present incarnation, the product is sweetened with a mixture ofsorbitol ,acesulfame potassium andsucralose , and containsVitamin C (in the form ofAscorbic Acid ). [http://www.fizzies.com/Nutrition.html]Cultural References
In the motion picture "
National Lampoon's Animal House ", Dean Wormer reads a list of pranks committed by members of the Delta House fraternity, which included dumping an entire truckload of Fizzies into a swimming pool during a meet.Related Topics
*
Bromo-Seltzer
*Carbonation
*Soft Drink
*Tablet
*Little Mikey ee also
*
Creamola Foam , a similar drink produced in the UKExternal links
* [http://www.fizzies.com Manufacturers Web Site]
* [http://www.victoryseeds.com/candystore/fizzies.html A History of Fizzies Drink Tablets]
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