Droppin' A Bomb

As an occasional rock vocalist with a horrible singing technique, I often find surrounded by Halls Cough Drops fairly often. I know it's no substitute for proper training, but you can catch more flies with honey than you can with voice lessons, a wise person never said. Here's something I recently discovered on the website of my favorite honey flavored Cough Droppy Drops...

Honey-Lemon Halls
Active Ingredient: Menthol 9.1 mg
Inactive Ingredients: eucalyptus oil, beta carotene, flavors, glucose syrup, honey, soy lecithin, sucralose, sucrose, water

Honey-Lemon Halls Plus
Active Ingredient: Menthol 10 mg
Inactive Ingredients: beta carotene, carrageenan, flavors, glucose syrup, glycerin, honey, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, pectin, soy lecithin, sucrose, water

Harvest Peach with Soothing Honey Center Halls Natural
Active Ingredient: Menthol 2.5 mg
Inactive Ingredients: beta carotene, citric acid, cottonseed oil, flavors, ginger, glucose syrup, glycerin, honey, lemon grass, MCT oil, sage, soy lecithin, sucrose, water, white thyme

Mountain Berry with Soothing Honey Center Halls Natural
Active Ingredient: Menthol 2.5 mg
Inactive Ingredients: citric acid, cottonseed oil, elderberry juice, flavors, ginger, glucose syrup, glycerin, honey, lemon grass, MCT oil, sage, soy lecithin, sucrose, water, white thyme

Honey-Lemon Chamomile Halls Natural
Active Ingredient: Menthol 2.5 mg
Inactive Ingredients: citric acid, flavors, ginger, glucose syrup, honey, lemon grass, sage, sucrose, tea extract, water, white thyme

Honey-Lemon Sugar Free Halls
Active Ingredient: Menthol 7.6 mg
Inactive Ingredients: acesulfame potassium, aspartame, beta carotene, flavors, isomalt, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, soy lecithin, water

Honey-Berry Sugar Free Halls
Active Ingredient: Menthol 2.5 mg
Inactive Ingredients: acesulfame potassium, aspartame, beta carotene, FD&C blue 1, FD&C red 40, flavors, isomalt, soy lecithin, water

That's right... the ingredients for Sugar Free Halls don't actually list honey (they also don't list lemon or any berry either, but that's for someone else to complain about). It's not just an oversight on the website because I looked on the packages too. No honey anywhere except in the name and picture on the front. It's possible that a "honey flavor" is contained in the "flavors" listing. I don't know for sure, I haven't written a letter yet.

I am not upset because there are plenty of Halls alternatives that still do contain honey. I tend to choose sugar-free items over regular ones when given the option, but my desire for honey in this case is even greater than my desire to avoid a dozen or so calories. Yes, I know that honey is mostly made of sugars and "sugar-free" is obviously not, but I never put that all together until I flipped the bag over and really looked at the package. I don't believe that I'm the only person on Earth to fall for it though. To minimize future confusion, I think Halls should redesign the package with a picture of sodium carboxymethylcellulose dripping off a wooden stick.

Mmmmm.....