Everyone has similar memories of getting sick as a child. Whether you were coughing, sneezing, or suffering from a fever, the solution was usually the same: artificially flavored medicine.
Even if your parents reassured you that cough syrup and antibiotics “taste just like candy,” as you know now, you knew then that they didn’t. Ta.Cherries that don’t taste like sweet, delicious fruit are usually narcotics masking flavor Of choice. There are several explanations as to why this flavor has historically dominated pharmacy shelves.
One reason why so many drugs are cherry-flavored is simply the power of association. Before the invention of synthetic drugs, medical professionals turned to bold flavors like cherry to mask the taste of bitter herbal medicines.products like Dr. Swain’s Wild Cherry Complex Syrup (c. 1838) used stone fruits to make their concoctions more palatable.
Although these old-fashioned herbal products have been on the market for quite some time, the custom of using cherries to flavor medicines still persists. It may not be a very appetizing option, but something You need it to make the cough syrup a little easier to swallow.
according to pfizer, up to 50% of people have trouble swallowing their medications, and the unappetizing taste is a contributing factor. This is an especially big problem for children, who may refuse to take even life-saving medications if it means dealing with something unpleasant. In 2009, the Swiss pharmaceutical company cherry flavored malaria medicine That was more for kids. Before it was available, parents were crushing life-saving drugs, mixing them with sugar and trying to suffocate them to their children.
Cherry isn’t the only flavor that pharmaceutical companies are looking at. grapes is also a popular option, and you’ll likely see orange and other citrus flavors in stores as well.
