Tums (stylized as TUMS) is an antacid made of

sucrose Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refine ...

(sugar) and calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) manufactured by

Haleon Haleon plc is a British multinational consumer healthcare company with headquarters in Weybridge, England. It is the largest consumer healthcare business in the world, with brands including Sensodyne toothpaste, Panadol and Advil painkillers and ...

in St. Louis,

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, US. They are also available in a sugar-free version. It is an over-the-counter drug, available at many retail stores, including drug stores, grocery stores and mass merchandisers. It provides relief from

heartburn Heartburn, also known as pyrosis, cardialgia or acid indigestion, is a burning sensation in the central chest or upper central abdomen. Heartburn is usually due to regurgitation of gastric acid (gastric reflux) into the esophagus. It is the ...

and

indigestion Indigestion, also known as dyspepsia or upset stomach, is a condition of impaired digestion. Symptoms may include upper abdominal fullness, heartburn, nausea, belching, or upper abdominal pain. People may also experience feeling full earlier t ...

("sour stomach").

History

In 1928, James Harvey "Jim" Howe (born 1873 College Corner, OH, and died 1960 Webster Groves, MO), a pharmacist in St. Louis, Missouri, developed Tums in the basement of his home while treating his wife's indigestion. The remedy caught on, and commercial production began in 1930 by the Lewis-Howe Company, which took its name from Howe and his uncle, A. H. Lewis, who was a pharmacist in Bolivar, Missouri; Howe worked in his uncle's drugstore as a teenager. Tums were named in 1930 after a radio contest, which was won by a nurse who came up with the phrase "Tums for the Tummy." Tums plant-St Louis MO-2018

In 1978 the company was purchased by Revlon of New York, making it no longer a St. Louis-based company. Revlon's

Norcliff Thayer The Beecham Group plc was a British pharmaceutical company. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Beecham, after having merged with American pharmaceutical company SmithKline Beckman to become SmithKline Beecham, merged with Glaxo ...

unit oversaw the Tums brand. Revlon spun Norcliff Thayer off to the British Beecham Group in 1986, and Beecham eventually became GlaxoSmithKline through a series of mergers. Since 1930, a plant originally built by Lewis-Howe in downtown St. Louis has been making the antacid tablets. The factory complex remains the main manufacturing site for Tums, and GlaxoSmithKline completed millions of dollars' worth of renovations and modernizations during the 2000s decade.

Medical uses

Since Tums is an over-the-counter drug, it is not considered a pharmaceutical-grade treatment (does not require a prescription). Prescription strength acid reflux medications often contain proton-pump inhibitors (PPI) or histamine H₂ receptor blockers (H₂ blockers, H₂ antagonists).

Advertising

Famous advertising campaigns for Tums have included "Tums for the Tummy" and, much later for

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

in the 1970s, "Mother Tums" ("There, there!"), and since 1981, a barbershop jingle sung to the theme music used in all versions of the TV crime drama series '' Dragnet''.

Varieties

Tums comes in chewable tablets that are taken orally. It is also available in different flavors such as peppermint and fruit flavors such as berry, orange, and cherry.

References

External links

* {{Haleon Antacids Products introduced in 1930 Haleon