Luden's is an American brand of cough drop that is currently manufactured and sold in the US by

Prestige Consumer Healthcare Prestige Consumer Healthcare Inc. (formerly Prestige Brands, Inc.) is an American company that markets and distributes over-the-counter healthcare and household cleaning products. It was formed by the merger of Medtech Products, Inc., Prestige B ...

. Company headquarters are in

Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Greenburgh, New York, Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, Unit ...

. Luden's products cycle based on consumer demand, but their most popular flavors include Wild Cherry, Sugar-Free Wild Cherry, Watermelon, Honey Licorice, Wild Berry, Honey Lemon, and Wild Honey. Other flavors in rotation include Blue Raspberry, Kiwi-Strawberry, Orange, and Original Menthol.

History

William H. Luden created the Luden's brand in 1879. Early products included cough drops and candy. Luden gave samples of his cough drops to railroad workers, giving the product national exposure in an early example of

guerrilla marketing Guerrilla marketing is an Advertising, advertisement strategy in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions in order to promote a Product (business), product or Service (business), service. It is a type of publicity. The ...

. Luden's was acquired in 1928 by Food Industries of Philadelphia, a holding company owned by the Dietrich family. During its heyday under Dietrich ownership, Luden's produced more than 500 varieties of candy in addition to its better-known cough drops and employed more than 1,200 people. In 1967 filmmaker Ed Seeman hired musician

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

to collaborate on a Luden's television commercial. Zappa's music was matched with Seeman's animation and the advertisement won a

Clio award The Clio Awards, also simply known as The Clios, is an annual award program that recognizes innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication, as judged by an international panel of advertising professionals. The awar ...

for "Best Use of Sound". In 1980 the company acquired Queen Anne Candy Co., based in

Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. Located along Lake Michigan, it is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the Li ...

. The Dietrich family sold Luden's Inc. to Hershey Foods Corp in 1986, resulting in the termination of 98 salaried and 350 hourly workers. Luden's Throat Drops brand was sold by Hershey's to

Pharmacia Pharmacia was a pharmaceutical and biotechnological company in Sweden that merged with the American pharmaceutical company Upjohn in 1995. History Pharmacia company was founded in 1911 in Stockholm, Sweden by pharmacist Gustav Felix Grönfel ...

in 2001. In 2003, Pharmacia was acquired by

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...

. In 2006, Pfizer sold its consumer products division, including the Luden's line, to

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technologies corporation headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its common stock is a c ...

. As of 2008, packages of Luden's throat drops displayed the slogan "Trusted Luden's Care – Everyone needs a little TLC". In November 2009 Charlesbank Capital Partners/Blacksmith Brands announced that it had completed its acquisition of Luden's over-the-counter consumer products brands from McNeil-PPC, Inc. In late 2010,

Prestige Brands Prestige Consumer Healthcare Inc. (formerly Prestige Brands, Inc.) is an American company that markets and distributes over-the-counter healthcare and household cleaning products. It was formed by the merger of Medtech Products, Inc., Prestige B ...

acquired Blacksmith Brands.

Ingredients

Luden's brand throat drops are

demulcent A demulcent (derived from the "caress") is a mucilaginous or oleaginous preparation that forms a soothing protective film over a mucous membrane, relieving minor pain and inflammation of the membrane. However, they generally help for less than 3 ...

s (meaning an irritation reliever) and some Luden's, such as their Menthol and Honey offer a mild oral anesthetics. The

active ingredient An active ingredient is any ingredient that provides biologically active or other direct effect in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease or to affect the structure or any function of the body of humans or animals. ...

in fruit flavors is

pectin Pectin ( ': "congealed" and "curdled") is a heteropolysaccharide, a structural polymer contained in the primary lamella, in the middle lamella, and in the cell walls of terrestrial plants. The principal chemical component of pectin is galact ...

, a soluble gelatinous

polysaccharide Polysaccharides (), or polycarbohydrates, are the most abundant carbohydrates found in food. They are long-chain polymeric carbohydrates composed of monosaccharide units bound together by glycosidic linkages. This carbohydrate can react with wat ...

found in ripe fruits. Pectin places a coating on the throat to reduce irritation and swelling. Original Menthol and the various Honey flavors contain

menthol Menthol is an organic compound, specifically a Monoterpene, monoterpenoid, that occurs naturally in the oils of several plants in the Mentha, mint family, such as Mentha arvensis, corn mint and peppermint. It is a white or clear waxy crystallin ...

, an oral anesthetic and irritant reliever. The drops' inactive ingredients include FD&C blue No. 1, FD&C blue 2, FD&C red 40, ascorbic acid, citric acid, malic acid, sodium acetate, sodium chloride, caramel color, corn syrup, flavors, soybean oil used as a processing aid, sucrose, and water.

References

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External links

Official website
1879 introductions Throat lozenges Demulcents Prestige Brands brands