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Tang is an American drink mix brand that was formulated by General Foods Corporation
food scientist Food science (or bromatology) is the basic science and applied science of food; its scope starts at overlap with agricultural science and nutritional science and leads through the scientific aspects of food safety and food processing, informing ...
William A. Mitchell and
chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...
William Bruce James in 1957, and first marketed in powdered form in 1959. The Tang brand is currently owned in most countries by
Mondelēz International Mondelēz International, Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational confectionery, food industry, food, Holding company, holding, drink industry, beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual rev ...
, a North American company spun off from
Kraft Foods Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...
in 2012.
Kraft Heinz The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC), commonly known as Kraft Heinz (), is an American multinational food company formed by the merger of Kraft Foods Group, Inc. and the H.J. Heinz Company co-headquartered in Chicago and Pittsburgh. Kraft Heinz is t ...
owns the Tang brand in North America. Sales of Tang were poor until
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
used it on
John Glenn John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space and the first to orbit the Earth, circling it three times in 1 ...
's Mercury flight in February 1962, and on subsequent Gemini missions. Since then it has been closely associated with the U.S.
human spaceflight Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...
program, which created the misconception that Tang was invented for the space program. Tang continues to be used on NASA missions in the present day, over 50 years after its introduction.


History

General Foods Corporation food scientist William A. Mitchell and chemist William Bruce James formulated and trademarked orange Tang in 1957. Tang entered test markets in 1958 and was available to the public beginning in 1959. Tang was used by early NASA crewed space flights. In 1962, when Mercury astronaut John Glenn conducted eating experiments in orbit, Tang was selected for the menu; it was also used during some Gemini flights, and has also been carried aboard numerous
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...
missions. Although many soda companies sent specially designed canned drinks into space with the crew of
STS-51-F STS-51-F (also known as Spacelab 2) was the 19th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the eighth flight of Space Shuttle ''Challenger''. It launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on July 29, 1985, and landed eight days later on Au ...
, the crew preferred to use Tang, as it could be mixed into existing water containers easily. In 2013, former NASA astronaut
Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin ( ; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three extravehicular activity, spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission, and was the Lunar Module Eag ...
said "Tang sucks". In his autobiography, ''Return to Earth'', published forty years earlier, Aldrin had further clarified: "I can't speak for the other flights, but before ours /nowiki>Apollo 11">Apollo_11.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Apollo 11">/nowiki>Apollo 11/nowiki>, the three of us dutifully sampled the orange drink, supposedly Tang, and instead chose a grapefruit-orange mixture as our citrus drink. If Tang was on our flight I was unaware of it." The creator of Tang, William A. Mitchell, also invented Pop Rocks, Cool Whip, a form of instant-set Jell-O, and other convenience foods. Chemist William Bruce James also invented several Jell-O flavors. Orange Tang was packaged in glass jars with a metallic green label and orange metal lid. It was promoted as an "instant breakfast" drink rather than a soft drink mix, because it was fortified with vitamins C and A. In print and television advertising Tang was referred to as the nutritious "space age" drink of the astronauts. Tang's advertising in the 1990s and early 2000s featured an
orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...
as a mascot.


Nutritional facts

Tang is sold in powdered and liquid-
concentrate A concentrate is a form of Chemical substance, substance that has had the majority of its diluting agent or diluent (in the case of a liquid: the solvent) removed, such that the substance becomes the majority of the composition. Typically, this w ...
form. The suggested serving size is 2
tablespoon A tablespoon (tbsp., Tbsp., Tb., or T.) is a large spoon. In many English-speaking regions, the term now refers to a large spoon used for serving; however, in some regions, it is the largest type of spoon used for eating. By extension, the ter ...
s, or 31 grams of powdered Original Orange flavored Tang per of water. A single suggested serving of Tang contains of sugar (representing 94% of the product's dry weight); 10% RDA of carbohydrates; 100% RDA of
vitamin E Vitamin E is a group of eight compounds related in molecular structure that includes four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. The tocopherols function as fat-soluble antioxidants which may help protect cell membranes from reactive oxygen speci ...
; 100% RDA of
vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits, berries and vegetables. It is also a generic prescription medication and in some countries is sold as a non-prescription di ...
; 6% RDA of
calcium Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...
and has a total of 120
calories The calorie is a unit of energy that originated from the caloric theory of heat. The large calorie, food calorie, dietary calorie, kilocalorie, or kilogram calorie is defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one liter o ...
(500 kJ).


Other versions

In 1961 General Foods introduced grapefruit flavored Tang and advertised it in ''Time Life'' magazine. It was referred to as a new, natural-tasting Tang flavor. Packaging was a glass jar with yellow label and green metal lid. In 1971 the packaging was updated with an orange metallic label. In 1971 General Foods introduced a grape flavor of Tang and advertised it in the ''New York Times Weekly Magazine'' July 18, 1971. It appeared on store shelves, first with a metallic blue label and blue metal lid, subsequently with a metallic purple label and purple metal lid. While orange Tang could be purchased in various sizes including a large net weight 27 oz. glass jar, the grape flavor was only available in an 18 oz. size. In 2007, Kraft introduced a new version of orange Tang which replaced half of the sugar with artificial sweeteners. The new packaging advertises "1/2 the sugar of 100% juice". The artificial sweeteners used in the new formulation are
sucralose Sucralose is an artificial sweetener and sugar substitute. In the European Union, it is also known under the E number E955. It is produced by chlorination of sucrose, selectively replacing three of the hydroxy groups—in the C1 a ...
,
acesulfame potassium Acesulfame potassium (, or ), also known as acesulfame K or Ace K, is a synthetic calorie-free sugar substitute (artificial sweetener) often marketed under the trade names Sunett and Sweet One. In the European Union, it is known under the E n ...
and neotame. The new formula is more concentrated and distributed in smaller containers, with a () making . According to the preparation instructions on the 20 fl oz (590 ml) Tang orange drink mix, 2 level tablespoons of Tang can be combined with 1 cup or 8 fl oz (240 ml) of cold water for 1 serving. In 2009, another version of Tang emerged in containers making only . Orange flavored Tang contributes to most current sales worldwide; however, there are a wide range of flavors of Tang offered globally, including grape, lemon, mango, and pineapple.


Sales

Tang is sold in more than 30 countries and is available in a variety of flavors depending on location. The top three markets for Tang around the world are Brazil, Argentina, and the Philippines. In the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
, more than half of Tang's annual sales occur in just six weeks around
Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...
. In June 2011, Kraft Foods announced that Tang has become its twelfth billion-dollar brand, with global sales nearly doubling since 2006. The brand in 2010 controlled a category-best 15.6% of the international powder concentrate market although, like other highly processed or sweetened beverages, demand in developed economies has stagnated or fallen in line with consumers increasing preference for lower calorie drinks. In 2018, Tang's manufacturer Mondelez reported a drop in sales following the introduction of tax on calorific sweetened beverages in the Philippines.


See also

* Instant breakfast * Kool-Aid


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tang (Drink) American drinks Mondelez International brands Powdered drink mixes Products introduced in 1957