The candies themselves come in several varieties across the globe, the most common being 'Mint' and 'Mixed Fruit' (or 'Fruit' in many cultures). For those of you in the US, you used to find Strawberry, Cinnamon, and Spearmint--but those are now gone (See section 5a: Flavor Issues) Taste and color are drastically different between them,but in every other way, they are quite similar.

The shape of a Mentos candy is disklike, with an ellipsical bulge in the middle. (It has been suggested that they are 'lenticular' meaning 'lentil-shaped'.) They measure 3/4"in diameter, and at their largest point, 6/16" tall.

Net weight is reported as 1.3 OZ/37.5 g, but this was impossible to confirm at the time of this writing.

Coloring of the Mint candies is a chalky light hue, that extends throughout the entire candy. The fruit variety contains three colors, purple (grape), yellow (lemon), and orange (orange). Cinnamon and Strawberry have a reddish/pinkish hue, Cinnamon being the darker of the two. Spearmint Mentos have a light greenish coloration, and like all Mentos, possess a chalk-like consistency.

The Mint flavor variety unsurprisingly taste like peppermint, and could be considered to possess a breath freshening function as well as a cool, menthol-like aftertaste. Mixed Fruit have none of these properties, but are instead quite sweet. Strawberry are also sweet, but contain a light, and unmistakable strawberry flavor. Cinnamon do indeed taste like cinnamon, possessing a semi-cinnamon burn feeling often found in strong cinnamon gum. Spearmint are closely related to Mint, and are lucky enough to serve as a freshmaker as well.

Apple Mentos, which arrived in our mailbox from Australia are yellowish/green in color and taste like apple juice.

Grape Mentos (which arrived from Japan) did, indeed have a unique undercurrent of flavor. The Grape Mentos were white with a slight purple hue (nothing major). They started off with a vague Grape flavor and then exploded into a virtual vineyard! (Reminds us of St. Joseph's Children's Aspirin) While Grape is available in the Mixed Fruit packages in America (and elsewhere) this Grape is a thousand times Grapier.

Peach Mentos (also from Japan) lacked in color, save a simple peach-ish tint) and were "pleasantly peachy". Like the grape, the flavor starts off weak and before you know it, it's like eating a real peach--packed full of flavor!

Grapefruit Mentos (Japan again) were, indeed, Grapefruit. Yellow in color, this particular flavor was very citrus-like. If you're not a citrus fan, don't try them. But, eat up if you like the breakfast fruit!

Checking in from France is Chlorophylle flavored Mentos. Apparently, Chlorophylle is French for "Spearmint" because these were not entirely unlike our version of the other white mint. Just a tad bit Mintier.

One of the most interesting flavors (so far) has been 'Mint- Licorice Mentos', also known in Europe as 'Drop Lakrids'. These have the same texture and color as Mint, but when you chow down, hold on! At first, the taste is of light mint, and you might suspect Freshness trickery. However, then the taste of licorice pops up and you feel O.K. And then, just as the unsuspecting taster is content with the current state of Freshness, it changes again! A sudden overpowering licorice flavor consumes you! Needless to say, this flavor gives you quite a ride. A Special Note: If you don't like black licorice A LOT, don't try these. They are only for the boldest and Freshest to consume.

All the way from the Netherlands, we have a new flavor: "Strong" This, quite possibly the boldest of all flavors really lives up to its name. The Mint packed in this dark blue tube starts mildly, and then clears your sinuses faster than any Altoid could. The Mento itself looks the same as a regular "Mint" Mento to the naked eye--but watch your tastebuds!

Mentos' texture is not uniform. The candies have a thin crunchy shell and when chewed, disintegrate into a gum like consistency. If appropriate, they then release their breath freshening characteristics.

In the United States:
Mentos candies come in cylinder shaped 'rolls', with 14 included in each roll. The label consists of 'mentos' written in block letters, covering approximately 2/3 of the roll lengthwise. Next to this logo is the flavor identification, (i.e. 'mint' or 'mixed fruit') although flavor identification can be more readily obtained from the background coloring of the label. Mint has a misty bluish white photograph of many Mentos scattered about, while mixed fruit has a more colorful representation of the same shapes, including purple, orange, and yellow disks. Cinnamon wrappers are similar, but are colored in a deep blood red. Strawberry wrappers are a lighter, almost orangey red. Spearmint follows Mint's lead with a clouded hue, this time more green than blue.

It is important to note that the colors displayed on the package are actually much more vibrant and deep than that of the actual product. Do not be misled, all Mentos have a very light hue to them, no matter what the flavor.

A CHANGE IN THE WRAPPER?
It has come to our attention that the flavor designations on the right side of the Mentos roll have shrunk! The former Spearmint and Mixed Fruit designations became smaller in 1996 for some reason. This change did not occur with Cinnamon or Strawberry.

This is yet another mystery left for us meddling kids to solve...

As it turns out, Eric Johnson discovered that Mentos can also be found in 4 packs, which are sold for the bargain price of 99 cents at the College Park CVS pharmacy near the University of Maryland. (That works out to 24.75 cents a tube!)

Also, several alert folks say they found buckets of "Mini Mentos" in stores such as "Office Depot". But these sightings are, as of yet, unconfirmed.

In Canada: The Mentos are almost exactly the same as the rolls in America, except the flavor designations are in French as well as English.

Helen Kittler writes:

I used to live in Toronto, Canada, and there in a German Deli-type store called Kellens I saw a big clear plastic bucket of mini-Mentos for sale. They were really small, less than 2 inches long, and looked like the kind of thing you would give away at Halloween. I believe they were charging 10 cents a roll. The flavours involved were the ever-present regular mint, strawberry and mixed fruit.

In Arab Countries: Mentos are typically sold in smaller rolls of 11 candies. These packages weigh 30g or 1.06 OZ, although they do have "Jumbo Size" rolls, which contain the standard complement of 14. The labels are in Arabic and English, including the "Mentos" block lettering! This is the first we've noted the Mentos logo in a different language (and alphabet)! (Thanks to Isaac Zalpeter for this info!)

In Australia: The packaging of the Apple Mentos from Australia had all the same qualities mentioned in the US section, above. This time, though, the package was light green in color.

In The Netherlands: The package of Mint-Licorice Mentos is much like the common Mint-Flavor we all know and love. The powdery blue Mentos lay in the background with the Mentos block lettering in front. However, where the usual flavor is written at the end of the roll, on this package it has a black square around it, which extends about half way around the roll. The word 'Drop' is written here with red surrounding the letters. Written atop the word "Mentos", in three different languages, is the product description: 1) Chewy mint-licorice
2) Drop-mint dragees (which, we are told is Dutch for Licorice-Mint Pellets')
3) Pebermynte-pastiller med lakridssmag ('Peppermint candies with licorice flavoring' as translated by Laurie Zimmerman

The ingredients are listed in three languages as well. Also, the Van Melle logo has been reduced a little and moved to the left of the bar-code, and a new logo appears: A circle in which black and white arrows intertwine in a Ying-Yang type of configuration. Apparently, this is an environmental symbol...telling us that Mentos are Earth-friendly.

Alfred Verhoeven discovered "Mini Mentos" in The Netherlands as well. The bag contains 18 mini-rolls of Mentos--approximately 1/3 the length of a normal 14-freshmaker roll. Each roll contains five (5) Mini-Mentos, which are about 2/3 the size of a regular Mento, and the flavor-name above the Mentos block letters refers to them as "Chewy your-flavor-here Drops".

In Japan: Each roll of Japanese Mentos contains only 11 Freshmakers. The five rolls of fruity flavors we came across each had dark foil protecting the candies. Green Apple, for example, had a green wrapper, and dark green foil. Peach had pink, Grape/Purple, Strawberry/Red, and Grapefruit/Yellow. The flavor distinctions were in English, including above the block letters "Chewy Green Apple". The ingredients were, as expected, in Japanese.

George Scala reports that he found mini-Mentos "chewing candy" in Japan. The bag proclaimed "It's A Small Mentos World!"

New From Japan! Standard rolls of 14!
Rene' Lego, who returned from Japan in the Fall of '97 brought back rolls of Mentos...several of which were marked with a "New 3!" along with other Japanese markings, nudging over the flavor indicator to the left ever so slightly. Upon closer examination, we determined this to mean that rolls of 11 are no longer made in Japan, and that they may have switched to rolls of 14 permenantly!

In France: The Chlorophylle Mentos came in a standard 14-Mento tube. The coloring on the wrapper was exactly that of American Spearmint (no surprise there, since they taste almost exactly the same). They were branded with the titles "Bonbons" and "Dragees" above the big blue letters.

In England: Their version of Mixed Fruit is "Fruit". Under the Mentos logo is the phrase, "Chewy fruit flavour sweets" and "Pastilli/Dragéer/Frugt- pastiller" (the first e in Drageer has an accent mark) The flavor designation is also noted as "Frukt". The mint says: "Pastilli/Chewy Mints" and "Pebermynte-pastiller/Dragéer" (with the accent again) (Thanks to Chad Jones for providing this info)

In Germany: The four-pack of Mint Mentos from Germany are made exactly like the 4-packs in America, except the ingredients on the back are in six different languages. Also, an additional design appears on the front...a hand with the phrase "Fresh Goes Better" appears. Lucky Germans!

You can also get 3-packs in Germany (thanks to Toni Sitoy for bringing back several rolls). The "Lakritz mint" flavor (Licorice Mint) package was a bit different when compared to the ones that came from the Netherlands. These rolls did not have the same color scheme as Mint. Instead of light blue, the background Mentos were in black and white! The flavor indicator was not in a black box--instead, it was like any other indicator we've come to know and love.

In Taiwan: The Mentos block lettering is in Chinese and English! (And it looks beauteous) The rolls contain 11 Mentos and the Flavor Designation. Otherwise, they look the same.

In China: You can also get individually wrapped Mentos! Alan Mackey received some and he mentions that the tiny cellophane envelopes do nothing to preserve freshness.

In Italy: The rolls of Mentos brought to us from Italy were very similar to American Mentos aside from obvious language differences. In Italy, they each have two languages on their flavor designations: Mint had "menta" and "mentol" Spearmint had "clorofila" and "clorofilla" and the Mixed Fruit has "gusto frutta" along with "frutas" Three different languages helped to indicate the product over-top of the Mentos block lettering:
1) Mint has Caramelle confettate al gusto di menta
2) Caramelos masticables con sabor a menta
3) Drageias com sabor a mentol
Spearmint and Mixed fruit had the same designations, with their respective flavors in place of "menta" and "mentol". One interesting note: On the rolls of Spearmint and Mixed Fruit, the description was so long, that it actually had to continue after the "T" in the Mentos block lettering!

In Russia: The roll of Mint looked the same as the American roll, the only difference once again being the language. Along with the flavor description of "Chewy mint flavoured sweets" and "Dragees" was another description in Russian! The ingredients were in English, Russian, and a third language which may or may not be German.

Mint: sugar, glucose syrup, hydrogenated coconut oil, gelatine, dextrin, natural flavor, corn starch, gum arabic.

Mixed Fruit: sugar, glucose syrup, hydrogenated coconut oil, gelatine, dextrin, natural and artificial flavor, gum arabic, coloring.

Strawberry: sugar, glucose syrup, hydrogenated coconut oil, citric acid, gelatine, dextrin, corn starch, artificial flavor, gum arabic, coloring.

Cinnamon: sugar, glucose syrup, hydrogenated coconut oil, gelatine, dextrin, corn starch, cinnamon, natural and artificial flavors, salt, gum arabic, artificial colors (yellow 5, red 3, blue 2).

Spearmint: sugar, glucose syrup, hydrogenated coconut oil, gelatine, dextrin, natural flavors, corn starch, gum arabic, artificial color (blue 2).

Apple: (from Australia) sugar, glucose syrup, hydrogenated vegetable oil, food acid (citric acid), apple powder, starch, gelatine, dextrin, gelling agent (gum arabic), flavour, colours (E101, E140), thickener (dextrin), vegetable gum (acacia gum).

Licorice: (from The Netherlands) sugar, glucose syrup, vegetable oil, licorice-extract, ammonium-chloride, starch, gelatine, dextrin, gelling agent (gum arabic), flavourings.

Tropical Fruit: (from Israel) sugar, glucose syrup, hydrogenated vegetable oil, citric acid, starch, beef gelatine, dextrin, gum arabic, flavours, colours (E101, E160e, E162) (Thanks to Isaac Salpeter for translating these ingredients from the French!)

Chlorophylle: (from France) sugar, glucose syrup, hydrogenated vegetable oil, starch, gelatine, dextrin, gelling agent (gum arabic), natural flavourings,

Grape: (From Hong Kong) sugar, glucose syrup, hydrogenated coconut oil, citric acid, corn starch, gelatine, dextrin, gum arabic, natural and artificial flavours, colour.

Strong: (from The Netherlands) sugar, glucose syrup, hydrogenated coconut oil, corn starch, gelatine, dextrin, gelling agent (gum arabic), natural flavouring, colour.

New! Crow flavored Mentos! And we're eating plenty of them! It seems that despite long-time assurances that Mentos were a pure, wholesome product carnivores and vegetarians alike could enjoy, It seems we were sadly mistaken. It turns out that less than 1% of the Mentos recipe is processed from a byproduct of animal fat.

Had we known this, we would NEVER have dreamed of saying otherwise. Van Melle is yet to make a Mentos product for the strictest of vegetarians. We, the Core Six Pack, as Maintainers of the FAQ, give our sincerest and most heart-felt apology for this grave error.

However, as in usual fashion, we refuse to take the blame. Naturally, having been used as a tool to deceive those who are FAFOL, we needed to find the responsible party. It turned out to be industrial espionage and sabotage. Yep, you guessed it- Lance Chews started the rumor and continued to back it until we erringly placed it in the FAQ.

Revenge? No, we don't believe in revenge. But we will have you know that Lance wears a coat made from Dalmatian puppies and routinely beats baby seals to death.

Sorry!
-- The Core Six-Pack

Nutritional Data
P.O. Box 18190
Erlanger, KY 41018

 November 15, 1994

 Mr. Chad Jones
 [street address]
 Culver City, CA  90230

 Dear Mr. Jones:

 Following is the nutritional information for Mentos you
requested:

 Serving Size    1 piece (3 grams)
 Calories        10
 Total Fat*      0 grams
 Total Carbohydrates   3 grams
 Total Sugar     2 grams
 Protein         0 grams
 Sodium          0 mg

 *Because most of our customers do not eat just one piece from the roll of
  Mentos, we would like you to be aware that 100 grams of Mentos,
  approximately 3 rolls, contain 2 grams of fat.

 I hope this information is helpful and Mentos may remain one of your
 favorite candy options.

 Thank you for your interest in our product--it is most appreciated.

 Sincerely,

 Andrea Barth
 Quality Assurance Supervisor


 Van Melle USA / One Van Melle Lane / P.O. Box 18190 / Erlanger,
 Kentucky 41018-0190
 606-283-1234 / FAX 606-283-1316 / TWX  8105428541
 printed on recycled paper

Mentos were invented by a Dr. Van Mento who was a Dutch doctor and a part time confectioner. [Ok, Ok, maybe not.]

Mentos are made by Van Melle, Inc. and manufactured for Van Melle by:

Van Melle NV
Zoete Inval 20
4815 HK, Breda
The Netherlands
Telephone +31 76 5275000
Fax +31 76 5228692

(Thanks to Jerry who found the address and phone number. And also for translating "Zoete Inval": Sweet Thought.)

Importers:

Australia
Stuart Alexander & Co. Pty. Ltd.
62 Rosebery Ave.
Rosebery, N.S.W. 2018 Australia

Canada
J.K. Overwheel ltd.
Toronto, Canada

Hong Kong
Inchcape JDH Limited
15th FLR
JDH Centre
2 ON Ping Street
Shatin, N.T. HK

Malaysia
Socma Trading
(M)SDN BHD
Lot 2537 Parit Abdul Rahman
Mukim Benut
82200 Pontian, Johor Malaysia

Singapore
Sole Agent: Hup Seng (S)
PTE. LTD.
52 Arab Street
Singapore 0719

Van Melle's corporate headquarters:

Van Melle, Inc.
One Van Melle Lane
Erlanger, KY 41018-0190

The Anti-Mento (or the "Fake-Me-Out-Mento" as Zann & Mitch refer to them as) is made by Lance Candies. They are called 'Mint Chews', 'Fruit Chews', 'Cinnamon Chews', etc. They are sold in rolls of eleven candies of approximately the same size, shape, and weight as the true confection. Mint Chews, made in Holland for Lance Inc., list exactly the same ingredients as Mint Mentos.

For their nutritional information, you can write to:

Nutritional Data
P.O. Box 32368
Charlotte, NC 28232

But they are neither sufficiently fresh, nor full of life, to make such an inquiry worthwhile.

 
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