# Hall's sugar-free menthol cough drops make me fart **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 14, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halls-sugar-free-menthol-cough-drops-make-me-fart/395913 "2007-03-14T17:09:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halls-sugar-free-menthol-cough-drops-make-me-fart/395913/1 "2007-03-14T17:09:08Z")
It only took me three days to figure it out. ☹ I’m so embarrassed. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halls-sugar-free-menthol-cough-drops-make-me-fart/395913/2 "2007-03-14T17:15:55Z")
They have [sugar alcohols somewhere in the ingredients, yes?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_alcohol) Sugar alcohols are found in a lot of sugar free candies & desserts. They also make a lot of people rather fragrant and/or loud. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halls-sugar-free-menthol-cough-drops-make-me-fart/395913/3 "2007-03-14T17:14:17Z")
They have sugar alcohols somewhere in the ingredients, yes? Sugar alcohols are found in a lot of sugar free candies & desserts. They also make a lot of people rather fragrant and/or loud. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halls-sugar-free-menthol-cough-drops-make-me-fart/395913/4 "2007-03-14T17:39:59Z")
When I was first diagnosed with diabetes, the Wife bought me all my favorite candy in sugar free mode. I ate it up and spent a week with a cramped stomach, farting like a stuck balloon. Yeah, it took me a while to make the correlation too. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halls-sugar-free-menthol-cough-drops-make-me-fart/395913/5 "2007-03-14T19:12:01Z")
I decided to give up sugar once. I was working at a drugstore at the time, and polished off a bag of Russell Stover’s sugar-free chocolates over a short period of time while running the register. A Very Bad Thing almost happened before I made it to the bathroom. After that, I had to go home. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2007, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halls-sugar-free-menthol-cough-drops-make-me-fart/395913/6 "2007-03-15T00:00:44Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] A Very Bad Thing almost happened before I made it to the bathroom. After that, I had to go home. [/QUOTE] I’m glad to see that others experience the Very Bad Thing after eating lots of sugar-free treats; most people don’t believe me when I explain why I avoid sugar-free things (exception: I’ve had no problems with sucralose). A waitress at one restaurant I used to frequent made a habit of serving me diet soft drinks instead of regular; because I recognized the diet drink based on taste, she thought that was the only reason I turned it down.