What is it in sour candies that brutalizes my tongue?

Factual Questions
1

I am addicted to sour candies. Sour gum, sour soothers, sour bears, you name it.

The sour gum and soothers especially have white crap sprinkled on them. I’ll easily power down 20 in a sitting, and then my tongue and cheek are litterally raw from them, on the borderline of bleeding. Seriously. And I love it.

What is it in that coating that causes that? Some sort of acid or something?

2

Likely it’s the citric acid.
Extreme candy

3

Some very sour candies, especially from Japan, have a coating of tartaric acid, which is like citric, but tangier.