# What is it in sour candies that brutalizes my tongue? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 12, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-in-sour-candies-that-brutalizes-my-tongue/174826 "2003-05-12T23:50:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-in-sour-candies-that-brutalizes-my-tongue/174826/1 "2003-05-12T23:50:25Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-in-sour-candies-that-brutalizes-my-tongue/174826/2 "2003-05-13T00:13:04Z")
Likely it’s the citric acid. [Extreme candy](http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.06/candy_pr.html) > [@](#): > > Mega Warheads… > After about 20 pain-ridden seconds, the thin three-acid coating (a blend of malic, absorbic, and citric acid) wears off, leaving a standard drop of hard candy. ---
**Author:** ![glilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/48db29/32.png) [@glilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glilly)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-in-sour-candies-that-brutalizes-my-tongue/174826/3 "2003-05-13T17:24:17Z")
Some very sour candies, especially from Japan, have a coating of tartaric acid, which is like citric, but tangier.