What makes ""Red Hot's"" hot?

What makes "Red Hot’s[sup]TM[/sup] hot? (I’m talking about the candy, not hot dogs.)

They are cinnamon ‘flavored’ candies, but there isn’t any cinnamon. Oil of Cassia, I believe, is the stuff used to give a cinnamon flavor to candy. Totally different stuff.

Here is the page for the company that makes. Interesting reading.

Ferrara, a related company of The Ferrero Group, is an industry leader in U.S. confections and one of the fastest growing confections companies in the country. A passionate team of more than 4,000 employees work together to share delight in every...

Peppermint oil. See you local pharmacist for a small bottle of the stuff, then snap toothpicks in half and soak for a week (in the bottle).

After a week, Give 'em a week to soak and then suck on one of the pieces. Hot and snappy but not unbearable.

(I’d bother with a correction, but it ain’t worth it.)