Soothing the Throat: Review of Ricola Honey Lemon with Echinacea Throat Drops

It’s that time of year. Most of my daycare children and their parents have colds, sinus infections and even bronchitis. I have done a good job warding off illness so far, but have suffered with a nagging sore throat and cough the last few days.

I always have a supply of cough/throat drops on hand for cases like this, I hate making a special trip to the store just to buy cough drops. Ricola is my all time favorite brand of choice, and I am reviewing their Natural Honey Lemon with Echinacea variety.

The paper bag contains 24 drops, each wrapped individually in a waxed paper. The product claims to:

* Suppress cough
* Fight coughs naturally
* Soothe sore throat
* Soothe dry throat
* Help minor throat irritation

Active: Menthol (3.5mg) for cough suppressant and pain reliever

Inactive: Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), citric acid, extract of echinacea, extract of Ricola’s herb mixture (elder, horsehound, hyssop, lemon balm, linden flowers, mallow, peppermint, sage, thyme, wild thyme), lemon concentrate, honey, natural flavors, (honey, lemon, peppermint), starch syrup, sugar.

About The Product

Ricola’s Honey Lemon drops contain menthol for help with coughing and relieve of sore throats. It also contains herbs like echinacea and lemon mint. Ricola has been making products for sore throat relief for over 75 years, and their throat drops use all natural remedies.

Thoughts

I have been using the Ricola Honey Lemon and a Halls cough drop. I can honestly say that the Ricola is hands down a better product for my sore throat. It tastes great, and although it does contain menthol, I don’t taste menthol, which is a nice treat since I am not especially fond of this flavor.

The directions say that you should dissolve two drops (back to back) slowly. This can be repeated every hour as needed.

I love the fact that Ricola uses a nice heavy waxed paper to wrap these throat drops. Just last weekend I attended a hockey game and did a little too much yelling. I dug into my hockey bag and found a cough drop, but the paper stuck to it and I could not get it unwrapped. This doesn’t happen with Ricola! I have even seen the square Ricola drops that uses a separate piece of waxed paper inside the waxed wrapper! Even after these have been sitting around for a year, I can still get the wrapper off. This is important to me. It sounds like a silly point, but last weekend the “other brand” cough drops in my hockey bag were useless since I couldn’t get the wrapper off! It’s a important factor that has not gone unnoticed by myself. (My Halls throat drop was also made of a wax coated paper, but it was thinner and not as heavily coated).

I find the Lemon Honey flavor very mild, and more honey taste comes through than the lemon. Sucking on these provides a great deal of relief, and after sucking on two of them the relief does last for a good while.

When I’m not feeling well, I am fussy about what I will take. I don’t like putting chemicals in my body, and I always prefer herbs and natural remedies if possible. Ricola does just that! The herbs and vitamins contained in these drops are very good for the immune system, and good for a sore throat. I love Ricola!

These are for adults and children 6 years and older. Children under 6, ask a doctor. Keep out of reach of children, and please supervise your child if they have any cough drops or even hard candy in their mouth. I had a daycare child years ago who (unknown to me) came to my home with cough drops. He was running with one in his mouth and almost choked to death!

If your sore throat does not improve in 7 days, or pain worsens, you should seek medical attention.