Vichy Pastilles 

Who doesn’t love candy? All sweet treats bring back happy childhood memories, for they’re the kind of guilty pleasure that nourishes the soul – the body, not so much. Well, technically speaking, there are a few exceptions! Take the famous white, octagonal lozenges from Vichy. These aren’t just candy – they’ve now become a true cure-all! The history of Vichy Pastilles goes all the way back to 1824, when a Parisian chemist named Jean-Pierre-Joseph d’Arcet visited Vichy for a spa treatment. There, he discovered the digestive benefits of sodium bicarbonate, one of the main components of the town’s natural mineral waters. He figured this was just the answer to his own frequent bloating. So he experimented and, after a series of trials and errors, he hit upon a clever trick: fizzing up sodium carbonate with Vichy’s hot spring water. Pretty happy with his invention, d’Arcet shared it with a local pharmacist, Nicolas-François Regnault. Together with pharmacist Pierre Batilliat, they decided to use his work to produce sweet-tasting pastilles for better digestion. By 1853, they were filing for patents and switched to using the natural salts extracted from the mineral waters, for an even more natural recipe. Around 1856-1860, the lozenges got their iconic octagonal shape to stand out from similar products sold on the market. They also sported the words “VICHY” on the front and “Établissement thermal” on the back. Sold mainly in pharmacies, these digestive pastilles were a hit! They were even praised for their originality in an imperial decree back in 1862. Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, was a big fan, and soon the whole French aristocracy was eating up Vichy pastilles. Things changed in 1914, when the Union of Pharmacists lost a legal battle against Moinet, a local candy maker. That’s when the over-the-counter sales started. Soon, other brands jumped in, using machines to mass-produce them. In 1981, several companies involved in the making of the lozenges joined forces and created the “Pastille de Vichy” brand. The brand changed hands a few times over the years. Today, it’s owned by the Carambar & Co group, generating annual sales of over 6 million euros. The recipe couldn’t be simpler – it’s just thermal water, mineral salts, sugar, and natural flavors like mint, lemon, or anise. These little 2.5-gram candies are but a tasty piece of French history!