# Tom Thumb drops

**Canonical URL:** https://sweeties.net/wiki/tom-thumb-drops/
**Source:** sweeties.net, online pick and mix sweet shop

## Summary

Tom Thumb Drops are tiny, sugar coated boiled sweets that share a name with the thumb sized hero of a 1621 tale. The recipe here flags sulphites.

## Description

Tom Thumb Drops are tiny boiled sweets with a crunchy sugar coating. The UK retailer Sweets and Candy describes them as tiny, sugar coated boiled sweets bursting with fruity flavour, and lists them as suitable for vegetarians.
What is in them
Tom Thumb Drops, as listed by Sweets and Candy. Sugar, glucose syrup marked as containing sulphites, citric acid, flavouring, and the colours E100, E102, E141, E153 and E163.
Like other boiled sweets, they are made by boiling sugar and glucose syrup until almost no water is left, then shaping the hot mixture before it sets hard: see how are boiled sweets made?
The name
Tom Thumb Drops share their name with Tom Thumb, the hero of English folklore who was no bigger than his father's thumb. The History of Tom Thumb, printed in London in 1621, is the first known fairy tale printed in English, and its hero's adventures include being swallowed by a cow and tangling with giants.
Two allergy points
Sulphites. The recipe marks its glucose syrup as containing sulphites. Sulphur dioxide and sulphites are one of the 14 major allergens, and must be declared when present at more than 10 mg per kg. Anyone sensitive to sulphites should check: see the 14 allergens explained for sweetsA warning colour. Tartrazine, E102, is one of the six colours that must carry the warning may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children, and the listing shows it: see the Southampton six colours
The other colours are curcumin (E100), copper chlorophyll (E141), vegetable carbon (E153) and anthocyanins (E163).
Small and hard
Tom Thumb Drops are small, hard sweets, and the NHS says not to give younger children hard foods such as boiled sweets, because of the risk of choking: see hard sweets and younger children
In our pick and mix
We do not sell Tom Thumb Drops, but we do sell other traditional boiled sweets, such as SW033 and SW035. Each card opens up to show the full ingredients and allergens for the sweets we actually stock.

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