IT'S ON THE TIP OF YOUR TONGUE/As more medicines take the form of 'edible film,' the market is exploding

摘要

THEY'RE LITTLE GREEN tches of film that melt instantly on your tongue, releasing bursts of minty breath freshener strong enough to wipe out all sings of that garlic shrimp you had for lunch. Sound familiar? They're Listerine PocketPaks, and they're made of a material that folks in the food industry call "edible film." Introduced by Pfizer Inc. in 2001, PocketPaks sparked a craze. Now everything from sushi to Sudafed is showing up on store shelves all wrapped up in melt-in-your-mouth film. Consumers are lining up for the chance to stick out their tongues. Retail sales of edible film, at about 100 million dollars a year today, are expected to hit at least 350 million dollars by 2008, says James Rossman, a former maker of edible film who is now a consultant in Tampa. In 1999 sales were just 1 million dollars, mostly from niche products such as the edible underwear that's a favorite gag gift at bachelor parties. "Listerine broke the market wide open," says Rossman-who, by the way, in 1974 had a hand in inventing some of the first edible undies.