Los Caramelos de Regaliz

Organic liquorice rolled into small snail spirals, made in France by Sophie M in the brand's 80 g clip-top tin. Vegan, and with no artificial colouring — which is why the black is a shade softer than the industrial version.

Read this before buying: liquorice is not an ordinary sweet

This is the most important thing on the page, and it is very rarely printed properly.

Real liquorice root contains glycyrrhizin (glycyrrhizic acid), and glycyrrhizin has a genuine pharmacological effect on the body: it interferes with an enzyme in the kidney and produces a state doctors call pseudohyperaldosteronism. In plain terms, eaten regularly and in quantity it raises blood pressure, drives potassium down, and causes the body to hold on to salt and water.

At the low end that means puffiness and slightly higher blood pressure. At the serious end, low potassium causes muscle weakness and can disturb heart rhythm — there are published case reports of hospital admissions, and at least one widely reported death, from sustained heavy liquorice eating.

This is not a scare. It is the reason European law requires confectionery above a certain glycyrrhizin content to state “contains liquorice”, and above a higher threshold to add “people suffering from hypertension should avoid excessive consumption”. The European Union's scientific committee suggested that regular intake should stay below about 100 mg of glycyrrhizin a day.

What that means in practice

• An occasional tin is not a problem for a healthy adult. Eating liquorice every day for weeks is a different thing.
• Do not eat it regularly if you have high blood pressure, heart disease or kidney disease, or if you have been told your potassium runs low.
• Take particular care if you take a diuretic (“water tablet”), a corticosteroid, digoxin, or blood pressure medication. Low potassium is exactly what makes digoxin dangerous, and liquorice works directly against antihypertensives.
• Avoid it in pregnancy. Studies from Finland — where liquorice consumption is high enough to study — have linked heavy liquorice intake in pregnancy to shorter gestation and to differences in children's later cognitive and behavioural outcomes. National guidance in several countries advises pregnant women to avoid it.
• Symptoms to notice: unusual swelling in the ankles or face, headaches, muscle weakness or cramps, or a racing heart. Stop and see a doctor.

Check your tin for the glycyrrhizin statement. If you eat a lot of liquorice, it is worth mentioning to your GP the next time your blood pressure is taken.

What liquorice actually is

The root of Glycyrrhiza glabra, a legume grown around the Mediterranean and in western Asia. The name means “sweet root” in Greek, and it is earned: glycyrrhizin is roughly fifty times sweeter than sugar, but with a slow, lingering, faintly bitter sweetness completely unlike sucrose. That strange quality is why liquorice divides people so absolutely.

The taste people identify as “liquorice” is largely anethole, the same aromatic compound found in aniseed and fennel — which is why those three are so often confused, and why some “liquorice” sweets contain no liquorice at all.

Why these are a softer black

Because there is no colouring in them. Industrial liquorice is usually blackened with vegetable carbon or synthetic colour to get that dense, uniform, almost light-absorbing black. Organic certification does not permit synthetic colours, so what you see is the colour of the ingredients — dark brown-black rather than jet.

The spirals are the traditional French shape: liquorice rolled into a snail, undone and eaten as a ribbon by anyone under about ten.

Practical notes

Vegan and organic. It is still a sweet — sugar, and chewy sugar at that, which clings to teeth. Not last thing at night.

Small children: a rolled spiral is a choking hazard for the very young, and the glycyrrhizin caution applies more strongly to a small body. Give a little, not a lot.

Storage

Cool, dry, clip closed. Liquorice hardens as it dries out and goes tacky in humidity.

Liquorice is not an ordinary sweet. Real liquorice root contains glycyrrhizin, which interferes with a kidney enzyme and, eaten regularly in quantity, raises blood pressure, drives potassium down and makes the body retain salt and water. Low potassium can cause muscle weakness and disturb heart rhythm.

An occasional tin is not a problem for a healthy adult. Eating liquorice every day for weeks is a different thing. The EU's scientific committee suggested keeping regular intake below about 100 mg of glycyrrhizin a day, and European law requires confectionery above set thresholds to say 'contains liquorice' and, higher still, that people with hypertension should avoid excessive consumption. Check your tin.

Do not eat it regularly if you have high blood pressure, heart disease or kidney disease, or if your potassium runs low.

Take particular care if you take a diuretic, a corticosteroid, digoxin, or blood pressure medication — low potassium is what makes digoxin dangerous, and liquorice works directly against antihypertensives.

Avoid it in pregnancy. Heavy liquorice intake has been linked to shorter gestation and to differences in children's later outcomes, and several countries advise pregnant women to avoid it.

Stop and see a doctor if you notice swelling in the ankles or face, headaches, muscle weakness or cramps, or a racing heart.

Small children: a rolled spiral is a choking hazard for the very young, and the glycyrrhizin caution applies more strongly to a small body. A little, not a lot.

Store cool, dry, clip closed — liquorice hardens as it dries and goes tacky in humidity.