Have you ever wondered why Pepto Bismol is pink? And what's with the name?!! Pepto. Clepto. Bismol. Shamismol. I had to buy a bottle of Pepto for my daughter the other day and it isn't very hard to find on the shelf, that's for sure...just look for the pink glow! As I pilfered through the boxes of tablets and the various sizes of bottles, I wondered why Pepto Bismol is pink. Was the original mixture so putrid that nobody in their right might would drink it so they had to add dyes or food coloring to disguise it? Hmmmm. Let me just read the ingredients. Wait right here...
Ok, I'm back. What color is pepsin? What about zinc salts? Salol anybody? Wintergreen oil? Ok, I've looked these things up because I just couldn't stand it. Pepsin is a bunch of digestive enzymes, those are probably the color of nuclear green, wouldn't you say?! Zinc salts are a blueish-silver. Salol is a white powdery substance used as an antiseptic and I think we all know Wintergreen is probably green. Would you drink this stuff if it were all mixed together? Shoot, it might even be the color of Xanadu from my color poem!! LOL, I think I totally understand mixing in some red dyes to make it a bubble gum pink color. Who doesn't love bubble gum?!
Pepto Bismol. First created when looking to cure a scary form of cholera that caused severe diarrhea, vomiting, and sometimes death. Back then, in the early 20th century, the concern for higher standards of hygiene and sanitation weren't as widespread as they are today. Nowadays, we can't even bake cookies or brownies and send them to school with our children, everything has to be pre-packaged. I wish it wasn't so because I love to bake, but thank goodness there's Pepto Bismol.
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