How to make this bland candy

[Beusho]

Hi all, I'm relatively new to these forums (long time follower though) and I wanted to find some help from those who are more knowledgeable to help make a candy. All it has to be is one tablespoon of glucose in a relatively small tab. They are for my dad who is diabetic and the current glucose tabs are big but they only contain 4 grams of carbohydrate. One tablespoon of glucose = 12 grams of carbohydrates so I'm hoping to find a way to do this as my dad doesn't like to eat so many of these big tabs.

Is it possible to get 1tbs of glucose into a relatively small tab, I'm not familiar with binding agents or another method to do this. I thought about boiling it into rock candy but I'd rather have something more dissolvable and something I can more accurately know how much glucose is going in. Here's a pic of the current candies which are too large per amount of carbohydrate:

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Edited May 13, 2012 by Beusho (log)

[minas6907]

What are the ingredients on the package? It's probably better not to get into trying to make tablets like these, especially when it concerns someones health. These things are made differently then traditional candies. I dont know anything about these tablets, but it seems like when when you see candies that are sort of 'pressed,' (sort of like smarties) it contains dextrose rather then sucrose, so the rock candy thing isnt really going to produce the same result. If your father doesnt like tablets, can he take glucose syrup? All in all, your going to get quite frustrated trying to replicate this, and frankly I wouldnt try unless you know exactly what your doing.

[Chris Hennes]

Does it have to be candy? What about making it into a beverage instead? Say, a tablespoon of glucose, a cup of water, and a few dashes of one of the many cocktail bitters available these days.

[Beusho]

Yep, it can definitely be done as liquid. I can dissolve glucose into water and put some flavoring into it, I use that currently for my dad because he can just take a shot of that, but that is why I started looking toward replicating the candies, it's a pain to have to keep making these little bottled shots and I wanted to having some recipe where I could make 100 or so at one sitting and not have to worry about making more for a few months.

The ingredients on the tablet are: dextrose, cellulose, maltodexterin, citric acid, Magnesium sterate, raspberry flavor, ascorbic acid, FD&C Red #40.

I just don't know what goes on to combine them into the tablet form or whether I can make a similar sized tablet but with more glucose/dextrose. Thanks for any help!

Edited May 13, 2012 by Beusho (log)

[Badiane]

I know this isn't what you asked, and I'm not trying to be rude or give you a hard time, but my first thought is that if your Dad is needing to eat these tablets often, perhaps he needs to speak to his doctor and have his meds adjusted, or his diet adjusted or something. The carb level is standard in almost every type and brand, because those tablets are designed to quickly treat a sudden drop in blood sugar, and should then be followed with a slower acting carb of some kind to elevate sugar levels safely. Additionally, many medications respond only to specific types of 'sugar' like dextrose or sucrose that is in those tablets and blood sugar won't rise with the wrong kind. But that's just my two cents worth as a long time diabetic.

You can buy reasonably tasty glucose gel in tubes that have 15 carbs per tube, meant to be used in doses, but if he needs a larger hit than the tabs, that might work for him.

[minas6907]

Why cant you make a large amount of the liquid and portion it? All in all, your going to have a hard time replicating that formula for the candies, I've tried to look into how to make smarties, and found basically nothing on it, it just seems like a mixture consisting mostly of dextrose, and formed into little tablets and I assume dried. If you really do come across anything, I'd be very interested.

[Shalmanese]

Alternatively, why can't he just eat smarties?

[Beusho]

I could make large amounts of liquid it would just be easier to make the candies.

If my dad ate smarties he would have to eat even more than with the standard glucose tabs, he gets kind of temperamental when his glucose gets low and doesn't want to keep eating the same thing so I want to make one tab that contains 12-16 grams, that would be ideal

@Badiane: those tabs are definitely designed to respond quickly to drops in blood sugar,the tablets are glucose (or dextrose which is another name for the same thing) which is more rapidly absorbed than than other sugars. You say that "Additionally, many medications respond only to specific types of 'sugar' like dextrose or sucrose that is in those tablets and blood sugar won't rise with the wrong kind." Sucrose is a polymer of dextrose(=glucose) + fructose. I work with pharmaceuticals and I'm not aware of any medications 'response' being related to the type of sugars one consumes. Insulin, biguanides, sulfonylureas, meglitinides, incretins, thiazolidines (inasmuch as they are used anymore) 'response' aren't dependent whether one consumes sucrose, maltose, glucose, lactose, galactose or any of the other common carbohydrates. Let me know which medication you're talking about because it would be news to the pharmaceutical world. What will matter is my father's compliance with eating enough carbohydrate so that he doesn't get out of control with my mother. A more carbohydrate filled capsule will do this.

Edited May 13, 2012 by Beusho (log)

[Chris Hennes]

OK, since I'm not a doctor or pharmacist or anything of the sort (obviously), I don't quite understand if your dad needs glucose, or if any sugar will do. If any sugar, what about making a relatively stiff fondant? It's solid, can be flavored a zillion different ways (I'm partial to mint), and will dissolve pretty readily when he eats it.

[Mjx]

Presumably, you could omit the preservatives and extras (citric acid, raspberry flavor, ascorbic acid, and FD&C Red #40), in order to minimize size, but you'd still need to use some sort of binder, plus you need to find a way to make these things chewable, so he doesn't crack a molar.

Since the sugars comprise the bulk of the tablets, though, I'm not sure you could get your desired grams of sugars into a single tablet. Have you checked out other brands, to see how they compare?

[Shalmanese]

If my dad ate smarties he would have to eat even more than with the standard glucose tabs, he gets kind of temperamental when his glucose gets low and doesn't want to keep eating the same thing so I want to make one tab that contains 12-16 grams, that would be ideal

There's also Giant Smarties & Mega Smarties. According to the nutrition info, they're 80% glucose so I think it's going to be hard to do better.

The ingredient list seems pretty similar to the tabs you listed:

Ingredients:

Dextrose (Contains Corn Syrup Solids and/or Maltodextrin), Citric Acid, Calcium Stearate, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Colors (Red 40 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake, Blue 2 Lake).

Edited May 13, 2012 by Shalmanese (log)

[Beusho]

I don't know if fondant would work, I would want something so that I know how much sugar is going into each tab, I guess if it's well mixed it would be pretty even distribution between tabs. Plus I don't know how portable fondant would be or whether it would get rock hard in the winter if it's in a car or melt in the summer.

All the brands have 4grams per tab unfortunately.

Yep, these tabs are very Smarties-esque. Unfortunately the giant and mega smarties have even less sugar per tab than these

[Shalmanese]

I don't know if fondant would work, I would want something so that I know how much sugar is going into each tab, I guess if it's well mixed it would be pretty even distribution between tabs. Plus I don't know how portable fondant would be or whether it would get rock hard in the winter if it's in a car or melt in the summer.

All the brands have 4grams per tab unfortunately.

Yep, these tabs are very Smarties-esque. Unfortunately the giant and mega smarties have even less sugar per tab than these

You want a tablet that has more sugar but is smaller in size. But these tabs are already 80%+ sugar so, at this point, you're fighting against the laws of physics here.

Have you considered something like a juice box? The 4.23 oz varieties come out at between 12 & 20 grams of sugar, depending on the flavor and they're shelf stable, portable and easy to consume. They're mostly fructose though, not glucose if that's going to be a problem.

Edited May 13, 2012 by Shalmanese (log)

[Mjx]

Plugging in the density of pure glucose, 1.54 g/cm³, at this conversion site – http://www.onlinecon...ume_cooking.htm – you get 22.772 grams glucose/US tablespoon (12 gram/0.527 US tablespoon, and 16 gram/0.703 US tablespoon). This makes for pretty big tablets, especially when you figure you'll need to add a binder/something to keep the tablet at a chewable hardness, but nothing so big as if you were starting with a tablespoon of glucose (I'm guessing your father is not a gobstopper man ). Is the quest for a single tablet because your father gets absent minded? As Shalmanese pointed out, you're kind of fighting physics, here.

if you have a scale that weighs small amounts accurately, pass on the volume measures, since the weight/volume of sugars fluctuates with humidity/clumping)