Does This TicTac Taste Odd?

There is a recipe for every confection that enters your mouth. Of course there is. You wouldn't expect a firm to manufacture a sweet by letting the employees throw whatever they liked into the bin and mix up their own concoction.

Unless you're snacking on tic tacs from Cork.

A couple of workers at the Cork plant decided to try something new when they were making a batch of the tiny breath mints. Didn't ask permission, didn't run it by the corner office, just changed the recipe that came from candy headquarters in Italy.

As you'd expect, the pair were promptly sacked.

Declan Cotter and Lisa Ryan-O'Connor said they were just trying to keep up with demand and they didn't change the recipe with any bad intentions. Besides, if the equipment was working properly, the incident never would have happened and it's not as if their actions resulted in a massive, and expensive, recall.

The Employment Appeals Tribunal heard their excuse and found merit. It was Italian candy maker Ferrero (of Ferrero Rocher pyramid fame) that was to blame for unfairly dismissing the pair, who had been working at the plant for several years. The head of the union representing Mr. Cotter and Ms. Ryan-O'Connor called the action petty, and let's not forget that Ferrero is making a mint (hah!) off the backs of those poor working slaves.

The former candy makers are now in receipt of several thousand euro by way of compensation, but they won't be getting their jobs back.

There's just something about food production that cries for consistency, and it does not boost confidence in Irish food manufacturing if a couple of employees could change something for any reason, whether it's to keep up production speed or not notify someone higher up about a malfunctioning bit of equipment.

So if that tic tac tastes a bit off? The people who made it are doing their best but demand is high for those little nuggets of flavored sugar. Maybe if you wouldn't buy so many of them?