Japanese Salt Candies and Tablets to Prevent Heat Stroke

Here in Niigata, Japan, the weather outside is scorching hot and the temperature is climbing, so when I went out shopping today, in a supermarket I bought salt candies to prevent heatstroke. 

As I wrote in this article, salt candy, or “Shio Ame (塩飴)”, has been a summertime favorite of us Japanese for a long time.

The Japanese hard candy contains a little amount of salt, and from the treat, you can replenish salts lost by sweating.

When I was small, there was only plain Shio Ame, but today Japanese salt candy has evolved into various forms and is available in many varieties, including what I bought this time.

Lotte Koume Salt Candy and Kabaya Salt Charge Tablet

The products I got today are the ones shown in the picture above, “Koume Salt Candy” from Lotte and “Salt Charge Tablet” from Kabaya.

Unlike the classic Shio Ame I used to eat as a kid, in addition to sodium chloride, they both contain potassium and citric acid to replace minerals lost in sweat.

Flavors

Since the Kabaya Salt Charge Tablet has a sports drink flavor, while the Lotte Koume Salt Hard Candy comes in Ume and lemon flavors, these treats are all very easy to eat and delicious.

Containing only a minimal amount of salt, they are a little salty, rather, the faint saltiness helps accentuate the sweetness of the candies.

Ingredients and Nutrition Facts

Lastly, here are the ingredients and nutrition facts labels of Kabaya Salt Charge Tablet and Lotte Koume Salt Candy.

Based on these lists, the Kabaya’s salt candy tablet has 10.3 kcal per piece (2.8 grams) and contains 0.108 g salt equivalents, 15.5 mg potassium, and 155 mg citric acid equivalents.

On the other hand, the Koume hard candies have 11 kcal per piece (3.1 grams) and contain 0.12/0.13 (Ume/Lemon) g salt equivalents, 13 mg potassium, 1.2 mg vitamin C, and 82 mg citric acid.