A Lot of Inactive Ingredients

[TromboneAl]

I happened to look at the list of inactive ingredients in the Safeway generic ibuprofen:

Carnauba wax, corn starch, fumed silica gel, hypromellose, lactose, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, polydextrose, polyethylene glycol, red iron oxide, sodium starch glycolate, stearic acid, titanium dioxide.

I'm not concerned about the ingredients, I'm just surprised that so many different compounds are needed to make the pill stay together, dissolve in your system, and look red.

 

[REWahoo]

This thread needs to be added to the "What'll I do all day?" FAQs...

 

[TromboneAl]

It's what happens when you don't have any cereal boxes to read at the breakfast table.

 

[Sarah in SC]

T-Al, you are the master of the mundane!

 

[Webzter]

According to the Bureau of Made-up Things to Worry About.... two of those things are carcinogenic, one causes male-pattern baldness, three cause an increase in appetite, one will turn your tongue red, and five are habit-forming.

 

[GregLee]

... so many different compounds are needed to make the pill stay together, dissolve in your system, and look red.

The pills also have to come out of the pill molds -- I'll guess that lubrication is what the corn starch is for.

 

[haha]

The pills also have to come out of the pill molds -- I'll guess that lubrication is what the corn starch is for.

Yeah baby!

 

[MikeD]

One of the ingredients of my extra strength Tylenol caplets is shellac, which is made from dead insects. Yum!