Winter is here, Fenwick's window is sparking with early Christmas cheer and, of course, many of us are already battling nasty colds.
Lemsip and similar medicinal drink sachets, which contain paracetamol and phenylephrine hydrochloride to relieve the symptoms of coughs and colds, are a popular choice when looking for a remedy for this seasonal misery. But have we been making them wrong all this time?
Concern was caused in Chronicle Live offices when a colleague pointed out the key instruction on Lemsip's packaging.
The drinks must be made with hot, but not boiling, water.
Had we been doing it incorrectly by pouring the liquid direct from the kettle?
Would we, perhaps, be ruining the medical efficacy of the drugs inside with our scalding water?
A quick check online revealed this is a common worry.
In response to a query about the reason for the instruction, one helpful commenter on The Student Room said: "You can't use boiling water because it does something to the chemicals in the drugs and they don't work."
On Yahoo Answers, one person suggested it "must be destroying something" and another ventured "probably because it will destroy the goodness of the lemsip (by boiling it away)."
We looked into this, and it turns out the answer is a bit simpler than that - it's to stop you burning yourself.
Lemsip's FAQs section says: "Lemsip packaging includes directions for hot water due to potential risk of scalding when using boiling water to mix with the contents of the sachets. This is because Lemsip sachet contents are effervescent and the volume of water may increase rapidly, leading to possible spillage of the product."
Importantly, it adds: "Efficacy is not altered by adding boiling water to the sachet's contents."
So boiling water won't destroy the drugs in your lemsip - but it could hurt your hands, and is probably best avoided anyway.
Customers are also warned against mixing the power with cold water, probably largely because that would be horrible, but also because it "may result in abnormal mixing of ingredients".
And a scan of the Lemsip FAQs also revealed something which might come as a shock to some flu-ridden animal lovers.
Surprisingly enough, some Lemsip products aren't suitable for vegetarians.
If you've chosen a meat-free diet, you'll have to stay away from: Lemsip Max Cold and Flu Capsules, Lemsip Max Sinus Capsules, Lemsip Max All in One Capsules, Lemsip Cough Max for Mucus Cough and Cold Capsules.
Luckily you can still enjoy brand's popular warming drink sachets.
Just don't make them with boiling water.
