What is so special about Incrediballs?

Aren't they just like any old effervescent tablet?

Not a sentence I thought I'd ever say, but here we are.

We get lots of questions along these lines:

'Aren’t these just like (insert other drink tablet you’ve heard of)?'

Well, yes and no.

Incrediballs are the only plastic-free, home-compostable drinks in the world, because of the new green technology inside the tablet itself.

And while there are other things that make Incrediballs different (and we’ll talk about them in other articles), it's kinda the whole point that they are plastic-free.

But yes, they are an effervescent tablet. Like a Berocca for example (though they do taste quite a lot different...).

Why other effervescent tablets need plastic

Effervescent tablets work because they contain two types of ingredients:

• An acid (like citric acid or tartaric acid), and

• A base (like sodium bicarbonate).

When you add them to water, they react together (an acid-base reaction), releasing carbon dioxide gas. This is the fizzing you get when you drop them in water (although remember, this is only slight, they aren't fizzy like a can of soda).

The problem is both acids and bases are hygroscopic.
Meaning they love water. They suck it out of the air if they can.

That is a problem because the acid-base reaction can start if there is enough moisture in the air - even without you adding the tablet to water yourself. When that happens, you end up with a sad, sticky, partially reacted tablet that does not work properly anymore.

Not exactly a great customer experience and it tends to make the retailer cross too.

To prevent that, most companies wrap their tablets in heavy-duty plastic. Often inside more plastic.
Maybe inside a plastic tub, wrapped again in a plastic seal. You get the idea.

Enter co-crystal technology

It sounds fancy, but it is actually a simple idea that took a long time for very clever people to perfect.

Instead of blocking out moisture with more and more plastic, we changed the structure of the tablet itself.

Incrediballs use co-crystal technology: the citric acid is combined with nicotinamide (better known as vitamin B3 or niacinamide, if you are on skintok).

Together, they form a more stable, structured crystal. This crystal stabilises the acid, making it much less reactive with the water in the air. They still work exactly as you want them to when you add water - because it's not so stable it doesn't react at all.

But sitting on the shelf in your house, or the supermarket, they just, well, sit there. No plastic needed.

So there you go. An insight into the world of stable balls.

Any questions, let us know.