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Tang is a sugared, fruit-flavored, uncarbonated soft drink from America. The original orange flavored Tang was formulated by General Foods Corporation in 1957 and first marketed (in powdered form) in 1959. It was initially intended as a breakfast drink, but sales were poor until NASA began using it on Gemini flights in 1965. For a decade it was associated with the U.S. manned spaceflight program by many consumers.
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Overview
The Tang brand is currently owned by Kraft Foods. It is available in more than thirty flavors (some region-specific), and is sold both in powdered form (in sachets and larger canisters) and in a ready to drink sachet. A single 8 oz serving of Tang provides 92 calories, 60 mg of vitamin C (100% RDA), and no caffeine. Kraft also makes a sugar-free version of Tang, containing Aspartame, which comes in individually-measured packets and was introduced in March 1985.
Tang usually comes in a plastic container with a screw-on lid that makes six quarts. A larger nine-quart container (898 grams) is available. Tang is also available in larger institutional sizes.
The recommended usage is two tablespoons per 8 ounces of water. The lid on the plastic container also acts as a measuring cup which may be used to make one or two quart quantities.
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Tang trivia
One recipe for making Tang is to heat it, as one would hot chocolate.
An often heard household tip says Tang is an excellent dishwasher cleaning agent due to its high citric acid content. Although Kraft does not recommend it, they also do not advocate against this use. Their web site says:
"We have heard that some consumers have used TANG Drink Mix to clean their dishwashers. TANG does contain citric acid which can act as cleaning agent. TANG Drink mix is intended to be a food product and Kraft Foods does not advocate its use for any other purpose."
At one time, Canadian authorities attempted to deter addicts from misusing doses of methadone by packaging it in combination with Tang; this was carried out under the reasoning that nobody would be foolish enough to intravenously inject the combination. This was not the case.
On Married with Children, members of the Bundy family in one episode made "Tang sandwiches". And if there was not enough for a sandwich, they would have "Tang wipe" (a slice of bread wiped in the jar to absorb the residual Tang).
In "Deep Space Homer", a 1994 Simpsons episode, Homer calls NASA to ask "how come I can't get no Tang 'round here?!", in which NASA asks "how did you get our number?", where Homer angrily replies "shutup!" He also calls the President at the White House: "Hello, is this President Clinton? Good! I figured if anyone knew where to get some Tang, it'd be you. ...Shut up!"
In "The Hamptons", a 1994 Seinfeld episode, George is upset at the fact that Jerry and Kramer have both seen his girlfriend naked, while he himself hasn't. He angrily yells to Jerry, "It's like I'm Neil Armstrong...I turn around for a sip 'o Tang, and you jump out first!"
On an episode of the 1993 cartoon series 2 Stupid Dogs, the two wander into a spaceship looking for a block of ice cream. Another spaceship has an astronaut and a monkey inside, and the monkey says, "I think you've been drinking too much Tang."
In the movie The Coneheads the two aliens mention Tang being the drink that the astronauts take to the moon, then laugh about humans going to the moon.
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