How to read an NDC
The number under the barcode identifies the company, the product and the pack size.
A reference built from the FDA listing
What is actually in the thing you are about to suck on
Every cough drop, throat lozenge, nicotine lozenge, pastille and medicated gum in the FDA National Drug Code Directory, compared on the active ingredient and the strength rather than on the packaging. 1,260 products, 52 active ingredients, 157 companies.
1,260
products listed
52
active ingredients
438
brand names
157
labellers
1,183
with a Drug Facts panel on file
The ten ingredients that account for nearly everything
| Active ingredient | Products | Strength on the market | Labellers | Forms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicotine | 646 | 2 to 4 mg | 65 | Chewing gum, Lozenge |
| Menthol | 461 | 0.69 to 20 mg | 85 | Lozenge, Pastille |
| Pectin | 52 | 1.7 to 7 mg | 17 | Lozenge |
| Benzocaine | 36 | 6 to 15 mg | 23 | Lozenge |
| Menthol, Unspecified Form | 35 | 2.5 to 7.6 mg | 17 | Lozenge |
| Levomenthol | 19 | 2.7 to 20 mg | 3 | Lozenge |
| Dextromethorphan Hydrobromide | 16 | 5 to 10 mg | 12 | Lozenge |
| Zinc Gluconate | 11 | 13.3 mg | 6 | Lozenge |
| Helianthemum Nummularium Flower | 10 | - | 3 | Lozenge, Pastille |
| Impatiens Glandulifera Flower | 10 | - | 3 | Lozenge, Pastille |
FDA National Drug Code Directory, retrieved 4 September 2026, openFDA data last updated 2 September 2026. All 52 ingredients.
Why they are all the same strength
Nobody at FDA approved your cough drops individually. They are sold under a monograph, which is a standing rule book for the whole category, and it contains sentences like this one.
(iii) For products containing menthol identified in § 341.14(b)(2) in a lozenge. The product contains 5 to 10 milligrams menthol. Adults and children 2 to under 12 years of age: Allow lozenge to dissolve slowly in the mouth. May be repeated every hour as needed or as directed by a doctor. Children under 2 years of age: Consult a doctor.21 CFR 341.74(d)(2)(iii)
That is the entire reason a menthol cough drop is the size it is. The menthol page counts how many listed products sit inside that range and how many do not, and the monograph page explains what happens to the ones that do not.
By what the label claims
Read from each product's own Uses statement. This site does not decide what a lozenge is for.
Stated use
This is a reference, not a shop and not a clinic. Every product here exists because a row exists in the FDA listing, including 3 prescription products and 76 bulk listings that nobody can buy. All of them are flagged. Nothing on this site recommends a product for a condition, and the question of what you should take belongs with a pharmacist.
Brands
438 brand names against 157 companies. The largest first.
nicotine182
Who files the listings
Worth understanding
What an OTC monograph drug is
Nobody approved your cough drops. Here is the system that replaces approval.
Same drug, different price
52 companies list a lozenge with an identical active ingredient statement.
Active and inactive ingredients
One list is regulated to the milligram. The other is everything you can taste.
Sugar and sugar-free
In a hard lozenge the sweetener is most of the mass, so this is not a detail.
Reading a Drug Facts panel
Every line on it is there because a rule requires it.
Built from the FDA National Drug Code Directory and FDA drug labels via openFDA, retrieved 4 September 2026, and from 21 CFR 341 as published in the 2025 annual edition of the Code of Federal Regulations. Every dataset, its limits and what was left out are set out on the methodology page.