Vinegar-laced lollipops aim to cure the hiccups
Sport & Fitness
A 13-year-old entrepreneur has launched Hiccupops, a new lollipop designed to cure the hiccups.
Much like the common cold, hiccups are one of those mundane annoyances for which a cure has long proved elusive. That, however, may be about to change thanks to Hiccupops, a new innovation from 13-year-old entrepreneur Mallory Kievman, who is now gearing up to bring her product to market.
Kievman came up with her invention in her family’s Connecticut kitchen by combining her three favorite curative ingredients: lollipops, apple cider vinegar and sugar, according to a report in the New York Times. “It triggers a set of nerves in your throat and mouth that are responsible for the hiccup reflex arc,” Kievman says. “It basically over-stimulates those nerves and cancels out the message to hiccup.” After winning multiple prizes at the Connecticut Invention Convention for kids, Kievman now has a patent on her innovation as well as a team of MBA student consultants from the University of Connecticut’s Innovation Accelerator program working to help develop her idea further.
Besides everyday use by consumers, Kievman reportedly aims to explore a medical niche for Hiccupops targeting chemotherapy patients, for whom hiccups are a common side effect. She is currently working to find a manufacturer and distributors for her product – one to get involved in?
19th June 2012