Eno is an over-the-counter

antacid An antacid is a substance which neutralizes stomach acidity and is used to relieve heartburn, indigestion or an upset stomach. Some antacids have been used in the treatment of constipation and diarrhea. Marketed antacids contain salts of alumi ...

brand produced by

Haleon Haleon plc is a British multinational consumer healthcare company with headquarters in Weybridge, England. It is the largest consumer healthcare business in the world, with brands including Sensodyne toothpaste, Panadol Paracetamol, also kno ...

. Its main ingredients are

sodium carbonate Sodium carbonate, , (also known as washing soda, soda ash and soda crystals) is the inorganic compound with the formula Na2CO3 and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield moderately alkaline solutions ...

Sodium bicarbonate Sodium bicarbonate (IUPAC name: sodium hydrogencarbonate), commonly known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda, is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a salt composed of a sodium cation ( Na+) and a bicarbonate anion ( HCO3−) ...

and

citric acid Citric acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula HOC(CO2H)(CH2CO2H)2. It is a colorless weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, which occurs in t ...

History

Eno was first marketed by

James Crossley Eno James Crossley Eno (1827/28 – 11 May 1915) was a 19th-century British pharmacist known for compounding and selling a brand of fruit salt that is still popular today as an antacid. Biography James Crossley Eno was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, E ...

(1827–1915). Legend has it that his idea for the product arose while he was working at the pharmacy of an infirmary in Newcastle, Britain, with

Dennis Embleton Dennis Embleton MRCS, FRCS, LSA, MD (Pisa) MD FRCP, (1 Oct 1810 – 12 November 1900) was a Newcastle medical doctor and surgeon of the middle and late 19th century. Early life Dennis Embleton was born in Newcastle on 1 October 1810. His fathe ...

; Embleton often prescribed an effervescent drink made by mixing sodium bicarbonate and citric acid in water, and Eno adopted this beverage.W. A. Campbell (June, 1966) James Crossley Eno and the Rise of the Health Salts Trade. University of Newcastle Upon Tyne Medical Gazette 60(3):350 Reprinted as an appendix to W. A. Campbell
The Analytical Chemist In Nineteenth Century English Social History
Thesis presented for the degree of Master of Letters in the University of Durham. Newcastle upon Tyne July 1971 In reality, Eno opened a pharmacy where he made the mixture in 1852, a year before Embleton came to work at the infirmary, and such

fruit salt A fruit salt or fruit salts is an effervescent compound made up of organic acids such as citric acid or tartaric acid and salts such as sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate, or sodium bitartrate in combination with added flavoring and sugar. Hist ...

mixtures were common at the time.

Marketing

Eno gave away his branded mixture to sea captains at the port, and in this way Eno's became a brand known around the world. By 1865 he had to move to a bigger facility, and he formally founded the company Eno's "Fruit Salt" Works in 1868. In 1878 Eno moved the business to

Hatcham Hatcham was a manor and later a chapelry in what is now London, England. It largely corresponds to the area around New Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham. The ancient parish of Deptford straddled the counties of Surrey and Kent and there c ...

where the factory employed 50 people by 1884. Eno was advertised heavily, as all

patent medicine A patent medicine, sometimes called a proprietary medicine, is an over-the-counter (nonprescription) medicine or medicinal preparation that is typically protected and advertised by a trademark and trade name (and sometimes a patent) and claimed ...

s were at that time. In 1883 it was advertised as a cure for

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

and in 1892 for "keeping blood pure and free from disease", prevention of

diarrhea Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin wi ...

, and many other conditions. By 1928 the company had factories in England, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, and the US; that year the company was acquired by International Proprietaries, a company that had been established by Canadian businessman Harold F. Ritchie. International Proprietaries was eventually renamed Eno, and in 1938 the business was bought by Beecham for its products as well as its international marketing force. As the pharmaceutical industry transitioned from selling cure-all patent medicines to selling drugs in the 1950s, Eno was one of a handful of products that were retained in the industry.

References

{{Haleon Antacids Haleon Pharmacy in the United Kingdom Patent medicines