Believe it: Alina Morse, the 11-year-old founder of Zollipops, is making waves.
Morse, a Michigan native, will be featured in the 2017 Wild & Wacky Edition of Ripley’s Believe it or Not, which is designed for children ages 8 to 12. The special edition will be distributed to more than one million schools, libraries and families in North America, Australia and parts of Europe.
“The article says a little about the business and talks about our cause, which is to help prevent tooth decay,” Morse says. “We also give 10 percent of all of our profits for oral health education in schools.”
The sugar-free Zollipops were born in 2014 after Morse was offered a lollipop at the bank and her father, Tom Morse, told her that sugar is bad for teeth.
“I asked him, ‘Why can’t we make a healthy sucker that’s good for my teeth?’” Alina Morse says. “We found out that tooth decay is the single greatest epidemic facing kids in America today. When we found this out we thought this could be our company’s mission.”
Zollipops include xylitol, which is naturally-occurring and a healthy alternative to other sweeteners. It can also aid in the prevention of tooth decay by raising the pH of your mouth and helping teeth remineralize.
After receiving calls and emails from adults who also enjoy Zollipop’s oral health benefits, the Morses decided to create Zollidrops, a stick-less hard candy with the same formula as Zollipops.
“We really wanted this to be more targeted toward adults because after a cup of coffee, you want your mouth to be fresh,” Alina Morse says.
Peppermint-flavored Zollidrops have been added to the original fruit flavors of Strawberry, Grape, Pineapple, Orange, Raspberry and Cherry.
“Candy sometimes gets a bad name,” Tom Morse says. “It’s not always perceived as healthy, and we can help change people’s perception of candy with Zollipops.”
Zollidrops are sold at the same locations as Zollipops, which include Amazon.com and Jet.com.
