Altoids

The Eckerd (drug store) by my job has them on sale. A pack of two for $2.99. They're normally $3.48 or something. Not a huge savings, but this doesn't bode well for my attempt to wean myself off my recent mint addiction.
My plan was to limit my purchases to a two-pack every two days. I consume both packs in the course of a work day, so the in between days would have me calming my mint jones with Canada Mints. They're much less intense than Altoids, and they're a bit sweet, but I love the texture and the way they melt in my mouth. They're also much cheaper at 99 cents a bag and actually contains peppermint oil, though probably not as much as Peppermint Altoids.
The other two Altoid mint flavors don't mention mint leaves or oils in their ingredients. Just "natural flavor". Most mints, I notice, seem to list "natural flavor" rather than name the mint whose flavor is indicated on the packaging; Peppermint, Spearmint, Wintergreen. Is Wintergreen an actual mint, or just a made up flavor? And what is "natural flavor"? In any case, I buy the Peppermint flavor.
I'm not sure exactly when my mint addiction started. Maybe about a month or so ago when a morning cough had me buying Hall's Spearmint cough drops on the way to work. It wasn't the first time I've had them, but somehow I was hooked.
I was also using Arm & Hammer whitening toothpaste and perhaps the problem started there as I enjoyed it a great deal more than usual as dental care goes. Something about that baking soda/mint combination. That would date the start of this situation more than a couple of months back. Anyway, shortly after that particular cough drop purchase I would occasionally find myself brushing my teeth twice in the same session. Then I was buying more cough drops, sometimes Hall's, sometimes another brand to experiment.
At some point I moved from cough drops to mints, but I don't remember the transition happening. Three weeks ago they were on sale and I was buying them almost daily. Once the price went back up I slowed it down a bit for the sake of economic sanity.
Speaking of sanity, there are some who question mine, for a variety of reasons usually, but in this case over my consumption of six Altoid mints at a time. Over the course of a day I'll vary the amount sometimes to extend the life of a tin. Also, should I have to speak while I have a bunch of these mints in my mouth, I end up burning my eyes, which isn't a very pleasant sensation.
Another issue I have is with the gelatin found in these and other mints. Gelatin is apparently a beef by product. I don't eat beef or pork, but I'm not a fanatic about it, however seeing that Altoids are made in Great Britain, and that the U.K. isn't known for having the best cows within it's borders at the moment (mad cow), I'm just a teensy bit concerned.
So Altoids are on sale and tomorrow I may buy two 2-packs, to try and hold me over the weekend.
At some point I expect to bring myself down to a once a week habit, but we'll see.
Things like this are why I don't do drugs (yet), or rarely drink.