I don't know howto burn a tic-tac but Ihave had students do a lab to
show that the heat value of food is pretty high.
The food is walnuts and I make a pad with aluminum foil under the set up
and bend a large paper clip to make a base and a point the sticks into the
piece of walnut. This is placed under a 250 ml beaker with a measured amount
of water and a thermometer.
It can be lit with a match. It does produce some soot and an interesting
odor but it burns for quite a while and the water does warm up.
the usual suggestions apply... weigh the sample, read a package of walnuts
for the nutrition claims, etc.
Most students are amazed that it burns at all.
In one of the Ring of Truth videos Phil Morison burns jelly doughnuts
to show the calories consumed by Tour de France bicycle riders.
Jim Braunsdorf