Still, you'll buy lots of lozenges before you come close to the cost of a zinc mining operation. The medical establishment hasn't yet confirmed the value of zinc in killing cold germs. Medicine is like an oil tanker - it takes a long time to turn it from its established course. It even tells in which medical journal to look up the research results. Too many facts can spoil things.
Zinc lozenges do have their downside.
Expense is one. But more onerous is the fact that zinc makes things taste funny. Suck on a zinc lozenge and suddenly ordinary bottled water tastes like pickle brine, and keeps on tasting that way for hours. Good rare Angus steak tastes like a mouthful of steel wool. If I take a zinc lozenge at bedtime, in the morning my mouth tastes like I've sucked on a 9-volt battery all night.