Horlicks could be about to disclose the 130-year-old secret behind why the popular malt drink helps people to sleep, it was reported today.

The product has been promoted as a bedtime essential for decades without a definitive explanation for how it works.

However, a relaunch of the brand later this year is expected to include the first scientific evidence behind the claim, according to trade magazine Marketing.

Horlicks has been advertised with a sleep message since the 1920s, with a campaign in 1931 promoting it as a cure for "night starvation."

But maker GlaxoSmithKline has so far been unable to explain the science behind the claim.

Friday August 15, 2003