So, unsurprising news from the Food Standards Agency this week about a link between additives in children’s food & hyperactivity. They looked at
The colours – Sunset yellow (E110), Quinoline yellow (E104), Carmoisine (E122), Allura red (E129), Tartrazine (E102) Ponceau 4R (E124), and Sodium benzonate (E211)
…certain mixes of these artificial food colours together with the preservative sodium benzoate
According to BBC News
A Food Standards Agency (FSA) study of 300 random children found they behaved impulsively and lost concentration after a drink containing additives.
Raise your hand anyone who thinks this is groundbreaking information… anyone? anyone? Bueller? hmmm…
Journey to Crunchville has a good post on this, along with a couple of links to her other articles on food dye sensitivities.
But this all got me thinking, babypixie eats mostly breastmilk, along with various slowly-introduced fruit & veg. No citrus, soy, gluten for her until she’s one (also there’ll be no meat, dairy, eggs at all obviously). We’re being careful due to a family history of allergies, but I hadn’t thought until now about the one manufactured product she does get occasionally, medicine.
We no longer give her Calpol, it makes her hyper, and not the good happy-go-lucky type of hyper, an unpleasant kind of hyper. We switched to Nurofen for children once she was about 8 months old, she only gets it occasionally if her homeopathic teething remedy isn’t doing the trick.
Anyways, I went poking around the internet, and very quickly stumbled across this…
The UK’s Times Online has a story from March titled Banned additives in children’s medicines which discussed research carried out by the Food Commission, who are highlighting the possibility of allergic reactions to common OTC medications.
Young children and babies are routinely being given medicines containing artificial dyes, sweeteners and preservatives that are banned from food and drink for the under 3s.
All of these are added to make the medicine more palatable, apparently…
Use of the additives was defended by the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which said that sweeteners and bright colours helped children to take medicine. It said that rules were less strict than on food and drink because medicines were not consumed every day.
This is a worrying statement, because many parents do give medicines to their babies frequently especially during periods of teething. Is MHRA saying there is some secret maximum amount per week that is safe to take?
The article also lists a fairly long list of medicines found to contain at least one substance which is banned for use with under-3’s.
I would definitely go and have a read of the full report on the Food Commission’s website, they discuss their findings…
Colouring additives are banned from foods and drinks for children aged under thirty six months of age …the most contentious colourings are the azo dyes, which we found in products such as Calpol paracetamol…
Sweeteners are banned from foods and drinks for children aged under 36 months … sorbitol, maltitol and xylitol can have a laxative effect at high doses…
Preservatives in infant medicines which are not allowed in foods and drinks for children aged under 36 months. Benzoate preservatives (E210 through to E219) were the most common.
So here are the ingredients on three medicines we have in our cabinet.
Note: I added in the E numbers on most of them (any of the red ones), the companies seem to randomly display certain E numbers and just use the words for other additives. Not very helpful to the customer.
Nurofen for Children (3+ months): Ibuprofen and Maltitol Syrup (E965), Purified Water, Glycerin, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Saccharin (E954), Orange Flavour, Xanthan Gum, Polysorbate 80, Domiphen Bromide.
Calpol Sugar-free (2+months): Paracetemol and Maltitol (E965), sorbitol (E420), glycerol (E422), cellulose, ethyl parahydroxybenzoate (E214), methyl parahydroxybenzoate (E218 ), propyl parahydroxybenzoate (E216), colouring (E122)
Teedex: Paracetemol and Propylene Glycol, Glycerol, Sorbitol (E420), Maltitol Liquid (E965), Parahydroxybenzoates (E214, E216, E218), Amaranth Red (E123)
Straight away, the Teedex is going in the bin, I don’t know how it slipped by our checks, I can’t believe I just typed E123 there… Wikipedia will explain
since 1976 it has been banned in the United States by FDA as it is a suspected carcinogen.
Mending Mumma has an article I hate E Numbers which lists a bunch of them and their side effects… it makes for good, if not scary reading!
Once again, I’m frustrated by industry’s lack of regard for our babies.
I called into our local pharmacy to see if it is possible to buy a teething painkiller (because sometimes you do need it) without colouring or flavouring because babypixie hates the taste of them. It seems that it isn’t possible.
Then we had the following conversation…
Pharmacist: If she doesn’t like the medicine, put it in her bottle
Me: She doesn’t have a bottle, she’s breastfed
Her: Oh… put it in her yogurt then
Me: <<smacks pharmacist over the head>> why would I be feeding my 10 month old dairy, why?? She doesn’t eat yogurt, bye, thanks for your help you annoying assuming grumble grumble
Once again… So frustrating……
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Oh yikes! I constantly hunt for the dye-free meds for all three of my kids. My big boy (aged 8 ) reacts STRONGLY to dye and many other things in processed foods. My daughter (aged 5) reacts slightly to them. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find any tiny infant pain meds that don’t have dye! When he gets a bit bigger, there are dye-free options. It’s just so dadgummed (yes, I speak with a Southern twang, sometimes, too) irritating! What am I supposed to do with the baby when his teeth are making him scream and try to bite my nipples off?
thanks for posting this.
Luckily Defne didn’t like Calpol.I tasted it: terrible. On the package it says “with strawberry flavour”. Even my baby who has never eaten strawberries didn’t believe it ; ) But I have to check the other medicine I gave. Though, all her blisters are dry now and she has recovered,since yesterday I’m not giving her any medicine.
I can’t believe that they put all those chemicals which can harm people in the medicines!
and your pharmacist is totally nuts!
As for teething, we aren’t using any teething medicine any more, since we have bought the necklace.I will write about it next week. Have a nice weekend!
Pixie,
you won’t believe it!
I checked the other medicine now, namely Orbifen. On the package there’s a list of ingredients and it’s written that “see enclosed leaflet for a full list of ingredients ” Ok. I check the leaflet and it no info about ingredients and on the bottom there is a sentence saying
“This leaflet does not contain the complete information about your medicine.”
Now what does this mean exactly?
that is mad Isil! did you get an amber teething necklace, I have one ordered for babypixie!
yes,it’s an amber necklace. It’s lovely and I think it works.
Like the site! Thanks for stopping by eco chick Ms Pixie!!! I will add you to my list!
~Kim
Is it not just the most scary and ridiculous thing ever? I always insist on the Calpol WITH sugar (as opposed to with sweeteners) and people look at me like I’m mad! But even then, it has 5 E-numbers in it! It doesn’t make any sense to me and the more I learn about it the less I understand why it’s all happening.
[...] reading Half-Pint Pixie’s blog on Bad Medicine, I looked at my bottle of Calpol and found that it had 5 E numbers added – I had no idea! They [...]
[...] of publicity surrounding additives in children’s food in the UK, and I went sleuthing around reading medicine bottles and learning lots about [...]
Hi,
I have done the same reserach and found out very similar alarming information.
This is what our found in medicines for our children to bring temperature down.
Calpol, Calprofen (neurofen) in the UK:
Sucrose (table sugar)
E420
E218
E110
E965
E219
E217
I looked in the E numbers index online and it showed:
E219
Sodium methyl 4-hydroxybenzoate is a Preservative
Not recommended to be consumed by children. Also see E210.
The Hyperactive Childrens Support Group belive that a link exists between this additive and hyperactive behavioural disorders in children.
Not permitted for use in France or Australia.
E217
Sodium propyl 4-hydroxybenzoate is a Preservative
Not recommended for consumption by children. Also see E210
Not permitted for use in France or Australia.
E420 – Sorbitol
Group: Emulsifiers & Stabilisers
Description:
artificial sweetener and humectants; derived from glucose, either obtained from berries or synthesised; used in lollies, dried fruit, pastries, confectionary, low calorie foods, pharmaceutical syrups and ophthalmic preparations and is the seventh most widely used preservative in cosmetics; not permitted in foods for infants and young children, can cause gastric disturbance
Animal origin: No
Warning:
Not permitted in foods for infants and young children, can cause gastric disturbance
E110
Sunset yellow colouring
E965
Maltitol is a sugar alcohol (a polyol) used as a sugar substitute. It has 75-90% of the sweetness of sucrose (table sugar) and nearly identical properties, except for browning. It is used to replace table sugar because it has fewer calories, does not promote tooth decay and has a somewhat lesser effect on blood glucose (caution diabetics). Unfortunately, maltitol is well known to cause gastric distress[citation needed], particularly if consumed in great quantities. Chemically, maltitol is also known as 4-O-α-glucopyranosyl-D-sorbitol. Commercially, it is known under trade names such as Maltisorb and Maltisweet.
I always knew that there are E numbers in medicine but I did not know that those in Calpol and Calprofen are not recommended for children. I need to dig deeper into this once I get some proper sleep and can concentrate more. Surely the pharmaceuticals would not produce it if it was not recommended? Would they? I might be getting this wrong but it sounds alarming to me!
I don’t give Jessie Calpol but gave her Calprofen as it works fast and she needed quick reduction in her fever but I buy her MEDINOL PAEDIATRIC which consists only of PARACETAMOL and is sugar free, colour free, animal fats or alcohol free, it’s cheaper than Calpol or Calprofen and tastes better too. Why should Jessie use orange flavour Calpol with E numbers in it if she doesn’t even like the orange flavour. I however need a little bit more reassuring that the Medinol Paediatric is as good as it sounds as it tastes sweet too and to those who ever had the “pleasure” of tasting paracetamol should know that it does not taste sweet at all!!!
Please give a little thought on what you give to your children when they are ill. Ask any good pharmacist for MEDINOL PAEDIATRIC if you are in the UK.
Take care,
Stana
PS: As I said, I am tired (looking after a child with 40 degrees C fever with great lack of sleep) of the time of writing this, so I might as well be wrong about what’s recommended and what’s not so any clarification would be mostly appreciated.
I meanwhile stick to the E numbers free medicines!
And don’t even get me started on the cough medicine!!!
Hi,
Interested in your comments because I’ve been trying to research “Medinol”. My local Chemist said “It’s as good as it gets” compared to Calpol. However, alongside Paracetamol it “also contains Parabens (E217 & E219). I am confused why certain nations would choose to ban these and not others? I have been told that the lower the E number the lower the effect, but feel that this must purely by a number allocation system. Can anyone suggest where to find information on how E numbers are dished out?
My son has had a lactose intolerance, so reacts to most medicines. We narrowed the main problem down to an orange flavour / colour after he was clearly sick as a result of Pencillin suspended in it. What am I supposed to do if he has fever and is in pain?
After eight years of no true solution, I appreciate any guidance given.
Thank you.