Halos & Horns toothpaste! How can they say 'no nasties' when it's stuffed with E129?

[crimplene]

DS (along with one in four toddlers) doesn't get on well with food colourings made from coal tar dyes; all the usual suspects tartrazine, carmoisine, ponceau 4R. He turns into an unhappy, hyperactive, violent pta when he has it. I had been wondering why he is sooo hard to settle to sleep a lot of the time and now I know.

The Food Standards Agency has just called for manufacturers to remove these colours from foods because of the effect they have been proven to have on so many young children.

I'm not always very good at checking labels, but I'd assumed that Halos & Horns would be OK as it's got a good reputation, it's marketed for toddlers and it promises 'no nasties' on the packet - that was why I chose the darned stuff.

It's cunningly disguised as 'cl 16035' on the label instead of 'E129' or 'Allura Red' just to make it hard to spot

[Nagapie]

Just googled...

Orange-red colour used in sweets, drinks and condiments, medications and cosmetics, A red synthetic azo dye introduced in the early eighties to replace Amaranth, E123, in the United States of America where E123 is prohibited.

May have slightly less allergy/intolerance reaction by aspirin intolerant people and asthmatics than most of the azo dyes, although those with skin sensitivities should be careful. Allura red has also been connected with cancer in mice.

Not recommended for consumption by children.

Banned in Denmark, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria and Norway.

[MerlinsBeard]

whats wrong woth ordinary toothpaste?

Just checked my sainburys kids one and its got Cl 77891 which as far as i can find on google is titanium dioxide

[MerlinsBeard]

i have a list of the ones that are banned in other countrys Nagapie, its shocking.

[crimplene]

Well the idea of the stuff is that it doesn't contain sodium laureth sulphate (SLS); although I don't know why that's bad. I just chose a toothpaste for toddlers as he tends to swallow the stuff so he's more likely to get a heavier dose of whatever's in it than an adult would and I assumed this would be more carefully formulated with a lower amount of flouride than an adult toothpaste for that reason. Plus the mint flavour of most adult toothpastes is a bit powerful for DS.

[MerlinsBeard]

ah, mine has SLS in it

there was a woman in the boots magazine that had a DC with a SLS allergy so she made her own products...will dig out the mag and see if she mentions toothpaste in her article

[MerlinsBeard]

its here but no toothpaste unfortunatly

[WendyWeber]

This thread has an explanation about SLS (from a dentist)

It sounds as if the ideal children's toothpaste has some fluoride, is sweetened with xylitol not saccharine, and has no SLS or colours - and there aren't any like that out there apparently. Mad.

[WendyWeber]

Green People toothpaste has no colour or SLS but no fluoride either - fluoride is probably the least important thing for you though?

[saveoursouls]

I know this a zombie thread which I'm reviving, after 7 years (!), but I'm a bit desperate for answers and am getting nowhere fast .

Ok, so I am in the "too much fluoride fir kids isn't good, but I appreciate they need a little in irder ti prevent cavities." So low fluoride is good. I'm sure there will be peeps on here who don't use flouride at all, on themselves or their kids and I respect that. But I'd like a little in my kids' toothpaste.

SLS- nasty foaming agent often used in shampoos and such to create lather. Would be better avoided in toothpastes likely to be partly swallowed by very young kids. Doesn't do audits any good either and has been linked to canker sores in the lining of the mouth. So my kids' toothpaste should really not have SLS in it....

Cue to buy Halos & Hirns which has sine fluoride, but no SLS (hard enough to find out there, let me tell you).

Then I read this thread about more crappy ingredients in this toothpaste too. Argh!
Additionally, my kids, like many, don't like mint flavoured pastes neither are they overtly keen on bubble gum or very synthetic strawberry....
I thought I'd struck gold when I found Jason's Apple & Pear toothpaste the other day- finally, I thought, a really appealing flavour for once and no nasties. No flurude either though and my kids have adult teeth coming through now, which I'd like to protect.
Same with Toms of Maine - Orange & Mango! And flurude! Woo hoo! But no, read the ingredients list and it contains...SLS (though rather annoyingly, some of their audit oases don't. Go figure).

Has anyone out there found an SLS free toothpaste for kids, not overloaded with horrible colours etc, with low fluoride and preferably not mint?!

If you have, I'd love to hear from you!

Thank you and happy Christmas

[saveoursouls]

Bump