to not know what's wrong with Fruit Shoots?

[asouthwoldmummy]

I should point out that DS doesn't have them.

But most MNers seem to be against fruit shoots and I don't actually know what's wrong with them.

Am I right in assuming that's it's because they contain aspartame or is there more to it than that?

[MegBusset]

Mine have them once or twice a week at soft play/park/wherever, can't say I've noticed any adverse effects. They get mainly water and milk at home. I don't think the odd one is likely to kill them and I don't really worry about what the MN hivemind thinks.

[Olifin]

They do smell of cat wee, don't they? At least the 'blackcurrant' one does.

They send my DCs bananas so I don't buy them. They might have one with a pub lunch and also sometimes have them at my ILs (who, like other poster's ILs, believe them to be healthy because they have the word 'fruit' on the bottle and do not contain sugar).

[cheekyseamonkey]

They should be called 'Fruit Style Shoots'; that is all.

[A1980]

They taste like shit that's what is wrong with them.

[prettyfly1]

or fruit flavoured chemical infusions. My son goes MENTAL on them. Truly MENTAL.

[moogalicious]

They taste like undiluted squash. The double strength kind.

And they make my dd go bananas, within minutes of drinking one. Her behaviour becomes appalling and uncontrollable - she is 8. No effects on my other 2 dc's though.

They are the only thing that's banned in my house.

[Seona1973]

Neither of my lo's have had adverse reactions to them. If I do buy them I tend to get the H2O ones as they contain less crap and are mostly water

[TattyDevine]

Here is my view on them.

If they have fruit in them, I dont see why they shouldn't have fruit in the title. Chocolate buttons dont have a lot of cocoa solids in them but they are still called chocolate. Corn flakes do not contain exclusively corn but they are called corn flakes. As long as they are a fruit based drink that contains some actual fruit juice, and adhere to food labelling laws, I dont really care.

I dont get hysterical about Aspartame. There is no evidence that it is dangerous to adults or children. Until the food standards agency, department of health, general medical council, World Health Organisation, etc etc advises that it is dangerous, I will be relaxed about certain additives in moderation. This does not mean I'd have them daily or even weekly. But it also means I wouldn't dive across the room screaming "noooooo" in slow motion to avoid one of my little darlings imbibing this foul poisin.

To be fair to Robinsons, they do not market their products at preschoolers or babies. If you write to them complaining about the dreadful list of ingredients and ask them if they think it is appropriate for children to be consuming these products, you get a very curt reply saying that they are not marketed for that age group and that its your job to choose what they do and do not consume. Which is quite right really. Having said that, a lot of restaurants and pubs and various places provide them as a "child friendly" drink and that is probably because of the non-spill sports lid and dinky size and popularity in general with children.

They taste foul, there is no doubt about that. Like squash that hasn't been watered down nearly enough.

In their favour - kids like them (dont know why) they are hard to spill, dont have as many calories as fruit juice or sugar containing drinks (which is relevant enough if you think of the childhood obesity issues) and affordable.

When I have kids coming over and I get drinks in, I tend to buy the Tropicana kids bottles which are watered down apple juice which are a similar price (I think), have all the other attributes regarding packaging etc but are a bit healthier and I think count towards one of your 5 a day.

[Unrulysun]

The reason I like eating shit is that I got used to sugar and salt and chocolate being a 'treat' when I was a kid. The reason I don't eat loads of shit is that actually most of what I was given was made from fruit and vegetables and flour and (probably too much) meat.

It seems to me that one of the best things I can do for dd is to make sure that as little shit as possible gets into her before she's old enough to make up her own mind to scoff an entire tub of Ben and Jerry's cookie dough ice cream in one sitting.

[ilovehens]

Aspartame is absolutely vile and has an effect upon the brain that hasn't been properly researched. I feel sick and dizzy if I ever have it.

[Mumcentreplus]

I feel an effect with sweeteners in general..get a headache if I have those sugar-free polos...I can just taste the nasty..thats why i say have sugar in mod rather than sweetener...something aint right

[Mumcentreplus]

Aspartame is a friggin poison how the hell can that be a sweetener???

[Bonniebabyajs]

My dc don't have them simply cos they go hyper and trantrumy after a half hr of having them. I prefer real sugar to fake stuff. Or just pure juice from the carton I sometimes fill fs bottles that friends have left behind with real juices so dc don't feel left out.