In thinking the E numbers in Calpol are bad and should be removed ?

[loumum3]

Hi

Having googled the E numbers that are in Calpol I am disgusted to see that some are not recommended for babies/children and some are actually banned in other countries. I can't understand why this junk is allowed on the shelves, surely our children deserve better ?

Totally agree with this, it drives me nuts. espcially as DD is intolerant to azo dyes, benzoate preservatives & artificial sweetners.......... so she ends up with either diarea, or a nasty skin rash every time she is ill & needs medicine......I would say allergic, as she has quite bad reactions to them, but as they are toxins, its hardly an allergy is is

I did learn on her last illness, that needed antibiotics, that you can if careful mix your own, our Chemist mixes her up a special bottle without the preservative. but he was away, & the stand in didn't know how.......so we ended up with low doze adult capsules, which I had to open & mix with something to make them palatable......I went with honey, which DD reckoned was great.........I've done the same with paracetomol & ibrubrofen under guidance from our chemist,

not ideal, as I think any of us would worry about giving an over dose accidently, but I'm used to it now, & it saves the side effects of the additives,......in an ideal world, the damned manufactures would wise up & stop putting this sort of toxic junk in stuff for kids

My son is on 15ml of Epilim liquid a day for epilepsy. It is sugar free (sorbitol) but full of E numbers and is bright red. WHY??? He could be on this stuff for decades so why not make it better for their bodies.

We avoid calpol because the colouring sends DS1 loopy. We use disprol instead as its relatively colourfree.

Amoxicillin with the yellow colouring sends him loopy too - but have found several chemists that stock an alternative coloured version now which is a huge relief.

Its strange because hardly anything sugar/colouring affects him - apart from skittles (!) and these two medicines! I have no idea why medicine needs to look coloured and why they have to put it in?

YANBU

Another point, many parents dish out the additve free stuff, then to mask the taste, give the chld something sweet!!

Amoxicillin with the yellow colouring sends him loopy too

Read my post above it may not be the colouring as DS has that reaction to antibiotic tablets.

sorry the top line should be in quotes

Can anyone recommend a E number free suspension for infants? I'm a new mum, and although my baby hasn't had any side effects from Calpol seeing how many E numbers in it is rather off putting.

Does your chemist do an own brand version? I never looked specifically for E numbers but both my kids loathed the taste of "pink" flavoured medicine like Calpol. The chemist's version was slightly lemony (and was greyish, so probably no E number colours).

I have colour free calpol which I assume has no E numbers. I've thrown the box away and can't check. It's sold next to the normal calpol in tesco

This really pisses me off.

Asked gp whether I could give ds paracetamol and what dosage should be (he was about 20 months I think). He said there is no way babies /toddlers can be given paracetamol, only Calpol is ok. Which makes it even worse because it's the only option and SO full of crap. (I told gp I wasn't keen to stuff my child full of sugar and nasties, his response was 'buy the sugar free version' - yeah great, aspartame is SO much better. Same gp when I begged him to treat me for excruciatingly painful thrush in my milk ducts refused and said 'why can't you just give him formula?')

We have even worse probs now because ds (now 2.9) HATES the colour and smell and taste of calpol. He refuses point blank to ever take any, which is bloody scary when his temp shoots up to 41 degrees. It's much more difficult to disguise in drinks and food because of the distinctive 'nice' taste and smell. I had to stop putting it in drinks because in the end he was refusing all drinks out of suspicion, and getting dehydrated :-( I seriously wish there was an alternative.

Also whatever they put in the bloody stuff strips paints off walls (have several Jackson pollock style "splatters" where ds has evaded it in the most dramatic fashion)...

The solution to this is suppositories. Most children in Europe take paracetamol in suppository form.

Asked gp whether I could give ds paracetamol and what dosage should be (he was about 20 months I think). He said there is no way babies /toddlers can be given paracetamol, only Calpol is ok

Wtf? Calpol is paracetamol.

I know this is a zombie thread but you can get non brand paracetamol from any pharmacy.

A E number does not make something harmful, it is merely a refernece to the fact it has been listed as a food additive.

How about a nice orange with some E300 in it, before you all hit the roof and get upset about oranged being messed with. E300 is vitamine C (Ascorbic acid).

Would someone like to say which of the food additives in Calpol is so harmful,

I have a bottle in front of me, it has in it

Maltitol (a sugar)
E420 AKA Sorbitol (a sugar)
E214 ethyl para-hydroxybenzoate
E216 propyl p-hydroxybenzoate
E218 methyl p-hydroxybenzoate
E122 carmoisine which to me looks like a non carcinogenic azo dye

The p-hydroxybenzoates are there to keep the product safe, they are to stop microbes growing in it. From what I recall they are non toxic to humans.

Calpol is much, much weaker than adult paracetamol, that why you can't substitute it- it would be too easy to give a child an overdose. I should know, I once stole my DCs calpol in desperation when I had a cold. It did bugger all for my great big adult body

Ha! zombie thread...wondered where all those posters had popped up from! In my head MN is still in 2010!

Im guessing sugar free and sorbitol free liquid paracetamol takes yukky, and DC won't want to take, it hence the magic pink formula.

My DC don't react to it, take it, and can keep it down (unlike ibuprofen) so while I'd rather a crap free version was available, I'll full accept a poorly DC is less likely to want to take it. Choice seems to be the answer.

Calpol isn't weaker as such, than adult paracetamol, 20mls of the six plus is an adult dose or 41 mls of the pink stuff, yuk'

Presumably the previous poster meant paracetamol you'd give to an adult when asking the GP. Which is a higher concentration than the 120mg/ml paracetamol in calpol or own brand suspension.

Not all E numbers are bad, some are just normal ingredients given an E number to make them recognisable.

yes the sugar free, colour free one does have E numbers in, 3 of them are preservatives otherwise the calpol would have naff all shelf life

41 mls?

Afaik E122 is banned in a number of countries.
I am not massively bothered about a small number of additives in a child who eats a normal diet. Flavourings and preservatives serve a purpose though, I see no purpose whatsoever in making it bright pink.

I do have a massive problem in there not being uncoloured versions of medicines for newborn babies. All the messages we get about weaning and not exposing them to allergens too early. And yet it's ok to feed tiny babies azo dyes for no good reason?

DD can't have Calpol as it makes her very hyper, especially the sugar free version. Nurafen worked better for her, but to be honest we were lucky and she was hardly ever I'll

Zombie or not...

The colouring is so the stuff does not look like water or normal drink. It is part of the 'medicine' look. Many health professionals use colour as a differentiator.

And E numbers aren't necessarily 'nasties'. Many are essential.

Most children only take calpol very occasionally. So I don't think it's worth worrying about in most cases because as others have pointed out if it tasted vile then kids would refuse to take it so there wouldn't be much point. But if you feel strongly have it made up specially without additives