This afternoon we went out for lunch with an old friend with the two boys in tow… We all ordered drinks and as both boys had been really well behaved, I thought it would be a lovely treat to give them a glass of Lemonade each.

We never drink any Soft Drinks, so I really thought it would be an interesting experiment to see how they would both react to it. I very naively thought a simple glass of lemonade would be harmless, after-all as sensitive as I was to foods as a child, even I never reacted to a simple glass of lemonade.

We ordered two glasses of Sprite and watched on as Max (aka mr allergy), skulled his immediately… whereas Theo was not interested in his at all and only had a small mouth full.

Seems innocent enough right?….

Well, within 15-20 min we had to leave the restaurant. The well-behaved, well-mannered child who initially entered the restaurant had become wild, loud, hyperactive and violent. His eyes were completely glazed over and he looked as though he was in a drugged out stupor.

Due to the fact that we never consume Soft drinks I have never really looked into their ingredients and therefore possible risks of intolerance for kids. Needless to say I have now looked into why this drink resulted in such a fast and wild reaction in Max…

Sprite ingredients (taken from the Coca-cola website) Carbonated water, Sugar, citric acid, acidity regulator (E331), natural lemon and lime flavourings, preservative (E211). Caffeine free.

So the big one here folks is the inclusion of Preservative (E211), or Sodium Benzoate.

This preservative has definite links to hyperactivity in children as well as Asthma, and is found in foods such as Soft drinks, fruit juices and foods that contain fruit such as puddings and cake mixes.

Unbelievably this preservative and many others within this category are currently undergoing a phaseout in the UK and have been labeled with an alert for consumers.

The European union has stated that these preservatives “‘may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children”

This is wonderful news for the consumers of the United Kingdom and Europe, however when supermarket chain Aldi announced they were cutting these preservatives from their products in June 2009, after six artificial colours (tartrazine (102), quinoline yellow (104), sunset yellow (110), carmoisine (122), ponceau 4R (124) and allura red (129)) raised alarm after a medical study linked them to more boisterous behaviour and a loss of concentration in some children, Australia’s food watchdog responded by insisting “there is no need for a ban because the colours are not consumed in high levels or found in everyday foods.” 

Never have I seen a more appropriate use for the Aussie saying…

… WAKE UP AUSTRALIA! 

If you are looking for a safer alternative to lemonade like Sprite, according to the Food Intolerance Network, 7UP, some Schweppes products and non-diet Coca-Cola don’t use or need this preservative. Even though the Coca Cola company use this preservative in some soft drinks including Sprite, Fanta and Oasis, and not in others, the company has stated that it only plans to remove E211 from their products “As soon as a satisfactory alternative is discovered”

So in the mean time here’s my option for the best possible alternative to commercially made lemonade….

Homemade Lemonade 

250g of sugar

225g of water

4 lemons

2 oranges or limes

1.5ltrs of water

1. Place the sugar in a saucepan with the water and slowly bring to boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar.

2. Boil for 2 minutes and let cool

3. Juice the fruit and top up with most of the cold water sugar syrup.

4. Add water to taste and add more sugar syrup if you need extra sweetness.

5. Pour into a jug with ice… easy as that!

Megan Georgoulas

Filed under: children's health, nutrition, Uncategorized Tagged: asthma, children's behaviour, Coca-Cola, E211, Food intolerance, homemade lemonade, Hyperactivity, Preservatives, Sodium Benzoate, Sprite