# Calpol - behind the label



## flubdub

I thought a few of us may be interested in thus? 

https://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/behind_the_label/346400/behind_the_label_calpol.html

About half way down where it says "Other Ingredients" is what shocked me; using a suspected Carcinogen that is banned in other major countries :wacko: 



> Calpol of course doesn't just contain paracetamol. It is a veritable cocktail of sweeteners, flavourings, preservatives and colourants to make the product appealing and palatable to infants. These additives include strawberry 'flavouring' and carmoisine (E122- suspected carcinogen, banned in Austria, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the US) to produce its pink colour.
> It also contains, Maltitol (a mild laxative), glycerol (E422 - large quantities can cause headaches, thirst and nausea), sorbitol (E420 - large quantities can cause stomach upset), the paraben preservatives methyl parahydroxybenzoate (E218 - suspected hormone disrupter and allergen), propyl parahydroxybenzoate (E216 - suspected hormone disrupter and allergen), ethyl parahydroxybenzoate (E214 - suspected hormone disrupter, banned in France and Australia), and a thickener xanthan gum (E415 - no known adverse effects).


----------



## mummyclo

OH GOD! Thats my calpol in the bin....even though ive used it once :(


----------



## flubdub

^ I thought that too. I hate sweeteners and avoid them like the plague but didn't realise I had been giving them to my baby :(


----------



## cabaretmum2b

Wow.
Well no more Calpol for Scarlett!


----------



## SBB

Why do they have to fill everything with crap? Seems like we can't trust anything without researching it :(

X x x


----------



## flubdub

I'm wondering about Medinol now, that the drs give out instead of calpol.


----------



## pinkie77

flubdub said:


> I'm wondering about Medinol now, that the drs give out instead of calpol.

Isn't medinol colourless though? The 6+ is anyway, that's the only one I've used for quite a while lol. So although there's probably loads of other suspect ingrediants, it's unlikely to have carmoisine in it!


----------



## pupsicle

Sorry, but I don't think a couple of spoons of calpol every now and then is going to harm LO...


----------



## mummyclo

:rolleyes:


----------



## Jetters

there's always one! 

Well, I choose to keep my baby's belly free of colourings and sweetners as much as I can, when it can be avoided- and in this case it can. Paracetamol absolutely does not need those things in it... hence why other brands don't use them.


----------



## Rachel_C

pupsicle said:


> Sorry, but I don't think a couple of spoons of calpol every now and then is going to harm LO...

Neither's giving your LO a few spoons of sugar, or coke, or a crushed up spider.


----------



## flubdub

Rachel_C said:


> pupsicle said:
> 
> 
> Sorry, but I don't think a couple of spoons of calpol every now and then is going to harm LO...
> 
> Neither's giving your LO a few spoons of sugar, or coke, *or a crushed up spider.*Click to expand...

:rofl: So random! :haha:


----------



## Eala

Some colourings are made from crushed up insects, which I'm guessing is where Rachel was coming from? Is it carmine or something? I remember it being red, anyway, it's in a lot of lipsticks (or it was, may have been banned by now).


----------



## flubdub

It is in many pink/red food dyes still. I think Smarties are the only big brand sweets that still use it? Although it may have changed now. Supermarkets still use it I think, like pink icing on donuts etc. I think it is the eggs of the bug that they crush into a red powder. Bleuch!!!


----------



## Kate&Lucas

Eek, I'm normally pretty easy-going about stuff like this but yikes.
I never use Calpol anyway, once in a blue moon if that but I was going to get some because his teeth have been ragging! :(
It's full of shite but it works. Are they all pretty much the same?


----------



## kawaiigirl

OMG!!! I am speechless......

There's me thinking I was a vegetarian all these years but secretly I've been eating mushed up bugs/baby bugs!!!!!


----------



## Jetters

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: have you been on the calpol kawaiigirl!??


@kate no I think it's just calpol cos lots of 'own brand' paracetamol is colourless x


----------



## Kate&Lucas

kawaiigirl said:


> OMG!!! I am speechless......
> 
> There's me thinking I was a vegetarian all these years but secretly I've been eating mushed up bugs/baby bugs!!!!!

Eek! I once lived with a girl who wouldn't eat red M&Ms because they contained cochineal and she was vegetarian.

Ta Jetters! I'll stick to own brands :thumbup:


----------



## mommy43

hormone disrupters:shocked: 
i dont give lo calpol anymore anyway mainly because of what it does to my cloth but also if it does that to cloth whats it doing inside!! 
she dosent need to have it theres alternatives so why not use them they are cheaper anyway
how do we know it never did any harm?? you give your lo calpol for a temperature n the following upset tummy was maybe caused by the calpol how do we know not a risk i will be taking thanks


----------



## mummyclo

:rofl: I love a bit of crushed up beetle on my lips! :D


----------



## SBB

kawaiigirl said:


> OMG!!! I am speechless......
> 
> There's me thinking I was a vegetarian all these years but secretly I've been eating mushed up bugs/baby bugs!!!!!

Me too!!! Can I still say I'm a life long vegetarian or is it a lie?!! :rofl:

x x x


----------



## flubdub

SBB said:


> kawaiigirl said:
> 
> 
> OMG!!! I am speechless......
> 
> There's me thinking I was a vegetarian all these years but secretly I've been eating mushed up bugs/baby bugs!!!!!
> 
> Me too!!! Can I still say I'm a life long vegetarian or is it a lie?!! :rofl:
> 
> x x xClick to expand...

Me three!!! :rofl:


----------



## kawaiigirl

Luckily I dont eat M&Ms but I'm sure I have had donuts with pink icing!! Ahhhhh, lol!


----------



## c.m.c

kawaiigirl said:


> Luckily I dont eat M&Ms but I'm sure I have had donuts with pink icing!! Ahhhhh, lol!

hope u havent had percy pigs from M+S:haha:


----------



## SBB

M&S now put PORK gelatine on the label so it's hard to pretend the pigs don't contain actual pigs!!! 

X x x


----------



## kawaiigirl

c.m.c said:


> kawaiigirl said:
> 
> 
> Luckily I dont eat M&Ms but I'm sure I have had donuts with pink icing!! Ahhhhh, lol!
> 
> hope u havent had percy pigs from M+S:haha:Click to expand...

YUK!! They are vile :growlmad:


----------



## c.m.c

kawaiigirl said:


> c.m.c said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> kawaiigirl said:
> 
> 
> Luckily I dont eat M&Ms but I'm sure I have had donuts with pink icing!! Ahhhhh, lol!
> 
> hope u havent had percy pigs from M+S:haha:Click to expand...
> 
> YUK!! They are vile :growlmad:Click to expand...

i know- even i hate them and i would never eat jelly or anything like gelatine- says me who eats her steak on the rare side:haha: i am a big free range organic head though- every meat i eat is either irish, british, organic or free range!!!! or else its come from my daddies farm:dohh:poor thimgs have had a name!!!!


----------



## kawaiigirl

c.m.c said:


> kawaiigirl said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> c.m.c said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> kawaiigirl said:
> 
> 
> Luckily I dont eat M&Ms but I'm sure I have had donuts with pink icing!! Ahhhhh, lol!
> 
> hope u havent had percy pigs from M+S:haha:Click to expand...
> 
> YUK!! They are vile :growlmad:Click to expand...
> 
> i know- even i hate them and i would never eat jelly or anything like gelatine- says me who eats her steak on the rare side:haha: i am a big free range organic head though- every meat i eat is either irish, british, organic or free range!!!! or else its come from my daddies farm:dohh:poor thimgs have had a name!!!!Click to expand...

At least your daddy has loved them once.....


----------



## Avalanche

Wait, calpol is bad because it has man made additives, but now doughnuts and ice cream are bad because they have the most natural additives you can get- crushed bugs.

You can't win :lol:


----------



## Rachel_C

^I'd say it's additives that are bad whatever they're made of really. Not that that will stop me tucking into doughnuts or ice cream :lol:

I wasn't actually thinking of cochineal but it started a good little OT bit so I'll pretend that's what I meant :D


----------



## Eala

Cochineal! Thank you! I knew it began with a c... Just me being too lazy to google :blush: :haha:


----------



## bubbles123

I've heard this about Calpol before. TBH LO has only had Calpol once in his life. I tend to avoid anything labelled 'natural flavorings' or 'strawberry flavour' anyway as I have no idea what it is and I have to be so careful it doesn't flare up his eczema. Thankfully he's very rarely ill so I never have to use it much.


----------



## Pikkle

Can I just ask, on behalf of a vegetarian friend (who hates calpol, but has used it in the past) is it suitable for vegetarians? Just told her I had read this, and now she is concerned!


----------



## lynnikins

id tell your friend to use own brand paracetamol or get something from her pharmasist


----------



## Pikkle

So it just goes for calpol, not other brands? She doesn't really use it anyway, but obviously would if she needed.

I need an alternative, I use shop bought anyway rather than calpol because its cheaper lol, but I didn't actually know all of this about calpol. I always try not to use it, and I tried to cool DD down once, and she got really really hot, so I gave her some (which she spat out) and then she had a fit. Was awful, and I am so scared it will happen again :-( Need to keep something in, just incase, but I don't know whats best now. Medinol??


----------



## flubdub

I would use Medinol tbh and will be using that in the future. I don't know about the veggie thing, I have never thought to check! :dohh: but I would have thought that if it doesn't have the little "Suitable for vegetarians" leaf on it, it probably isn't. I'm going to have a google :)


----------



## fluffpuffin

my own brand asda paracetamol suspension only contains 3 added ingredients other than paracetamol. it's the best I could find in terms of added ingredients. it doesn't contain any of the harmful substances mentioned i the original post that calpol contains.

ETA: I'm speaking about the sachets. the bottles contain other ingredients too, preservatives etc.


----------

