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Oh how I remember as a kid I used to get the old sniffle. My dear old mother would make sure I was comfortable in bed, hot water bottle, a supply on tissues to wipe the running nose.
There was something else too.
A big bottle wrapped in an orange cellophane wrapping. It was apparently good for me, would build my strength back up.
Today sees many different varieties, all different flavours, each one individually telling us all how good it is for us.
I'm talking about Lucozade. Here's how I remember it:
It was almost like a kids Champagne back then in the 1970's - only time it was ever seen, in my street at least, was when someone was ill.
So many to choose from today though and such pretty packaging:
Original, Lemon, Orange and Tropical.
Mmmm, yummilicious.
Thank you Glaxo for making such a wonderful soft drink.
Sadly, Lucozade isn't all it's cracked up to be.
The Independent are running with the story that GlaxoSmithKline have been forced to warn parents that the drinks may cause hyperactivity.
Glaxo aren't the only culprits to mislead.
The makers of Irn Bru, a soft drink popular with the Scottish public, is also said to make children hyperactive.
Irn Bru is made by A.G. Barr plc. For those folk who read this blog that are from overseas, Irn Bru tastes like pink bubblegum... and it's made from girders!
As for Lucozade, well I seem to recall it tasting like normal fizzy pop with aspirin.
Here's what the Independent has to say:
A newly introduced EU law compels both drinks to display a warning that they contain artificial colours linked to behavioural problems in young children.
Manufacturers were asked to remove the colours two years ago by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) following a study which found they worsened the behaviour of young children. Lucozade Original's lurid yellow appearance comes from sunset yellow, or E110, while Irn-Bru's distinctive orange glow comes from sunset yellow and a red colouring, ponceau 4R (E124).
The article continues with:
Both also contain sodium benzoate (E211), a preservative that was found to cause hyperactivity by Southampton University, but which is not covered by the EU rule. Lucozade's owner GlaxoSmithKline warned shoppers about sunset yellow voluntarily, but it and Irn-Bru's maker AG Barr have to state that the additives "may have effects on activity and attention in children".
Glaxo keeping information back with regard to the safety of children?
Surely not?
Déjà vu anyone?
Question: Any child been prescribed an SSRi because they were deemed hyperactive?
Thank goodness the Food Standards Agency [FSA] are on the ball. Can you imagine if Lucozade was deemed to be a medicine and it was left to the MHRA to make a decision?
Ah, I can see it now. MHRA writing to Glaxo to tell them to go and sit in the naughty corner.
As for Irn Bru, I'll let some Scottish blogger have a rant.
GlaxoSmithKline: Do more, feel better and live longer... but struggle along that journey!
Fid
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