A Need for Dye Free Medications

[ 7 ] March 7, 2010 | Amanda

Thank you McNeil Corp. You screwed me. I love you for that. Can you feel the love in the form of my cursing your existence and Motrin recall? Your junior strength Motrin in the orange flavor is the ONLY chewable tablet OTC pain reliever I’ve found for my son that does NOT contain red dye. Even the generics use red+yellow dye to make orange. Now due to your massive recall, we’re Motrinless.

Sure you have your dye free liquid, but two things. One, have you seen how thick that liquid is? It makes me gag just looking at it. And second, my kid with Asperger’s and food texture issues DOES gag on the liquid.

Let’s go back to elementary school, shall we? Almost ALL OTC kids’ medicines are red or purple, ie. grape, bubble gum, or some berry flavor. This means there’s RED DYE in ALL of them. Even most of the few that make orange flavored medicines use red dye + yellow dye to make the orange color. I don’t know how those of you who only use the yellow dye do it, but THANK YOU. The ones with yellow dye only are the only things I can use to help relieve any symptoms my son may be experiencing.

This isn’t just limited to OTC medications either. Do you know how difficult it is to get dye free prescription medications – if the pharmacy you’re at can even get them? It’s insane. Our kids do NOT need these dyes. There are natural ways to color products if you feel the color is so very necessary. I’ve seen it. I often shop the organic and international foods sections of my grocery store to avoid these caustic dyes that are allowed into our food that my son cannot have. I’m coming across more and more kids who can’t have red dye, so it’s time companies of consumer products take note: NO MORE ARTIFICIAL DYES IN OUR FOODS AND MEDICATIONS.

Now, this is the portion of my post where I give props (unsponsored, just because I love them) to FlavoRx for being dye free. THANK YOU for someone at your company having the brains to go dye free. There are so many times your flavorings have made medicine taking possible in our household, and much easier.

*Just to make things extra fun for us parents, Tylenol is recalled too. I guess if your child has a fever, you’re screwed right now even if your kid can tolerate products with red dye in them. Unless of course your pharmacy has gotten products that are not on the recall list. Trying to find children’s pain relievers in these parts is like looking for a needle in a haystack right now.

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Comments (7)

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1

Kim @ What's That Smell? says:

March 7, 2010 at 4:42 pm

That totally sucks! Why are they recalling them?

I agree that they should be dye-free to begin with.
Kim @ What’s That Smell?´s last blog ..Vindale Research
2

Brittany says:

March 7, 2010 at 4:56 pm

What a pain in the butt! I agree too they should ALL be dye free!
3

Cat @ 3 Kids and Us says:

March 7, 2010 at 11:22 pm

While I don’t share your same issues I do agree with you 100% about the dyes in medicine, especially the liquid ones. I’m guessing the makers of these medicines have never had a kid spit nasty bright red liquid all over their cream carpet. I’m with you, get the dyes out of medicines!!!!
Cat @ 3 Kids and Us´s last blog ..Big Sister vs Little Sister: The Torture Files
4

Lora says:

March 8, 2010 at 9:15 am

Dye free is nice, but (as you and I have talked about) what about bleach free? we need that in my house. Dye and bleach free I mean. We need everything to be the color of an empty roll of paper towels for everyone to be happy.

Luckily, the (albeit bleached) benedryl negates the bleached dye-free itchy throat reaction of the non dye free… oh, never mind.

It’s an darned mess.

But yes. Dye free Motrin and Tylenol and most other meds? Reminds me of something that I do NOT want to imagine my child swallowing, but I do.
EVERY TIME. I can’t help it. And as soon as I pull it out of the cabinet, my brain tells itself “now Lora, don’t think of ____ this time.” And then I’m all like, “great, now I’m thinking about ____”.

What is wrong with me, seriously?
I need to call my therapist.
Lora´s last blog ..
5

eve says:

March 10, 2010 at 1:21 pm

That is horrible! They really should pay attention to things like this!
eve´s last blog ..To my mother
6

Jenna @ For The Love of Baby says:

March 13, 2010 at 9:57 pm

So true! It is scary to think about all of the products that have dyes in them when many do not realize how these can impact overall.
7

Jane says:

June 8, 2010 at 10:05 pm

You’re right! The use of dyes in children’s medicine is insane! Many of the dyes that are used in drugs and cosmetics are not permitted to be used in foods because they are too dangerous. So it’s okay to give them to a sick baby?!
You might want to look for a “compounding pharmacist” in your area who can create a medicine to your specifications. While you’re at it, please ask him to replace the synthetic flavorings with natural ones. Both the artificial dyes and flavors are primarily petrochemicals and can trigger a wide range of behavior, learning and health problems. See http://www.ADHDdiet.org.