Call to ban colourings in children’s medicine

Food colourings linked to hyperactivity — including some which are present in Calpol — should be banned from children’s medicines, according to a charity based in Britain.

Action on Additives said 19 children’s medicines contain colourings that were linked to hyperactivity in a Southampton University study published in 2007.

The Food Standards Agency called for a voluntary ban on sunset yellow (E110), quinoline yellow (E104), carmoisine (E122), allura red (E129), tartrazine (E102), and ponceau 4R (E124) from food and drinks in 2008 after the study.

Medicines are subject to different regulations which allow the additives to be included. The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has previously said the medicines are intended to be taken infrequently, and therefore consumption of the additives is likely to be low.

Quinoline yellow, sunset yellow, carmoisine, and ponceau 4R are in 19 children’s medicines, including Calpol.

Lizzie Vann-Thrasher, Action on Additives co-ordinator said: “Manufacturers of children’s medicines should follow the example of the food and drinks industry and remove these colourings from children’s medicines.”

Johnson & Johnson, which owns the Calpol brand, said it & “takes medicine safety very seriously and regularly reviews all evidence on the safety of ingredients in its medicines. To date, no evidence has been provided to suggest additives such as carmoisine (E122) or sunset yellow (E110) are associated with hyperactivity when present in children’s medicines”.