After a quick review of a few different brands of pop in my house (you may call it “soda” in whatever goofy place YOU are from), it appears that only diet pops contain the following notation on their labels, set off with asterisks:
**** Phenylketonurics: Contains Phenylalanine.**
So?
Is this a warning? Is this good news? Why is it there? It would appear that the Food and Drug Administration is requiring it, because all diet pops seem to have it on their labels.
Phenylketoneurics are people who have a genetic disorder that prevents them from properly digesting the amino acid phenylalanine. It’s quite a serious, though quite rare, disease. Aspartame is pretty much chemically modified amino acid, and one of the breakdown products is phenylalanine. In high concentrations. People who have phenylketoneuria are in real trouble if a large ammount of phenylalanine hits their system at once, as is likely with Aspartame. If memory serves, Cecil covered Nutrasweet in an article, I’m just too lazy to look it up right now.
Just to add to what Jayron said, I think people with PKU have to avoid most regular protien until they are 15 or 20 or something. This means consuming a limited number of amino acids, all through this one bottled fluid. They can drink anything with teensy amounts of protein, like carrots or soda or whatever. So they have to be vigilant. I think the warning is because some foods that contain phenylalanine (spelling apologies) seem like they wouldn’t have any protein, so somebody might just guzzle them without thinking. This could lead to some neurological trouble, IIRC.
The test for PKU is done on all wee little babies before they even leave the hospital. A heel stick to draw a blood sample. As metioned above, not a condition to have to find out about the hard way.
Phenylketonuria (as before mentioned) is a genetic disorder. Undectected, it can lead to severe mental retardation. PKU patients can’t convert phenylalanine to tyrosine, so they must avoid foods containing phenylalanine (which are most high protein foods) as to avoid high phe levels in the blood. Nowadays, most PKU patients are not mentally retarded b/c there is the proper treatment and diet for the disorder. There is controversy whether the diet should be followed until young adulthood or for life, but there is general consensus that women who are pregnant who have PKU must follow the PKU diet as to not harm the developing child. Since phenylalanine is an amino acid PKU patients cannot consume, and aspartame contains phenylalanine…hence the warning on the diet soda cans/bottles.
Yeah it’s also in a few of these energy drinks - I don’t know if you have red bull in the states but it contains taurine & a few other things (including glucose & caffeine) & carries a similar warning. I first heard of it because I read the warning & wondered what it was and headed for my search engine! Got lots of resources too.
Actually, it could be a couple of things, but mostly caffeine. Same with coffee. So if you have an Irish coffee, you get a double dose of diuretic, and will dehyrate unless you follow it up with a rum and Coke.
And a side point, for you ladies who deliver babies in hospitals where the PKU test is done during the first day of life. If you are breast feeding your infant, that first day you will not be giving your baby the specific things that the test will show. Your first milk is much different, and serves a much more important purpose than just nutrition.
The people who passed the law did not bother to find out when the best time to give the test was, only the easiest time to give it to get the highest rate of compliance. Since the kid is most likely to be in the doctor’s presence immediately after birth, that is the most likely time to be able to give the test. But it is not the best time to get accurate results for the test.
If you breast feed your baby, have the test repeated three days later, after your baby has digested a day or two of normal breast milk. That will insure that the Phenyl ketones for which you are testing will be there if your baby has the condition. A negative test on a breast-fed infant done before the third day can be a false indication in a child with Phenylketonuria. The consequences of the syndrome can be the same as starving the child to death by selective nutrient deprivation.
Diuretics are what make you go pee. They cause your body to flush water. Caffine and alcohol are probably the most common diuretics consumed. BTW I just had a beer, and now I have to go to the bathroom.
At my hospital, in the US, the test is given before the baby goes home, not right after birth. Also the test is not administered by the doctor or even in the presence ofthe doctor. The baby is given a heel stick to get blood and the blood is smeared on a test card. The test card is then set to a state laboratory to insure complance. Any false negatives should be picked up at a well baby checkup.