Top Pharma-Brand of Children’s Vitamins
Contains Aspartame, GMOs, & Other Hazardous
Chemicals
Posted By Expanded Consciousness on March 10, 2014
The #1 Children’s Vitamin Brand in the US contains ingredients that most parents would never
intentionally expose their children to, so why aren’t more opting for healthier alternatives?
Kids vitamins are supposed to be healthy, right? Well then, what’s going on with Flintstones
Vitamins, which proudly claims to be “Pediatricians’ #1 Choice”? Produced by the global
pharmaceutical corporation Bayer, this wildly successful brand features a shocking list of unhealthy
ingredients, including:








Aspartame
Cupric Oxide
Coal tar artificial coloring agents (FD&C Blue #2, Red #40, Yellow #6)
Zinc Oxide
Sorbitol
Ferrous Fumarate
Hydrogenated Oil (Soybean)
GMO Corn starch
On Bayer Health Science’s Flintstones product page designed for healthcare professionals they
lead into the product description with the following tidbit of information:
82% of kids aren’t eating all of their veggies1. Without enough vegetables, kids may not be getting
all of the nutrients they need.
The implication? That Flintstones vitamins somehow fill this nutritional void. But let’s look a little
closer at some of these presumably healthy ingredients….
ASPARTAME
Aspartame is a synthetic combination of the amino acids aspartic acid and l-phenylalanine, and is
known to convert into highly toxic methanol and formaldehyde in the body. Aspartame has been
linked to over 40 adverse health effects in the biomedical literature, and has been shown to exhibit
both neurotoxicity and carcinogenicity [1] What business does a chemical like this have doing in a
children’s vitamin, especially when non-toxic, non-synthetic non-nutritive sweeteners like stevia
already exist?
CUPRIC OXIDE
Next, let’s look closer at Cupric Oxide, 2mg of which is included in each serving of Flinstone’s
Complete chewable vitamins as a presumably ‘nutritional’ source of ‘copper,’ supplying “100% of
the Daily Value (Ages 4+), according to Flintstones Vitamins Web site’s Nutritional Info.[2]
But what is Cupric Oxide? A nutrient or a chemical?
According to the European Union’s Dangerous Substance Directive, one of the main EU laws
concerning chemical safety, Cupric Oxide is listed as a Hazardous substance, classified as
both “Harmful (XN)” and “Dangerous for the environment” (N). Consider that it has industrial
applications as a pigment in ceramics, and as a chemical in the production of rayon fabric and dry
cell batteries. In may be technically correct to call it a mineral, but should it be listed as a nutrient
in a children’s vitamin? We think not.
COAL TAR ARTIFICIAL COLORING AGENTS
A well-known side effect of using synthetic dyes is attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. For
direct access to study abstracts on this topic view our Food Coloring research page. There is also
indication that the neurotoxicity of artificial food coloring agents increase when combined with
aspartame,[3] making the combination of ingredients in Flintstones even more concerning.
ZINC OXIDE
Each serving of Flinstones Complete Chewable vitamins contain 12 mg of zinc oxide, which the
manufacturer claims delivers 75% of the Daily Value to children 2 & 3 years of age. Widely used
as a sun protection factor (SPF) in sunscreens, The EU’s Dangerous Substance Directive classifies
it as an environmental Hazard, “Dangerous for the environment (N).” How it can be dangerous to
the environment, but not for humans ingesting it, escapes me. One thing is for sure, if one is to
ingest supplemental zinc, or market it for use by children, it makes much more sense using a form
that is organically bound (i.e. ‘chelated’) to an amino acid like glycine, as it will be more
bioavailable and less toxic.
SORBITOL
Sorbitol is a synthetic sugar substitute which is classified as a sugar alcohol. It can be argued that it has no
place in the human diet, much less in a child's. The ingestion of higher amounts have been linked to
gastrointestinal disturbances from abdominal pain to more serious conditions such as irritable bowel
syndrome.[4]
FERROUS FUMARATE
The one clear warning on the Flinstone's Web site concerns this chemical. While it is impossible to die
from consuming iron from food, e.g. spinach, ferrous fumarate is an industrial mineral and not found in
nature as food. In fact, ferrous fumarate is so toxic that accidental overdose of products containing this form
is "a leading cause of fatal poisoning in children under 6." The manufacturer further warns:
Keep this product out of reach of children. In case of accidental overdose, call a doctor or poison control
center immediately.
HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL
Finding hydrogenated oil in anything marketed to children is absolutely unacceptable. These semi-synthetic
fatty acids incorporate into our tissues and have been linked to over a dozen adverse health effects, from
coronary artery disease to cancer, violent behavior to fatty liver disease.[5]
GMO CORN STARCH
While it can be argued that the amount of GMO corn starch in this product is negligible, even irrelevant, we
disagree. It is important to hold accountable brands that refuse to label their products honestly, especially
when they contain ingredients that have been produced through genetic modification. The 'vitamin C' listed
as ascorbic acid in Flintstones is likely also produced from GMO corn. Let's remember that Bayer's Agbiotech division, Bayer CropScience, poured $381,600 of cash into defeating the proposition 37 GMO
labeling bill in California. Parents have a right to protect their children against the well-known dangers of
genetically modified foods and the agrichemicals that contaminate them, don't they? GMO corn starch is
GMO, plain and simple. We'd appreciate it if Bayer would label their "vitamins" accordingly.
In summary, Bayer's Flintstone's vitamin brand is far from a natural product, and the consumer should be
aware of the unintended, adverse health effects that may occur as a result of using it.