Far too sweet for my liking. (Cow & Gate Pear & Peach Concentrated 4mth+)

Member Name: SamPerry

Product:	Cow & Gate Pear & Peach Concentrated 4mth+
Date:	30/03/09 (118 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tastes nice

Disadvantages: Too sweet, bad for my sons teeth.

I have always wanted to try and avoid giving my son juice to drink, as I figured that if he was happy enough drinking water then he doesn't need to drink juice. But when my son turned about 10 months he became quite fussy with drinking water and would only drink a small sip here and there. This in turn led to him becoming constipated as he wasn't drinking enough fluids, so the poor little love was in real pain with it sometimes.

So I decided to bite the bullet and get some baby juice to try him with, in the hope that he would then start to drink some more fluids. I bought some cow and gate baby balance concentrated juice in my local Lloyds pharmacy, it was on special offer and cost me just 50p for a 175ml bottle.

The bottle itself is a small, glass jar and has the usual cow and gate logo on the front of the label. It states on the label that it is suitable from 4 months upwards. On the back it advises that a diluted 125ml is the equivalent to 40% of baby's daily vitamin c requirements, no added sugar, made from best baby grade fruits and that it has been tested by Mums and babies.

It also states that it contains no artificial flavourings, colourings or preservatives, no added sugar, added vitamin c, no added milk or lactose, is gluten free and suitable for vegetarians.

The fruit juice is quite thick, considering it is for babies and it says on the bottle that you should serve one part concentrate with ten parts water. I accidentally put too much in the first time I used it and when I tasted it it was far too sweet, so I had to make some more. You really only need a small amount of juice for it to sweeten the water. I have a Tommee Tippee water cup and it actually has the measurements on the side that advise how much juice to put in and how much water, which I find very helpful.

Needless to say, my son loved this juice and definitely started to drink more liquid when I introduced this to him. But which baby wouldn't like the taste of something so sweet?! I tasted this myself and found it very, very sweet indeed, but it did taset very nice and fruity and i could efinately tastethe pear and peaches it contained. However, I was very surprised to find that there are no added sugars and the there is only the natural sweetness of the fruit in the juice.

There is an important information section on the back that advises you that these baby drinks contain naturally occurring sugars and that the consumption of sugars can increase the risk of tooth decay. To prevent this from happening it advises you to always follow instructions, never give at bedtimes or during the night, never leave infants alone with a drink and that you should serve only at meal times and keep drinking times short.

This warning worried me, as my feelings were that if the put a warning like that on the bottle then there must be reason for it, as the drink is so very sweet? Therefore although my son did enjoy this drink I decided that once the bottle I had purchased was gone that I would then switch to normal adult dilute, sugar free juice, as this will be better for my sons growing teeth, I don't want them to all start falling out before he has got them all!!

Summary: I wont buy this again for fear of my son's teeth rotting!