Sodium Benzoate- One Mother's Story

This was sent to me through the Holistic Mom's Network email loop I belong to. Chris granted me permission to share her story, thank you.
"Posted by: mindfulmama2
Mon Oct 20, 2008 1:13 pm (PDT)
I just received my Pure Facts newsletter from the Feingold Association
and that always gets me so riled up about the topic of hidden food
ingredients.

I was reading an article and it reminded me of an experience I wanted to
share. Last year, my family attended a party where they served one of
those flavored waters and sodas for the kids. My son, Garrett, chose
the colored flavored water as a healthier alternative to the soda
although I didn't know he had anything before the chaos started. Within
ten minutes of drinking it he had the worst outburst I can ever
remember. He was 7 at the time and not prone to tantrums. Well he
screamed, and cried and you would have thought some one was trying to
kill him. We tried to quickly get him to the car and on the way there
he let loose of the entire contents of his bladder. He had been out of
diapers for 4 years with no problems. It took us about a half hour
before we could calm him down and I later found out what he had been
drinking. I researched it that evening and found out that the drink
contained yellow dye #5 and sodium benzoate. For my son it was an awful
combination and apparently from my research it is for others. Here is
one article many that I found.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/07/news/companies/sodium_benzoate/index.htm\
?section=money_topstories


I keep talking about this because I hope that in the future these
discussions can help some other families.

Warmly,

Chris"