Most parents are completely against giving their children alcohol, but may be unknowingly serving them herbal medicines with higher concentrations of alcohol than beer or wine.
From herbal medicine products such as cough syrup with thyme extract to food supplements, a lot of so-called healthy remedies, of which many are also given to children, contain alcohol, the Superior Health Council (HGR) warned on Thursday, adding that it is often not clear how much alcohol consumers ingest when using these "medicines."
"In the absence of further information from manufacturers, based on the data we have collected at this stage, we can only estimate that a child or adolescent taking this type of substance, in whatever form, may ingest significant doses of alcohol, up to several grams per week," the HGR noted.
Alcohol (more specifically ethanol) is used in the composition of these medicines that are aimed at making children healthier, either as an adjuvant – to extract the active ingredient from the plants in question, for example – or as a solvent or preservative, but in some cases, it is added without a valid reason.
Outside the law
There are certain remedies on the market with alcohol percentages surpassing gin or vodka, however, according to the packaging, they are not prohibited for children. Ingesting such high amounts of alcohol on a regular basis can affect the normal development of vital organs and functions, leading to increased health risks.
The HGR denounced the fact that only alcoholic "beverages" must clearly indicate their alcohol content above a certain threshold. It also recognised that some medicines expose children to a dose of alcohol in a "strictly controlled manner" when it is essential for their treatment and the risk-benefit balance is clearly in their favour.
"However, many 'natural' drugs that may contain ethanol are not subject to the same assessment or framework for use," it said, adding that how much alcohol they actually contain cannot be deduced from the label.
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The experts called for a solid risk-benefit analysis of herbal medicine products to show whether the products, despite containing harmful alcohol, provide benefits for children.
It also recommended that manufacturers selling products in Belgium justify that alcohol is absolutely essential for the preparation and for them to document the ethanol content and accurately calculate how much alcohol a consumer takes in according to the recommended dosage for their age.
