Hello parents. As a child therapist, my primary goal is to support the well-being of your children. Often, this extends beyond emotional health and into the everyday choices we make for them. Today, I need to talk about a critical, overlooked danger hiding in plain sight on our supermarket shelves: mislabeled Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) drinks.
When a child is sick with diarrhea, our first instinct is to reach for an ORS to rehydrate them. But what if the drink you’re giving them is not medicine, but a high-sugar beverage that could actually make their condition worse?
This is precisely the issue that was bravely brought to light by Dr. Siva Ranjani Santosh. She discovered that many popular drinks were being mislabeled and marketed as “ORS” despite containing sugar levels far exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended formula.
Why is this so dangerous?
True, WHO-prescribed ORS is a life-saving medicine. It’s a precise formula of salts and a small amount of sugar designed to help a dehydrated body absorb water and electrolytes during an illness like diarrhea.
A high-sugar drink, however, does the opposite. When a child has diarrhea, a sugary beverage can pull water out of the body and into the intestine, worsening the diarrhea and leading to more severe dehydration. You think you are giving your child medicine, but you may be making them sicker.
The System Failed, So Parents Must Be Vigilant
After a long legal battle, these fake ORS drinks were ordered off the market. However, in a deeply concerning move, companies were permitted to sell their remaining stock. This means that, right now, these dangerous, mislabeled drinks are still out there.
As the system has prioritized profit over your child’s health, the responsibility now falls on us as parents. We must become diligent label-readers.
In one of my recent videos, I show you exactly how to tell a real ORS from a fake one. The packaging is often designed to be misleading, with similar colours and pictures of fruit.
Here is what you must look for:
- The WHO Stamp: A genuine, medicinal ORS will clearly state it is based on the “WHO Recommended” formula. The fakes will have a disclaimer in small print, often in English, stating it is “Not a WHO recommended ORS”.
- The Ingredient Label: This is the clearest sign. A real ORS is a medicine; its ingredient panel will list salts (like sodium, potassium, and chloride). A fake ORS is just a drink; its label will show nutritional facts like “Energy,” “Sugar,” and “Carbs”.
- The Contradiction: Shockingly, many of these fake drinks even carry a warning in fine print: “Do not take if you have diarrhea”—the very condition you are trying to treat!
Your child’s health is not worth the risk. Please, the next time you buy an ORS, take the extra 10 seconds to read the label. Be the protector your child needs.
Want to see the difference for yourself?
Watch these two short videos where I break down the problem and show you a side-by-side comparison of a real vs. a fake ORS:
- Protect Your Child! Because The Court Failed To: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rUhJcZkmzIQ
- I Bought fake ORS! (How to Spot One): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hDkEJDzjh_I