Assessment of the palatability of vehicles for activated charcoal in pediatric volunteers.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the palatability of 4 common flavoring vehicles (water, chocolate milk [CM], orange juice [OJ], and cola) combined with activated charcoal (AC) in pediatric volunteers.


METHODS
A single-blind taste test of 4 different vehicles (water, OJ, a cola drink, and CM) was conducted in healthy volunteer children. Each child tasted 1.25 mL of Charcodote (0.2g/mL) mixed with 1.25 mL of each vehicle.


METHODS
Palatability testing was conducted at the office of 1 of the authors.


METHODS
Thirty children (16 male, 14 female), aged 6.5 +/- 1.4 years (range 5-9 years).


METHODS
After each test dose, each child rated its taste on a modified 10 cm visual analog scale incorporating a facial-hedonic scale. Each child was also asked for his/her overall preference.


RESULTS
Taste scores (cm) were as follows: water 5.6 +/- 1.8, OJ 5.4 +/- 1.0, cola 7.6 +/- 0.7, and CM 5.6 +/- 0.8. There was a significant difference in the taste scores between the cola drink (P = 0.01) and the other 3 vehicles. The cola drink was also selected as the most preferred vehicle by 50% of the children as compared with 19.2% for CM and 15.4% for OJ. In contrast, water was selected as the least preferred vehicle by 36.4% of children versus 31.8% for CM and 27.3% for OJ. Only 4 children (15.4%) stated that water was their preferred vehicle, and only 1 child (4.5%) stated that cola drink was the least preferred drink.


CONCLUSIONS
Children rate the palatability higher and prefer charcoal given with a cola drink rather than with water. OJ and CM do not seem to improve the acceptability of charcoal.
Dagnone
Damon
D
University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. dmatsui@uwo.ca
Matsui
Doreen
D
Rieder
Michael J
MJ
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001628:Beverages; D002099:Cacao; D002606:Charcoal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002957:Citrus; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D014677:Pharmaceutical Vehicles; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013649:Taste; D014867:Water
D014677:Pharmaceutical Vehicles; D014867:Water; D002606:Charcoal