Taste test - Children rate flavoring agents used with activated charcoal

Objective: To compare flavoring agents added to activated charcoal (AC) to determine which mixture is most palatable to children. Design: Healthy volunteers between the ages of 3 and 17 years participated in a prospective masked trial. Five identical pitchers were prepared contai ning AC alone, AC with chocolate milk, AC with Coca-Cola (Coca-Cola Corp, A tlanta, Ga), AC with cherry-flavored syrup, and AC with sorbitol. Subjects tasted all S substances in random order. Children younger than 8 years rate d taste on a 10-point Faces Scale. Children 8 years and older used a 100-po int visual analog scale to rate taste and, separately, ease of swallowing. All children were asked which mixture was best. Ratings were compared using 1-way analysis of variance, and comparisons for all pairs were made using the Tukey test. P < .05 was considered significant. Results: Mean age among the 53 children enrolled was 8.3 years; 23 children were younger than 8 years. Girls made up 52% of the group. Taste scores fo r chocolate milk, Coca-Cola, and cherry-flavored syrup were significantly b etter than those for no flavoring agent. The scores for ease of swallowing for Coca-Cola, chocolate milk, and cherry-flavored syrup were significantly better than those for either no flavoring agent or sorbitol. When asked to choose a single best flavoring agent, 39% chose chocolate milk, 23% picked Coca-Cola, and 23% chose cherry-flavored syrup. Conclusion: The addition of chocolate milk, Coca-Cola, or cherry-flavored s yrup to AC improves palatability for children and is favored over no flavor ing agent or sorbitol.