Sobia asked
What kind of alcohol is used in gripe water or infant gas relief drops? Is it ethanol? And is it produced synthetically or from grapes/sugar?
Answer
Gripe water is one of the most commonly used over the counter products to treat for colic in infants. While 'Gripe Water' at one point was a single, patented product, today, the term 'gripe water' does not refer to a single standardized formula. There are hundreds of products on the market today, and most have a slightly different set of ingredients.
Gripe water was invented in 1851 by a pharmacist named William Woodward. At it's conception in the mid 1800's, 'Gripe Water' contained a relatively high alcohol percentage (as high as 9%), a large amount of sugar as well as various herbs. Today, most, if not all gripe water products contain no alcohol as well as a greatly reduced amount of sugar. There is a great article on the history of gripe water that can be found here.
Most gripe water products today contain no alcohol, low sugar, various herbs and often sodium bicarbonate. The herbs included in gripe water are very common nausea relieving herbs such as ginger and fennel. Sodium bicarbonate is often listed as an inactive ingredient which may play a role in neutralizing stomach acid in infants that suffer from GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease).
Below is the nutrition facts information of the best selling gripe water on Amazon, manufactured by 'Mommy's Bliss':
The ingredients in this product are mostly consistent with the majority of 'gripe water' products in that it contains no alcohol, no sugar, various herbs as well as sodium bicarbonate. Be sure to check the nutrition facts label of the product you plan on buying to ensure there is no alcohol contained in it if you are concerned.
