Free sugar concentration and pH of paediatric medicines in Brazil.

Objective: This study aimed to determine free sugar concentration and pH of paediatric syrup medicines. Setting Ten paediatric syrup medicines most frequently prescribed in urban centres in Brazil were randomly chosen to be tested.
Outcome Measures: Three different bottles from each type of syrup medicine were analysed (n = 30). Analysis of free sugars was performed using normal phase High-Performance Liquid Cromatography (HPLC). Quantification of free sugars was achieved by peak height comparison with standards of sucrose, fructose, glucose and sorbitol (Merck). The results were average of replicates from three bottles of each medicine. The pH of the three different bottles of each medicine was determined using a digital pHmeter (Analion - PM 600).
Results: Sucrose and glucose were detected in seven of the ten types of paediatric syrup medicines, with concentrations varying from 3.7 to 49.4% (w/w) (Median 32.7%) and 2.1 to 23.2% (w/w) (Median = 6.1%), respectively. Only two medicines contained fructose, and three, sorbitol, with respective medians of 12.8% (3.1-22.4%) and 24.6% (22.8-27.4%). The median of pH values was 4.9 (2.6-6.1).
Conclusions: Most paediatric syrup medicines showed high concentration of free sugars and pH below the critical value (5.5), which can increase their cariogenic and erosive potentials.