Drinking Sunny Delight turns girl yellow

THE MANUFACTURER of one of Britain's best-selling soft drinks, Sunny Delight, admitted yesterday that too much of it could send a child yellow.

The multi-national conglomerate Procter & Gamble was responding to reports from a pediatrician in Wales that a four-year-old he had seen was a "yellowy colour".

Dr Duncan Cameron, from Glan Clywd hospital near Rhyl, had the child brought to him after her hands and face turned bright orange and yellow. She had been drinking 1.5 litres of the drink a day and analysis revealed that her condition was caused by beta carotene, an additive that boosts the drink's orange colour and vitamin A content.

But a spokeswoman for Procter and Gamble said the child had been drinking "too much" and would have suffered the same effects with carrot juice. She said there were no safety risks and people affected returned to a normal colour in a few weeks.

Dr Cameron now intends to warn other doctors, with letters to medical journals.