Disgusted!

So have you seen these new Coke Cola soda machines that are popping up in all of the fast food establishments.   Our newest one is the Wendy's here in Salina.  It's been a few months maybe a year...I don't keep track because we don't go there often.  We should they support a wonderful organization.  The Dave Thomas Foundation...it's an organization to support families with foster children and adoptions.  That is way off topic however...one of the big reasons we don't go there is the soda fountains.  They are the only drink service available and all of the drinks are dispensed though the same tap.  Including this lovely green beverage.   It's Dasani lime flavored water.  I was a freaked out enough when I got the drink that I ended up not drinking any and going back for some iced tea.   They do have fresh brewed iced tea so there was an option that didn't go through the soda machine.  The regular water was even dispensed through the soda machine however.   This poses significant problems for my family.
   My daughter has a red dye allergy.  Any contact with red dye sends her to the bathroom usually to spend the next 20-45 minutes with severe stomach upset, cramps, bloating, gas, and you guessed it diarrhea.  If we are lucky I can get it to stop there with a couple of Benadryl and she sleeps it off...if not she then starts throwing up and that's when I have to get out the big guns...Epi-pens are not our friends, but they do save lives.   This reaction isn't the one that people hear about so often...they hear about the mouth swelling and the tongue itching.   Well the reality is this is the same thing it just take my daughter's body a little while longer to register an allergic reaction than most...and this is pretty typical of someone who has an allergy that is progressing to anaphlaxis.  The same thing is happening to her...it's just further down in her body.
  This brings me back to the soda machine...if all of the drinks go through the same tap than all of the colors and dyes pass through that same tap.  All of them leave trace amounts behind...gross.  May not be a big deal for you and your family but it's huge for mine. Even that little trace amount can make Catie sick.  I was so grossed out by this water this evening that I didn't even drink it and it made me wonder did Dasani color the water to appeal to more people or was it a machine feature.  I wonder of they were just concerned that we "dumb" consumers wouldn't be able to tell which one was lime if they weren't neon colors.  For the record I have never seen a bottle of Dasani water this color...I know I wouldn't buy it if I did.  I'm not sure why we continue to allow these big companies to pollute our products here in the US when all over the world they are putting limitations on what chemicals, preservative and dyes these companies can use.