Girl with ASD at Risk of Dehydration After Changes Were Made to the Only Beverage She’ll Drink

The mother of a young girl with autism and food selectivity is pleading for help following a recipe change that was recently made to the only beverage the child will drink.

Catrina Orr, from Uddingston, Lanarkshire, in Scotland, says her daughter, 7-year-old Lexie, will only drink Robinsons Fruit Shoots, made by Britvic, and nothing else. She would rather go without drinking at all than consume a different type of beverage. And she is now at risk of severe dehydration because of a recent change to the recipe of the drink.

Lexie, who is non-verbal, also struggles with sensory processing disorder and a learning disability. She’s very selective about what she eats and drinks, because she simply can’t deal with certain tastes and textures.

“She will just stop drinking. She’s been in hospital before due to dehydration and had to get a drip,” worries Catrina. “My fear is that she stops drinking and is also unable to take her medication, which helps her manage day-to-day, as she drinks this in a Fruit Shoot.”

The recipe change and a corresponding change in the packaging will likely seem small to most consumers, but to Lexie, anything but original Fruit Shoots, specifically the apple and blackcurrant flavor is unacceptable.

“Britvic have changed the packaging and the ingredients. Not only has the bottle totally changed, the taste has also changed,” says the 34-year-old mother. “With Lexie having autism and sensory processing disorder, she can taste the smallest change to things. She has a very limited diet as it is. She only drinks the small apple and blackcurrant Fruit Shoot.”

Since the recipe change was made, Catrina has been frantically searching the far corners of Scotland for the old version of the beverage. So far, she’s been able to gather enough of them to keep her daughter hydrated for a while, but a long-term solution is still needed. The old style won’t be on store shelves for very long.

“Big companies don’t understand the effect this has on families,” says Catrina. “Life is hard enough with a complex needs child without adding something like this to the mix.”

Catrina has reached out to Britvic for help but hasn’t heard back yet. For now, she is asking anyone who can help her get the old recipe of apple and blackcurrant Fruit Shoots to get in touch.

“If anyone works in a supermarket, pub, cash and carry, or anywhere else [that] has any cases of the small old-style Fruit Shoots with the green screw, it would be so appreciated.”