Special Investigation: MiO
Chemically Enhanced Water
Want to infuse refreshing and healthy water with chemicals and artificial food dyes? Kraft’s got you covered! “Meet MiO, the new liquid water enhancer that allows you to create up to 24 eight oz. drinks from the palm of your hand,” declares the uber-hip MiO facebook page.
Yup, squeeze a few drops of MiO into your innocent glass of water, mix, and voilà, you have yourself a neon-colored, fruit-flavored beverage ready to be chugged. According to Kraft, “Each of MiO’s six exciting flavors are:
- Caffeine-free
- Calorie free per 8 fluid ounce serving
- Carbohydrate free and considered a free exchange
- Sugar free
- Free of artificial flavors”
Hmmm, Kraft sure makes this stuff sound like it’s a healthy home run, right? Flip over the sleek little bottles and keep reading, however, and you’ll find that MiO is loaded with chemicals.
Some of the additives are considered safe—sucralose (an artificial sweetener), propylene glycol (distributes flavors evenly), citric and malic acid (flavorings), potassium sorbate (prevents mold growth), and polysorbate 60 (helps things dissolve). But others—the artificial colors Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40, Blue 1, and the artificial sweetener acesulfame potassium—are potentially harmful.
Why are food dyes bad for you?
Ingesting food dyes is linked to hyperactivity in children, cancer (in animal studies), and allergic reactions. Read CSPI’s awesome report “Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks,” to learn more. CSPI (my former employer!) is my go-to source for trusted health info!
What makes acesulfame potassium so scary?
The safety tests of acesulfame potassium were conducted in the 1970s and were of mediocre quality. Studies in mice were too short to prove safety, and two rat studies suggest that the additive might cause cancer. And one of the chemicals produced when acesulfame-K is broken down in the body, acetoacetamide, has been shown to negatively affect the thyroid in animal studies. In 1996, CSPI urged the FDA to require better testing before allowing acesulfame-K in soft drinks, but no such testing was done. Yikes.
Bottom line: Don’t drink the new (chemical!) Kool-Aid!
A Better Thirst Quencher
Plain old water can be boring, I get it. Hint Water, whose mantra is Drink Water, Not Sugar, is the real (natural) deal. It’s purified water infused with fruit and vegetable extracts—no extra calories, no added sugars, and no chemicals. From Mango-Grapefruit, Cucumber, Pomegranate-Tangerine and more, Hint comes in an array of delicious flavors.
Or you can infuse your own water! It’s easy and delish. Thinly slice fruits, vegetables, and/or herbs, add them to a pitcher of filtered water, and refrigerate (anywhere from 2 hours to overnight—the longer it sits, the more intense the flavor will be). That’s it! The combos of flavors are limitless—my favorites include strawberry-basil, tangerine-grapefruit, mixed berry, and cucumber-melon-mint.
For help building a healthy lifestyle that works for YOU, take my free 3-minute personality Diet Type quiz and find out how to use the power of your personality type to help you reach your goals!
Wow! Thank you! I just squirted a few drops of my first time ever using MiO. I decided to do research.. I found your article reasonable, and helpful:) However, is it at all harmful to my health if i squeeze a few drops into my water every once in a while? And is there any flavors that are least harmful, or are they all equivalent in ingredients and nutrition?? Right now i have Sweet Tea.
Again thanks! Take care:)
Hi! All of the MiO flavors (including Sweet Tea) contain artificial colors and the artificial sweetener acesulfame potassium—so all are potentially harmful.
I would check out HINT – a healthy flavored water! http://www.drinkhint.com/
Fact Check: Not all Mio flavors have actually have acesulfame potassium in them, just some. Hope you’re not intentionally deceiving in order to promote hint
I looked this up because I normally have an iron bladder, but after I tried it that I started having problems. I am wondering if its coincidence or if it was a combination of MiO with something else that I ate or drank.
Hi Cathy! Hard to say, but I would stay away from MIO regardless! : )
i am having some kind of alergic reaction to Mio.
Seriously, it took me a while to figure out but my esophagus developed a bad ache and I experienced stomach gas when I drank it. I do have acid reflux issues but prilosec handles that. It does not feel like acidity anyways.
When this first was announced you were lead to believe that this was a really natural product. Hard to read the ingredients and feel that way now.
The stuff taste like crap and doesnt anyone remember aspertame and why it is no longer used in products and dyes are not for consumption was this crap approved by the FDA my roomate was drinking it broke out in a huge rash and made the feet swell. I read the labels first and one taste this made me sick.
Look at ANYTHNG diet. Aspartame is STILL in everything. Sugar free gum, diet sodas (including ZEROs and ONEs). I was just at the store with a friend who is a health nut, and only drinks diet. I had to show him that aspartame is in everything. That is the WORST artificial sweetener out there. Its still highly used in MANY products.
I wonder if the generic walmart brand of MIO is what you say harmful..???
im looking at the back of my Mio bottle now and there is no acesulfame potassium listed. so im guessing they changed it. don’t just take people’s words for things.
I bought my first MIO last night, and opened it today. Since I am addicted to sweet tea, I am trying to find an alternative to the sugar. The label led me to look it up, and this is the third site that explains the issues. As to the person that says they may have changed it, I don’t think so in my area. I bought mine last night, and one of the lines is: “Sucralose and Acesulfame Potassium (sweeteners)”
I think I will just try to add fruit to my water from now on. But I guess we’ll have to buy organic or risk the chance of pesticides. Can’t win.
Hi there everyone! I don’t know if I should add to this article
as I’m not exactly sure why I have it but I hate water. I’ll only drink it when it’s super cold and even then it’s rare for me which isn’t a good thing. My mom bought me Mio and honestly three shots in your glass and it tastes like juice which has been working for me, I’ve stopped drinking pop and switched to strickly Mio when I’m thirsty. I’ve been drinking it for about a month now.
As far as I know I have no allergies I rarely get sick and I never break out. Even as a kid I’ve been immune to Poison ivy, oak an even insulation doesn’t bother me.
This last week I have been getting small red bumps which I itch and they increase to a cluster the size of a doorknob I suppose. I get them only on my legs but one cluster at a time like tiny mosquito bites which itch worse! They eventually clear after a day or two then develop in another spot.
Is it really possible that the one solution to get me drinking water is also the solution to these random break outs as well?
Thanks for the information. My daughter asked me to get MIO for her. After a few days she began complaining that her throat swells when she drinks it. I will no longer let her buy it for her or let her finish what I bought.
Happy to help! And happy to hear you’re cutting out the MiO : )
I just put 2 and 2 together and realized that my hyperthyroidism started 2 weeks after drinking mio!!! I’m a health nut, vegan eating, vitamin, holistic junkie and mio is the only “bad” thing that I’m doing. I don’t even drink wine. I’m also gluten free!!! Omg it has to be the mio!!!
Hyperthyroidism doesn’t really start overnight. Soy can have an effect on the thyroid too, as do tons of other things. Look into the foods that effect the thyroid and you might see that it was most likely a build up over time and it can’t be blamed on just one product.
I thought Hint water was healthy so I did allow my 10 year old daughter to try Hint water at school. The Strawberry-Kiwi made her break out in a rash, her chest to tighten and her tongue to feel “fuzzy.”. My daughter is not allergic to strawberries or kiwi. The ingredients list is: “purified water, strawberry, kiwi and other natural flavors”. I called Hint, Inc. After speaking to 3 people (I kept getting passed around), I was given no helpful information at all. I did, however, receive a case of the stuff my daughter had a reaction to “for my inconvenience.”. Yikes!
After doing some research on FDA labeling regulations, I learned “Natural” in the phrase “other natural flavors” is anything but natural. Instead, it’s a black box of ingredients the FDA allows manufacturers to use to hide ingredients and protect their recipes from competitors. The consumer, even an allergic consumer, is not protected. We now flavor our own water with our own fresh fruits so we can be sure it truly is natural.
I started drinking mio about 2 weeks ago to help me stop drinking sodas I have looked on the back of all mine and the only one that has acesulfame potassum is the mio energy
I gave this stuff to my daughter and days later she vomited it up, it was not digested in her belly. I felt horrible. Thanks or your article, I will be ready labels closer. Perhaps that’s why the ingredients are written so small.
I am strictly posting this to give my own personal experience with Mi0 as it’s my first time using it. I have been going to the gym and was looking for an alternative to gatorade to cut down on sugar, and decided to try the Mi0 FIT which contained B vitamins and electrolytes. I have been using it the last 4 days now, and my throat has been scratchy(sore) and I have had an upset stomach. I am a clean eater, and consider myself to be pretty healthy. I decided to do research, and found this article with people who are experiencing the same symptoms, and I checked the ingredients, and it does contain Acesulfame Potassium.
I don’t know if it’s coincidence or not, but I think I will try to infuse my own water for now, and see how it goes. The only known allergy for myself currently is kiwi, but perhaps there is an ingredient I am allergic to in Mi0, as these symptoms feel the same as if I’d eaten something that touched kiwi. Not a full blown reaction, but a mild one. Anyway, just my 2cents.
Drink it and shut up. Geez. You know what else kills you? A bus that hits you as you cross the street.
I bought some orange/tangerine MIO and after a few glasses, the thought occured to me to google: “is MIO bad for you?” Google auto-completed the question when I got to the letter b which means that a lot of people have thought to ask the same question. I have found nothing definitive. I am not one who believes in the myth that natural=good and man made=bad. I have enough knowlege of chemistry to know that 5 of the 7 most dangerous chemicals found on planet eart are found in nature. Which brings me to my point- apparently MIO has taken all of the chemicals that are not absolutely necessary out of their formula. There is no acusulfame in the orange tangerine and you need to watch out saying that it could cause cancer because there is absomlutley no evidence of that. -sucralose is the sweetener, and unfortunately, there is no propylene glycol and even if there were propylene glycol like everything is safe if you don’t use too much of it. I was concerned about why my MIO smelled like MOLD. Now I think it’s moldy becasue of all the mistaken fear that says that “natural” products are better for you than man made. I can make vitamin C in a lab that is in every way the same as the vitamin C in an orange, can I call it vitamin C- nope, it’s ascorbic acid. Anything out of moderation can harm you…including fruits and vegetables. I’m not saying that there aren’t dangerous man made chemicals out there. I am saying that there are man made cheicals that go by scientific names that are bio-chemically the exact same as chemicals that are extracted from organic sources. Since this site is mis-leading folks. I will not try the product promoted!
I’ve been researching allergic reactions to Mio because last night, my sis, who has never had a food allergy or sensitivity had an immediate and frightening reaction to Mio peach. Her throat began to swell after just a few sips of water that had been flavored with two drops of Mio. She had a horrible day yesterday but is much better today….well enough to call everyone in the family to tell them never to buy or drink Mio.
I truly don’t understand why people continue to drink this junk. It’s sugar free Kool Aid for adults. Plus, sugar substitutes have been proven to cause an increase in hunger, which can kill your diet. I usually drink plain water, but if I want a flavored water, I’ll just add a shot of all natural fruit juice like cranberry or pomegranate. The calories are minimal. And if that’s not sweet enough for you, just add a packet of sugar which is only 15 calories. I’d much rather count 15 calories of real sugar into my caloric intake for the day than pump my body full of chemicals. yuck.
I was drinking a couple of Mio infused water bottles daily. I went for general blood work along with a urinalysis. My urine is showing up with crystals in it, which could lead to kidney stones if they clump together. I immediately thought of the Mio and stopped drinking it. Previously I was getting small pains in my lower left side, but since I’m back to hydrating myself with plain water I haven’t had any pains. I believe the Mio was causing my problems. In a couple of weeks, I’ll have a check up with a Urologist. Keep ya posted.