Classic Electrolyte Powder Packets

Abbott's Pedialyte dates back to 1966 and bills itself as the No. 1 pediatrician- and pharmacist-recommended hydration brand. Its classic powder packets are the pocket-sized way to buy it: one 0.3 oz stick mixed with 8 fl oz of water makes a 30-calorie drink with 260 mg sodium, 180 mg potassium, 290 mg chloride and 6 g of dextrose, sweetened with sucralose and acesulfame potassium.

This is a rehydration formula rather than a lifestyle drink mix. Glucose helps the small intestine absorb sodium, and water along with it, and Abbott labels the powder for mild to moderate dehydration from diarrhea and vomiting, for use under medical supervision and not for children under 1. By Abbott's figures it supplies about 1,100 mg of sodium and 25 g of sugar per liter. That sodium, roughly 48 mmol/L, is well below the 75 mmol/L in the reduced-osmolarity ORS that WHO and UNICEF recommend, while the sugar is nearly double that formula's glucose.

buyers rate the line 4.7 stars across more than 20,000 ratings and most often praise the mild, not-too-sweet taste, portability and usefulness during stomach bugs, hot weather and hangovers. Taste is still divisive, with apple a recurring least favorite, and opinions on value split. At $26.61 for 24 sticks when we checked, each 8 oz serving costs about $1.11, or about $2.22 to fill a 16 oz bottle.

Abbott is switching the classic powder to a dye-free formula and says buyers may receive either version during the changeover; the variety-pack ingredient list we reviewed still includes Red 40 and Blue 1. The line carries no NSF or Informed Sport certification, and a 2022 Class III recall covered one lot of 0.6 oz Strawberry Lemonade packets made with undeclared wheat-derived dextrose.