The sodium and potassium concentration, the osmolality and the carbohydrate content were determined in carrot soups prepared in 4 different children's hospitals and used as oral therapy for infantile diarrhoea. The results were compared with the sugar/electrolyte solutions increasingly recommended for oral rehydration. If adequately prepared (Moro),the carrot soup can replace enteral loss of sodium and potassium and contains sufficient glucose and sucrose as free sugars to ensure optimum sodium and water absorption in the jejunum. The addition of high osmolar glucose in a commercially available carrot food (Hipp) used in the preparation of the soup in two hospitals increases its osmolality, which might provide an extra strain on the affected intestine of these ill infants.