Why children under certain age shouldn't drink slushies containing glycerol

Children have been hospitalised within an hour of drinking slushies due to one of its ingredients

Scientists have warned that children should not drink 'slushy' ice drinks containing one potentially dangerous ingredient until they are at least eight years old.

Slushies containing the sweetener glycerol have been shown to make children ill. New research has looked into 21 cases of two-to-seven-year-olds in the UK and Ireland who became unwell after drinking a slushy drink.

They found that nearly all children (93 per cent) became unwell within an hour of drinking a slushy and no children had a medical history that could explain their symptoms. The researchers concluded that a large dose of glycerol can cause 'poisoning'-like symptoms in young children – called glycerol intoxication syndrome.

Glycerol is used in slush drinks in the UK because it gives them their 'slushy' texture by stopping the liquid from freezing solid in the absence of a high sugar content, the researchers explain.

Current Food Standards Agency (FSA) advice states that under-fives should avoid the drinks and those under 11 should have no more than one. However, the researchers now argue that children under eight should not consume slush drinks.

"Clinicians and parents should be alert to the phenomenon, and public health bodies should ensure clear messaging regarding the fact that younger children, especially those under 8 years of age, should avoid slush ice drinks containing glycerol," the authors warned in the study.

They added that “there are no nutritional or health benefits from these drinks” and “they are not recommended as part of a balanced diet”.

What is glycerol intoxication syndrome?

The researchers at University College Dublin found that the icy drinks “may cause a clinical syndrome of glycerol intoxication in young children”. Glycerol is of low toxicity, the FSA says, but can cause harm for young children when large quantities are consumed over a short period of time.

Symptoms of glycerol intoxication syndrome include:

• Decreased consciousness
• Hypoglycaemia, or low blood sugar
• Lactic acidosis, when the body produces too much lactic acid
• Hypokalaemia, or low potassium

The children in the study required A&E treatment after becoming unwell. Most were initially diagnosed with low blood sugar and had lost consciousness. Four of the children required brain scans and one patient had a seizure.

All 21 children recovered quickly and were discharged with advice to avoid slushies. One child in the study had another slushie aged seven and developed symptoms again, within an hour of consuming the drink.

The study was published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.