Paediatricians have warned that children under eight should not drink slushies containing glycerol.
After a review of the medical notes of 21 children who became acutely unwell shortly after drinking one of the iced drinks, doctors have concluded that this means that public health advice on their safety may need revising.
The medical study of slushies and glycerol
Their findings were published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood. They showed that in each case the child became acutely unwell with a cluster of symptoms soon after drinking a slushie.
The children fell ill as a result of what the study referred to as glycerol intoxication syndrome, which caused symptoms such as decreased consciousness and low blood sugar.”
The children’s ages were said to range between two and almost seven, with all but one of the cases taking place between 2018 and 2024.
After arriving at emergency departments, all the children were initially diagnosed with hypoglycaemia, or low blood sugar. It was suggested by the review team that drinking slushies containing glycerol “may cause a clinical syndrome of glycerol intoxication in young children”.
Symptoms were said to include “decreased consciousness, hypoglycaemia, lactic acidosis, which occurs when the body produces too much lactic acid, and hypokalaemia, or low potassium”.
The team added: “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 eight years of age, should avoid slush ice drinks containing glycerol.”
According to the Guardian: “Food Standards Agency (FSA) advises against children under four consuming slush ice drinks containing glycerol. It also recommends consumption be limited to no more than one slush a day for children aged between five and 10 years”.
The study also noted that all 21 children were said to have recovered quickly and were discharged, but advised not to drink slushies.
Advice is for children to not drink slushies
20 of the children followed this advice and had no further episodes of low blood sugar, but one child did have another slushie at the age of seven and again developed symptoms within an hour.
It was stated that the researchers had said: “There is poor transparency around slush ice drink glycerol concentration; estimating a safe dose is therefore not easy.
“It is also likely that speed and dose of ingestion, along with other aspects such as whether the drink is consumed alongside a meal or during a fasting state, or consumed after high-intensity exercise, may be contributing factors.”
The researchers also added that “there are no nutritional or health benefits from these drinks” and “they are not recommended as part of a balanced diet.
“Recommendations on their safe consumption therefore need to be weighted towards safety.
“To ensure safe population-level recommendations can be easily interpreted at the individual parental level and given the variability across an age cohort of weight, we suggest that recommendations should be based on weight rather than age.
“Alternatively, the recommended age threshold may need to be higher (eight years), to ensure the dose per weight would not be exceeded given normal population variation in weight.”
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