Parents warned against giving 'slushy' drinks to young children after reports of health risks

Study looked at 21 young children across Britain and Ireland who became sick soon after drinking slushy drinks. Their symptoms included 'reduced consciousness', referred to as drowsiness or coma, and very low blood sugar levels with high lactic acid levels, while glycerol was found in their urine.

Parents have been urged not to allow children under the age of eight drink 'slushies’, following a new study which found children reporting feeling sick after consuming the icy drinks.

Led by experts at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) Temple Street and UCD School of Medicine, among others, the study found the glycerol in these slush drinks could cause “glycerol intoxication syndrome” in young children.

Popular and particularly marketed to children, slush drinks contain the substance glycerol as a substitute or partial substitute for sugar. It helps maintain the slushy texture by preventing the liquid from freezing solid.

While approved as an additive in the EU, there have been concerns about the effects on young children from the drink, which is sold from slushy machines and prepackaged in supermarkets and other retailers.

“The research is significant because this illness has only rarely been described before in the medical literature and never in association with slush ice drinks,” said Professor Ellen Crushell, metabolic pediatrician at CHI.

“Transparency around the dosage of glycerol used in these drinks is required.” 

The study looked at 21 young children across Britain and Ireland who became sick soon after drinking slushy drinks. Their symptoms included “reduced consciousness”, referred to as drowsiness or coma, very low blood sugar levels with high lactic acid levels, while glycerol was found in their urine.

The children were checked to make sure they did not have an underlying genetic metabolic disorder, which is a more typical cause of these symptoms.

The researchers said they all needed urgent resuscitation with IV glucose and fluids in the emergency department, and all went on to make a good recovery.

Last year, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) issued guidance on the consumption of these drinks that contain glycerol, with parents told not to give them to young children due to the risk of headaches, nausea and vomiting.

It recommended children aged four and under should not consume glycerol-containing slush ice drinks. Meanwhile, consumption should be limited to no more than one a day for children aged between five and 10 years old.

At the time, FSAI chief executive Pamela Byrne said she did not want to cause parents "undue worry".

However, the authors in this study said that guidance could go further, as the research to date had only looked at reported severe cases who were referred to specialist metabolic services.

They said there may be a spectrum of milder illness where children do not require hospitalisations. As such, they said the guidance could be expanded to recommend against such drinks for children under the age of eight and added they were not part of a healthy diet for children of any age.

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Minister of state for public health Jennifer Murnane O’Connor welcomed the research.

“I have asked my department and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland to review the findings of the paper,” she said. 

“Public health for children is a priority for my department and I will continue to endorse the work of agencies including the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and Safefood in this area.”