I’m sure most of us have a memory of being a child, perhaps at a play centre or a bowling alley, and pestering our parents for one of the luridly-coloured slushy drinks that everyone loved. Whether it be blue raspberry or strawberry, we all clamoured for one at some point.
Fast forward 20-or-so years, slushies are still as popular as ever. However, there has been an alarming, and quite frankly, dangerous set of circumstances which have been occurring over the past few years, which were completely unheard of when we were kids.
Children have been (almost) dying after drinking these slushies.
What’s changed?
The introduction of the sugar tax, as well as the publics general increased awareness of reducing sugar intake, has meant most soft drinks have seen a reduction in the amount of added sugar they contain. Slushy drinks are no different. However, now they no longer have quite as much sugar in, a problem was discovered; they didn’t slush up properly.
Manufacturers ummed and ahhhed about how to fix this problem, until they realised that adding glycerin or glycerol (additive E442) would provide the slushy effect they needed, whilst keeping the sugar levels low.
But what is the problem with glycerol?
The issue is that there is a condition known as glycerol intoxication syndrome. This is a syndrome which is characterised by a cluster of symptoms; hypoglycaemia (low sugar level in the blood), metabolic acidosis (too much acid in the blood), glyceroluria (high levels of glycerol within the urine), hypokalemia (low levels of potassium in the blood) and pseudohypertriglyceridemia (falsely high readings of triglycerides in the blood). We aren’t too sure why this happens, but we do know that when an individual consumes glycerol at a rate higher than 125mg per kilogram of body weight per hour, they may be at risk. Of course, this means people that have a low body weight (small children, for instance), will be at a much higher risk than someone with a higher body weight. For context, a toddler would only have to drink the equivalent of 50-220mL of slush drink in one hour to exhibit symptoms; something which I am sure the parents among you would be well aware is very possible.
What are the recommendations?
As a dietitian, I would warn strongly against giving any child under the age of 4 years old any of these slushies, in any quantity. This is because below the age of 4, they are more susceptible to glycerol intoxication due to their body weight. This does not mean that those above the age of 4 are exempt; they still can and will exhibit symptoms if they have a smaller frame or drink their drink too quickly. Therefore, it is advised that if they do want one of these drinks over the age of 4, they have smaller portions (definitely no seconds!) of less than 200mL, and they drink this slowly and with supervision. Best practice, in my professional judgement, would be to avoid giving these drinks to children entirely, however.
If you’d like to read more about glycerol intoxication syndrome in children, you can follow the links to the Food Standards Scotland advisories and the BMJ’s report on glycerol intoxication in children.
Diets Debunked 