The hidden dangers of a little-known additive in a popular children’s drink have been revealed after experts issued a new, alarming health warning.
Called glycerol, the super-sweet substance is a common ingredient in ‘slushies’ — bright, colourful ice cold drinks that are a mainstay at cinemas and corner shops.
But medics have warned that the beverages can trigger a potentially deadly condition called ‘intoxication syndrome’ in some children.
Here, MailOnline details exactly why the sweetener is so dangerous for small bodies, and how it can trigger a lethal drop of blood sugar within minutes, with fatal consequences.
Experts have warned that just one 350ml drink, about as much as can of Coca Cola, could be enough to cause problems in children under four.
In youngsters aged five to 10, one and a half of these drinks can have dangerous effects, if consumed quickly.
Doctors yesterday blamed slushies for a spate of 21 hospitalisations in children who needed medical care within an hour of consuming the drinks.
And last year, they were held responsible for almost killing two children aged three and four,
Glycerol, also called E422 or glycerine on some labels, is a naturally occurring alcohol and sugar substitute which is added to slushies to prevent them from freezing.
Once ingested the substance is known to absorb a great deal of water and sugar from the bloodstream, before being broken down by the liver and kidneys.
It’s this sudden loss of internal moisture and blood sugar that experts believe leads tio the serious and potentially life-threatening reaction in younger children.
While glycerol also has this effect on adults, the amount in slushies is so small that the adult body can break it down before it causes any issues.
But the smaller bodies of children are unable to process the sudden surge in glycerol in time, leading to a dangerous build-up.
At a mild level this loss of water and sugar can lead to signs of dehydration like headaches and nausea.
But in rare cases it can cause hypoglycaemia — a low blood sugar condition usually associated with diabetes which leads to trembling, dizziness, seizures and in worst-case scenarios, coma.
The reaction can also send youngsters’ bodies into shock, where the circulatory system that pumps oxygen rich blood around the body starts to fail, depriving vital organs of what they need to function.
Signs of shock include having pale, cold, clammy skin, as well as sweating, rapid or shallow breathing, weakness or dizziness, nausea and possible vomiting, extreme thirst, and yawning and sighing.
Some scientists also suspect that some children may carry a genetic mutation which makes glycerol toxic to them.
Authorities have previously warned that just one 350ml drink containing the equivalent of about 17.5g, (about three teaspoons) of glycerol, could theoretically tip under-4s over the ‘safe’ threshold.
But experts warn older children can also be at risk of glycerol intoxication from consuming multiple E422-laden drinks in quick succession.
According to the Food Standards Agency most slushies contain around 16g of glycerol.
However, there is no maximum amount of glycerol that manufacturers have to legally adhere to. Most brands don’t state how much glycerol is in each slushy.
UK food safety regulators do not recommend slushies containing glycerol to children under the age of four, and there is a suggested limit of one per day for youngsters aged between five and 10 years.
FSA chiefs based their recommendations on a 350ml-sized drink, similar to ones available in shops and cinemas across the UK
Researchers of a new review published yesterday warned drinking slushies containing glycerol ‘may cause a clinical syndrome of glycerol intoxication in young children’.
They 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.’
The time between drinking the slushy and becoming ill was known for 15 children, with 14 becoming unwell within an hour, according to the review.
Researchers 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.’
They 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,’ academics said.
‘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.
Beth Green, 24, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, has revealed her unconscious tot was hospitalised and feared he’d die an hour after downing an iced slushy drink
Beth grew increasingly concerned when Albie started ‘hallucinating’ and ‘clawing at his face’ – prompting the mother to rush him to hospital
‘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.’
Experts have previously warned a string of glycerol intoxication cases may be an ‘unintended consequence’ of the sugar tax.
Slushies were traditionally made with a sugar solution to prevent the liquid ingredients from freezing, at about 12g of sugar per 100ml.
But formulas using glycerol only need 5g per 100ml to achieve the same result.
Some brands have already removed glycerol from their recipes in response to the FSA guidance, with Slush Puppie being one of them.
Glycerol is also a component in foods like precooked pasta, rice and breakfast cereal but in much lower quantities than slushies.
As such these products aren’t considered a hazard to children.
A mother has issued an urgent warning over the sale of slushies to children after her toddler son suffered a ‘fit’ before falling unconscious after sipping on the iced beverage
Mother Victoria Anderson, 29, with father Sean Donnelly, 29, and their sons Angus (left), 3, and Archie (right), 5
Two cases last year highlighted just how dangerous glycerol intoxication can be.
Beth Green, 24, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, four-year-old son became unresponsive after drinking a strawberry-flavoured slushy at an after-school bowling trip in October last year.
She grew increasingly worried after Albie started ‘hallucinating’ and ‘clawing at his face’ – prompting her to rush him to hospital.
There medics had to start resuscitation as Albie’s blood sugar levels had dropped to dangerously levels.
At one stage his heartbeat became so slow his parents thought he would die.
Medics later told the pair if they hadn’t rushed Albie to hospital there and then he would have died.
Scottish mother Victoria Anderson also shared how her three-year-old son Angus almost died in January after drinking a slushy in January last year. .
The 29-year-old, from Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, had taken her youngest son, three-year-old Angus, and an elder sibling out shopping.
Not long after the trio ventured out, Angus requested a raspberry-flavoured slushie after spotting the bright, pink-coloured ice drink while in a local corner shop.
Unaware of the danger Victoria purchased the drink for her son, who had ‘never had a slushie before’.
Approximately 30 minutes later, while in another store, the three-year-old unexpectedly collapsed and fell unconscious.
Victoria said Angus’ body was limp and ‘stone cold’ as paramedics rushed to the scene and attempted to revive him after his blood sugars became dangerously low.
Angus was sped to Glasgow Children’s Hospital, where he remained unconscious for two hours.
Both children got the medical care they needed.
