What IS in slushies that made children collapse – and should it be banned?

As two more terrifying cases are linked to frozen drink...

IT WAS a story that was as baffling as it was shocking.Earlier this month, a four-year-old became the second child this year to be hospitalised in the UK after consuming a slushy. The brightly coloured iced drinks, sold in shops, cinemas and fun fairs, are often seen as a family-favourite sweet treat. But Albie Green reportedly became severely unwell — ‘hallucinating’ and ‘clawing at his face’ — after drinking a small strawberry-flavoured slushy at a bowling party.

It was suggested his illness was an adverse reaction to glycerol — an artificial sweetener which also stops the drinks from freezing solid. Although Albie recovered in hospital, his is the second such case in a month and many are wondering if there is a greater risk to youngsters.

In July last year, the Nichols firm, which produces two of the most popular slushy brands, Slush Puppie and Starslush, removed it as an ingredient, but glycerol is still present in most other slushies and is also used in a wide variety of confectionary, as well as baked goods and cereal bars.

Now Magazine can reveal that scientists are investigating if some children carry a genetic mutation that makes glycerol toxic to them.

Alongside glycerol, or E422, slushies typically also include tiny amounts of citric acid used as a preservative and flavour enhancer, artificial fruit flavouring, food colouring and salt. But they are primarily made up of water and glycerol. And experts agree that it’s glycerol that is most likely to blame for the two recent cases of children falling unwell.

There were two previous cases of children in Scotland being hospitalised after drinking slushies, in 2021 and 2022.

Glycerol is also used in medical treatments to help tackle eye disease glaucoma and alleviate constipation, but experts believe that in food and drinks it is essentially harmless for adults.

Treats such as Jaffa Cakes, Angel Slices and Cherry Bakewells, and cereal bars, including Nature Valley and Alpen, all contain glycerol – which is also listed in the ingredients as glycerine

— to ensure they remain moist and soft. The additive has also become more common in beverages since 2018, when the Government introduced the sugar tax on soft drinks. Companies are not required to state how much appears in their products however the amount is likely to be small. But it seems the concentration of glycerol in slushies can be dangerous for some younger children. Last month, three-year-old Angus Anderson from Glasgow collapsed after drinking a raspberry-flavoured slushy. Doctors told his mother that he had suffered glycerol toxicity.

Why glycerol toxicity occurs is debated among experts. One argument is that glycerol leaves children dehydrated and lowers their blood sugar levels.

‘Glycerol absorbs excess water in the body, that’s why it’s used to treat glaucoma, which is caused by a build-up of fluid in the eye,’ says Professor James Coulson, a toxicology expert at Cardiff University.

‘This water is then carried with the glycerol out of the body. But it can also absorb a lot of sugar from the bloodstream. That sudden loss of water can cause headaches and the loss of sugar can have a significant effect on the body.’

Prof Coulson says that children who consume a lot of glycerol can suffer hypoglycaemia — a low blood sugar condition which leads to trembling, dizziness and even seizures. Experts also say slushies can vary in glycerol content. Most slushies contain around 16g — four teaspoons — of glycerol. But there is no maximum amount that manufacturers have to adhere to, and most brands do not state how much glycerol is in each slushy.

‘These products can vary in how much glycerol is in them,’ says Prof Coulson. ‘There have been reports of factory errors leading to similar products containing more glycerol than expected.’

But other experts say that this does not explain why only some children have ended up unwell from products consumed by thousands of young people every day.

‘These horrible side effects appear to be quite rare,’ says Professor Alan Boobis, a toxicology expert at Imperial College London and a Government adviser.

He argues that it is possible that the children who have suffered severe reactions after drinking slushies may have a rare genetic disorder which means they cannot process glycerol. For example, some children are born with a condition called fructose-1,6bisphosphatase deficiency, which means they cannot produce enough of a certain enzyme that the body uses to break down glycerol and turn it into glucose —or sugar — which can then be used by the body as for energy.

Prof Boobis argues that a small child with the condition could become severely unwell, suffering drowsiness, hypoglycaemia and seizures, from consuming a large portion of the sweetener.

He stresses that this is currently a theory but believes more research should be carried out to see if the slushy-related hospitalisations are connected with genetic disorders.