Slushies: Parents warned slush-ice drinks are health risk to young children by Food Standards Agency

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued voluntary guidance that slush-iced drinks should not be given to anyone under the age of four. These drinks contain glycerol, which can cause headaches and sickness if taken in excess.

It can also cause glycerol intoxication at very high doses – which leads to shock, hypoglycaemia and loss of consciousness. This typically when several iced beverages are drunk by a child at once.

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FSA Head of Additives, Adam Hardgrave, said: “While the symptoms of glycerol intoxication are usually mild, it is important that parents are aware of the risks – particularly at high levels of consumption.

“It is likely that there is under-reporting of glycerol intoxication, as parents may attribute nausea and headaches to other factors. We are grateful to those manufacturers who have already taken steps to reduce levels of glycerol, and to those who have already told us they will be adopting our new guidelines.”

Manufacturers are also being advised to inform retailors that they should not offer free refill promotions to under-10s, in an effort to prevent children being exposed to excess amounts of glycerol. The FSA is aware of two cases in Scotland, one in 2021 and another in 2022, where kids have been hospitalised due to a glycerol overdose.

The chemical compound is used to create the slush effect in drinks, with the government agency advising businesses to only use as much of it as necessary. Glycerol is found in other foods, but in much smaller quantities.

The risk assessment considered a worst-case exposure scenario in which a child consumed a 350 ml slush drink containing the highest level of glycerol used (50,000 mg/L) and compared this to a threshold above which adverse effects could occur. Children under four would go above this threshold.

The effects of Glycerol is related to body weight, so children over four will not have nasty side-effects just by having one slushy.