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Topics: Food and Drink, Parenting, Health, Advice
Niamh Spence
Topics: Food and Drink, Parenting, Health, Advice
Parents have been warned not to give slushie drinks to children under the age of eight.
The brightly coloured and often sugary drinks are no doubt attractive to kids, with many wanting children wanting them on trips to the cinema, fun fairs or theme parks for example.
However, what parents might not know is that these slushies can contain an ingredient that could make a child very ill.
A new study of the cases of 21 two-to-seven-year-olds in the UK and Ireland who needed emergency treatment soon after drinking a slushy product has discovered they were made ill by consuming glycerol.
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Glycerol is one of the main ingredients in slushies as it helps prevent them from freezing and keeps the drink in its semi solid state.
The current advice from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) states that under-fives should avoid the drinks and under-11s should have no more than one.
The concern over younger children consuming glycerol is due to the ingredient causing shock, hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) and loss of consciousness. The study into the 21 cases, which has now been published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, saw all the children needing emergency medical care via A&E within an hour of consuming the slushies.
The study found that most lost consciousness and showed signs of low sugar and high acidity in the blood, four children needed brain scans and one had a seizure.
Dr Sally Anne Wilson, chair of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine's safer care committee, explained why parents might not have realised the dangers slushies can pose.
She spoke during an interview with BBC Breakfast: "As a parent you want to make sensible decisions for what you buy your child and if you're not aware that there's glycerol in the slushie and what that can do, then you're not going to have any qualms about buying the said slushie."
Dr Wilson also added that age-based advice for the drinks isn't conclusive as children's weight can hugely vary, which would impact the outcome of glycerol on their bodies.
However, she added 'there's definitely an argument' for increasing the minimum age to act as a deterrent and to help solve the issue of younger children consuming them.
Rebecca Sudworth, director of policy at the Food Standards Agency, said the findings of the review were being carefully noted. She said: "We continue to strongly encourage parents to follow [our] advice which is that slushie drinks should not be given to children under four years old. Retailers are also advised to make parents fully aware of this guidance."
The FSA added: "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."