<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Young children may be better off avoiding sugar-free slushees, according to new research.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>British and Irish scientists reviewed the medical notes of 21 children who became acutely unwell shortly after drinking a slushee containing glycerol.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Glycerol, also known as glycerin, is used in sugar-free slushees to keep the ice from fully freezing.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-trade-war-eu-retaliates-against-us-trade-moves-and-hits-beef-whiskey-motorcycles-with-targeted-tariffs/4aa62117-1875-41f4-988f-e7024c32de81" target="_blank"><strong><span>Canada and EU retaliate against Trump, hitting beef, whiskey, motorcycles</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It is widely used in Ireland and the UK, where sugar taxes were imposed in 2018 and 2019 respectively.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Of the cases studied, 20 occurred after 2018, with just one outlier in 2009. The children were aged from two to nearly seven.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The researchers' findings, published in the journal </span><em><span>Archives of Disease in Childhood</span></em><span>, showed that in each case the child became acutely unwell with a cluster of symptoms soon after drinking a slush ice drink, which the researchers refer to as glycerol intoxication syndrome.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/slushee-advice-young-children-urged-to-avoid-drinking-new-research-says/e282bbab-f802-4ef2-8527-77e5669f298a" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/russia-ukraine-ceasefire-plan-more-details-needed-says-vladimir-putin/9bf4bbba-1be7-414c-9c3a-0bce2120561e" target="_blank"><strong><span>Ukraine calls Putin's bluff, so how will he react?</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The features included reduced consciousness, a sudden sharp drop in blood sugar (hypoglycaemia), and a build-up of acid in the blood (metabolic acidosis).</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Such symptoms, when they occur together, can indicate poisoning or inherited metabolic disorders, prompting further investigations.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>How quickly they became ill was known for 15 of the children, and for 14 of those, it was within an hour.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>IN PICTURES:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/donald-trump-billionaires-lost-money-supporters-in-pictures/2f25bcae-f0ff-4de9-b45a-4a24c86c5f76" target="_blank"><strong><span>All the billionaires who have lost money by supporting Donald Trump</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Likewise, in 16 of the 17 cases where state of consciousness was noted, it was "significantly and suddenly reduced", with one child even having a seizure.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Twenty of the children had hypoglycaemia, but in 13 of them it was severe.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Other common symptoms included metabolic acidosis (16 of 17 children), low levels of potassium (12 of 16 children) and falsely high blood fat levels (eight out of nine children).</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>All the children recovered quickly after initial resuscitation and stabilisation of their blood glucose. They were discharged with advice to avoid slushees. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Twenty did so and had no further episodes of hypoglycaemia.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But one drank another slushee at the age of seven and developed symptoms within an hour, rapidly progressing to vomiting and drowsiness, the researchers found.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The parents gave the child a glucose drink, and called an ambulance. When the paramedics arrived, the child's blood sugar was back to normal and symptoms were already resolving.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>EXPLAINED:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/donald-trump-tariffs-what-they-mean-australia-everything-need-know-explainer/6b4053af-724e-4649-a574-b73498d2fc4a" target="_blank"><strong><span>How hard Trump's tariffs will hit the Australian economy</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="styles__Wrapper-sc-2o34ro-0 cmwkBV"><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><a href="/content/2025/03/12/09/46/today-in-history-march-13-what-happened-on-this-day"><img alt="" sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 636px, (min-width: 768px) 396px, 100vw" src="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/7t5X1BotWrZFOsNuAW9tYV1Yl5I=/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F97a262cd-285a-459e-ad2d-d80b95c75ce6" srcset="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/7t5X1BotWrZFOsNuAW9tYV1Yl5I=/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F97a262cd-285a-459e-ad2d-d80b95c75ce6 396w, https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/gwXiS_qBEeYD-FtaMQRG8E4m9hU=/636x358/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F97a262cd-285a-459e-ad2d-d80b95c75ce6 636w"/></a></div><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><div class="styles__Headline-sc-2o34ro-4 hpbOlz">Coup announced on radio, 20 minutes before the attempt began</div><div class="styles__Button-sc-2o34ro-1 eBjlmW"><a class="styles__ButtonLink-sc-2o34ro-2 hqpklJ" href="/content/2025/03/12/09/46/today-in-history-march-13-what-happened-on-this-day">View Gallery</a></div></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The researchers believe current recommendations in the UK and Ireland, which advise that children four and under avoid sugar-free slushees, and children aged five to 10 should not have more than one, may no longer be enough.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There is poor transparency around slush ice drink glycerol concentration; estimating a safe dose is therefore not easy," the researchers wrote.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"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."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They recommended safe drinking levels be determined by body weight, based on current advice that 125 milligrams of glycerol per kilogram of body weight was the lowest dose associated with negative health effects.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Alternatively, the recommended age threshold may need to be higher (8 years), to ensure the dose per weight would not be exceeded, given normal population variation in weight," the researchers wrote.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Sugar-free and no-added sugar slushees are available in Australia, as are the sugared versions.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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