Popular frozen drink linked to childrens illness, study finds

A popular summertime treat could contain hidden dangers to kids’ health, a new study cautions.Researchers at University College Dublin conducted a review of 21 children who became ill between 2009 and 2024 after consuming a “slush ice drink.”A vast majority of the children, none of whom had preexisting medical conditions, became ill within an hour of having the drink.The patients, who ranged in age from 2 to 6 years old, all received medical treatment in the UK and Ireland.The most prevalent symptoms included acute decrease in consciousness, hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar), metabolic acidosis (lactic acid build up in the bloodstream), pseudohypertriglyceridaemia (falsely elevated triglycerides) and hypokalaemia (low potassium levels), according to the findings, which were published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.“The children had very low blood sugar levels, were unconscious (one had a seizure) and had high levels of lactate in their blood,” lead study author Ellen Crushell, a pediatrician at Children’s Health Ireland and a clinical professor at University College Dublin, told Fox News Digital. “They had high levels of glycerol in their blood and urine when sick, which disappeared when they recovered.They recovered well, but needed hospitalization and intravenous fluids.”The researchers concluded that consumption of slush ice drinks containing glycerol may cause a syndrome called glycerol intoxication.The majority of the children (95%) did not have continued symptoms after avoiding the drinks.“Glycerol is used as a sweetener and to maintain the semi-frozen texture of some (not all) slush ice drinks,” Crushell said.“It is being used more often in recent years as a sugar substitute,” she noted.

“Large doses can be harmful to small children.”The effect of sudden illness after consuming a slush drink had never been reported in the medical literature, Crushell noted.This study did have some limitations, the researcher...