ROXY Wallis claims forcing her kids to drink fizzy pop saved them from being hospitalised after they fell violently ill minutes after drinking slushies.
The 36-year-old is now sharing her sons’ “scary” experience to warn other parents about the dangers of glycerol in slushies for young children.
Roxy Wallis claims forcing her kids to drink fizzy pop saved them from being hospitalised (From left to right: Austin Wallis, 10, Roxy Wallis, 36, Ralph Wallis, 4)[/caption]
She believes Ted (front) and Wallis (back) had glycerol intoxication syndrome after drinking slushies[/caption]
“They are aimed and marketed at kids, so I would never have thought they would have been dangerous,” the mum said.
Roxy had taken her three sons – Austin, 10, Ted, eight, and Ralph, four – to a restaurant in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, as a half-term treat.
After ordering them a slushy, also known as slush ice drinks, each, two of them quickly fell ill.
“We were walking back to the car and planned to stop at the shops, but they weren’t well enough,” she said.
“I knew how poorly they were as they didn’t even want to look in the sweet shop.
“My middle child felt sick, dizzy, and incredibly pale. By the time we reached the ticket machine, he had vomited everywhere.
“At this point, my oldest son looked pale and felt sick but wasn’t as bad – he was a bit bigger than his brother.”
At first, Roxy thought it was food poisoning.
But when she realised that symptoms usually take hours to develop, she started to question it.
“They always tell you not to Google things, but luckily I did and came across a forum where a mum said her child got ill after drinking a slushy,” she said.
Earlier this month, an urgent warning was issued in the UK after 21 children were hospitalised from drinking slushies.
Researchers advise that children under eight should avoid slush ice drinks containing glycerol to prevent “glycerol intoxication syndrome.”
Currently, UK guidance states that slush ice drinks with glycerol are not recommended for children under four.
The NHS warns that high levels of glycerol can cause dizziness, low blood sugar, confusion, and even fainting in young children because their bodies can’t break it down as efficiently as adults.
After reading that glycerol in slushies can dramatically drop blood sugar levels, Roxy stopped at a shop on the way home and bought her sons a fizzy drink.
“Within 10 or 15 minutes [of having the fizzy drink], they had their colour back,” she said.
Austin (left) and Ted (right) recovered and didn’t need to go to hospital[/caption]
The 36-year-old thinks her youngest son, who was three at the time, avoided serious illness because he barely touched his drink[/caption]
“The scariest thing was, had I not thought of it, I dread to think how low their blood sugar would have got if I hadn’t acted.
“I think we could have ended up in A&E with the middle one if we didn’t.”
There’s no official advice suggesting fizzy drinks can help with glycerol intoxication.
If you think your child is affected after drinking a slushy, seek medical help immediately.
Make sure to tell doctors about the slush ice drink and don’t let them have any more.
I’ve said to my boys that they aren’t allowed one again until they are 10 or over
Roxy Wallis
Roxy believes the slushies may have been more concentrated because the restaurant had only just opened for the day.
“When they added the syrup into the slushy, a large majority of it sank down to the bottom and made it more concentrated,” she said.
She also thinks her youngest son, who was three at the time, avoided serious illness because he barely touched his drink.
Current Food Standards Agency (FSA) advice says children under four should avoid slush ice drinks altogether, while those under 11 should have no more than one.
CALL FOR SLUSHIE AGE LIMIT TO CHANGE
But Roxy wants the advice to go one step further.
“It makes me feel that there should be a definite age limit on them. It’s quite scary and concerning, really,” she said.
“When you go to every single attraction, they are everywhere. They are quite a cheap treat and really easily accessible.
“I’ve said to my boys that they aren’t allowed one again until they are 10 or over.
“Following what happened, I think it has made them [my boys] both a bit worried to have one again.
“They don’t make as much of a fuss when we see slushies out and about. They remember how sick they were.
“It’s definitely stuck in their heads.”
Roxy believes slushies should have an age limit[/caption]
Glycerol intoxication syndrome – UK guidance
GLYCEROL is a naturally occurring alcohol and sugar substitute which helps slush ice drinks, also known as slushies, maintain their texture by preventing liquid from freezing solid.
While it’s found in some other foods, it’s added at much lower quantities than in slush ice drinks.
In the UK, slushies containing the ingredient are not recommended for children under the age of four.
The advice comes under NHS guidance, which states due to the high levels of glycerol in slush drinks, young children are at risk of having too much glycerol, which can cause dizziness, low blood sugar (glucose), confusion and they can even pass out.
These symptoms occur in young children because their bodies can’t break glycerol down as efficiently as adults.
The guidance was issued by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), with the most recent updates occurring in 2023.
However, academics have called for the public health advice to be revisited after a study of hospitalised children with ages ranging from two to almost seven years old.
At very high levels of exposure – typically when several of these products are drunk by a child in a short space of time – glycerol intoxication could cause shock, hypoglycaemia and loss of consciousness.
Typical early warning signs of hypoglycaemia are feeling hungry, trembling or shakiness, and sweating.
