Letting young children drink slush ice drinks, also known as slushies, is as bad for them as letting them consume antifreeze, according to Health Service Executive National Clinical Lead for Obesity, Professor Donal O'Shea.
The warning comes in the wake of research from Children's Health Ireland (CHI) showing that consumption of the sweet frozen drink by those under the age of 12 could lead to a condition known as glycerol intoxication syndrome.
The work, published in March, described 21 cases of children with glycerol intoxication syndrome.
Prof O'Shea said people needed to be aware of the issue, and if slushies are consumed, it should be in moderation and only for older children.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Philip Boucher Hayes, he said the ingredient that prevents slushies from completely freezing - glycerol - was the original antifreeze used in cars to stop the water from freezing.
While it is no longer used in cars, he said drinking too much glycerol in slushies, "especially for a young brain", is potentially very dangerous.
"If you get too much glycerol into a young brain, it shrinks the brain a little bit, and it has been used in the past to treat swelling in the brain as a medical treatment, but a young brain then gets affected."
He said people can then present with symptoms like confusion, headaches and nausea.
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Long-term consumption, the syndrome can cause unconsciousness and seizures, which can lead to serious long-term outcomes.
He warned that no young child should consume the product.
"If a kid does have a slushie and they say they like it and they want another one, they should certainly not have a couple of them back-to-back".
He said that people do not associate a brightly coloured ice drink with negative health consequences for children.
"The way these products are positioned and the way they’re coloured, kids find them very attractive."
Prof O'Shea said if a child was going to have a slushie, it should be one without glycerol, but these tended to have large amounts of sugar, which comes with a high calorie content.
According to the Food Safety Authority (FSAI), glycerol or E422, is an approved additive in the EU used in slush ice drinks as a substitute or partial substitute for sugar.
It is used because it helps maintain the slushy texture by preventing the liquid from freezing solid.
The FSAI recommends that children aged four years and under should not consume slush ice drinks.
After reaching that age, they advise people to exercise caution and moderation if they must consume slushies.
Prof O'Shea said that he would like to see a very cautious approach to glycerol consumption under the age of 12.
"It is an acute intoxication syndrome. Glycerol is an alcohol-like product, so you have acute intoxication with alcohol.
"Terrible things happen while you are acutely unwell, like you fall and hit your head, then you are left with the long-term consequences, but then once the alcohol, in this case glycerol, is out of your system, you will be sitting up and you will be well again".
He said that if you "wouldn't give a child under the age of seven or eight a glass of whiskey or a glass of wine", and so they really should not be having slushies.
