Summer is coming, and children start asking for colourful and tempting slush drinks.

European Food Safety authority (EFSA) experts have published a new scientific opinion focussing on acute exposure to glycerol (E 422) from beverages.  

The European Commission requested EFSA to assess the acute exposure to glycerol (E 422) from slush ice drinks and de-alcoholised wine. EFSA has set an acute reference dose of 125 mg glycerol/kg body weight per drinking occasion and found that typical portions of slush ice drinks can exceed this level across age groups, with children most at risk.  

EFSA recommends that risk managers consider setting numerical maximum levels for glycerol (E422) in beverages.

Several studies have investigated how glycerol affects athletes, particularly when used as a hyperhydration or rehydration agent during physical exercise. In healthy young athletes, orally administered glycerol was generally associated only with mild and transient gastrointestinal side effects, such as nausea, bloating, diarrhoea, vomiting, or stomach discomfort. Glycerol has also been used orally in patients with inner ear disorders, including Ménière’s disease.

In July 2024, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) provided some advice for parents and caregivers to limit young children’s consumption of slush ice drinks that contain glycerol (E 422), due to potential side effects including headaches, nausea and vomiting when consumed in large quantities.

FSAI further developed voluntary guidelines for the industry which require the industry to use the minimum quantity of glycerol necessary when making slush ice drinks; to ensure that their customers are aware of the FSAI’s advice for younger children in relation to slush ice drinks; to display point-of-sale warnings stating “this product contains glycerol and is not recommended for children aged 4 and under”; and to avoid offering free refills of slush ice drinks to younger children.

Last summer, the Food Standards Agency of the United Kingdom published a report  setting out the risk of glycerol in slush ice drinks and the key findings from the recent rapid risk assessment. The report recommended that children under 7 years of age should not consume glycerol containing slush ice drinks.

The report advised against consumption of multiple slush ice drinks containing glycerol in a short period of time and stressed the importance of ensuring parents and caregivers as well as businesses understand this recommendation.

In February 2025, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) published assessment of the measured glycerol concentrations – in a total of 62 slush ice samples showed that younger children can already ingest amounts of glycerol that correspond to or exceed the therapeutically effective dose when consuming quantities of less than 200 millilitres (mL).

The assessment further showed that at a glycerol concentration of 50,000 mg/L, adults could reach the therapeutically effective dose when consuming 350 mL of slush ice drink. The opinion thus presented significantly higher concentrations of glycerol.

The use of food additives is regulated under the European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 on food additives.

07.05.2026.