Two young brothers were left ‘looking lifeless’ after eating a slushy.
Austin and Ted Wallis, aged eight and 10, suddenly fell ill after enjoying the popular sweet treat in February last year.
The boys began vomiting and became so pale they looked ‘lifeless’ just minutes after consuming a small 300ml portion.
Their mum Roxy gave them a sweet sugary drink to help raise their blood sugar levels, and symptoms eased enough they did not need to seek medical treatment.
The 36-year-old is now warning other parents as she believes her sons suffered from glycerol toxicity.
This is when blood sugars dip dangerously low, and can be triggered by iced artificially sweetened slushies.
Scientists have already warned children younger than eight should not be given slush-ice drinks containing the sweetener glycerol.
![Pic from Kennedy News/Captured by Roxy (Pictured: FROM FRONT TO BACK: TED WALLIS, 8, AND AUSTIN WALLIS, 10 ILL AFTER THEIR MOTHER CLAIMS THEY DRANK A SLUSHY.) A mum claims forcing her kids to drink fizzy pop saved them from being hospitalised - when they fell ill minutes after slurping down slushies.Roxy Wallis, from Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, took her three sons Austin, 10, Ted, eight, and Ralph, four, [all Wallis] to a restaurant in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, as a half-term treat. After ordering them a slushy each, the 36-year-old says Austin and Ted 'became lethargic and looked pale' - with Ted even vomiting. DISCLAIMER: While Kennedy News and Media uses its best endeavours to establish the copyright and authenticity of all pictures supplied, it accepts no liability for any damage, loss or legal action caused by the use of images supplied and the publication of images is solely at your discretion. SEE KENNEDY NEWS COPY - 0161 697 4266](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/SEI_244492834-fe9f-e1742480558349.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
![Pic from Kennedy News/Captured by Roxy (Pictured: FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: AUSTIN WALLIS, 10, ROXY WALLIS, 36, RALPH WALLIS, 4 AND TED WALLIS, 8.) A mum claims forcing her kids to drink fizzy pop saved them from being hospitalised - when they fell ill minutes after slurping down slushies.Roxy Wallis, from Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, took her three sons Austin, 10, Ted, eight, and Ralph, four, [all Wallis] to a restaurant in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, as a half-term treat. After ordering them a slushy each, the 36-year-old says Austin and Ted 'became lethargic and looked pale' - with Ted even vomiting. DISCLAIMER: While Kennedy News and Media uses its best endeavours to establish the copyright and authenticity of all pictures supplied, it accepts no liability for any damage, loss or legal action caused by the use of images supplied and the publication of images is solely at your discretion. SEE KENNEDY NEWS COPY - 0161 697 4266](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/SEI_244492819-d0cc-e1742480800892.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
(Picture: Kennedy News/Captured by Roxy)
Roxy said: ‘We took them to a restaurant as a half-term treat and when they saw the slushy machine they asked if they could have one.
‘We were walking back to the car and planning on stopping to look at the shops but they weren’t well enough.
‘At this point my oldest son looked pale and felt sick but wasn’t as bad as he was a bit bigger than his middle brother.
‘I thought it was really bizarre that they both felt ill and thought it might have been food poisoning — but this didn’t add up as you’re usually ill hours after.’
Ms Wallis added: ‘I found out glycerol can dramatically drop blood sugar levels so I stopped off at a shop on the way home and bought them both a fizzy drink.’
‘Within 10 or 15 minutes (of having the fizzy drink) they had their colour back.
What have scientists said about slushies?
Scientists have warned children younger than eight should not be given slush-ice drinks containing the sweetener glycerol.
Slush drinks in the UK typically contain glycerol, giving them their texture by stopping the liquid from freezing solid.
The ingredient is already not recommended for under-fours in Britain, but academics have called for that number to rise.
Published in Archives of Disease in Childhood, researchers tracked the cases of 21 kids in the UK and Ireland who fell ill after drinking a slushy.
These medics have now warned slushies containing glycerol ‘may cause a clinical syndrome of glycerol intoxication in young children’.
They added: ‘Clinicians and parents should be alert to the phenomenon, and public health bodies should ensure clear messaging regarding the fact that younger children, especially those under eight years of age, should avoid slush ice drinks containing glycerol.’
‘If they hadn’t improved straight away I would have packed a bag and taken them straight to hospital.’
Last week, four-year-old Marnie Moore was rushed to hospital after becoming ‘floppy and unconscious’.
Slush drinks in the UK typically contain glycerol, giving them their texture by stopping the liquid from freezing solid.
The ingredient is already not recommended for under-fours in Britain, but academics have called for that number to rise.
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Published in Archives of Disease in Childhood, researchers tracked the cases of 21 kids in the UK and Ireland who fell all ill after drinking a slushy.
Some 14 of them were rushed to hospital within an hour with symptoms of glycerol intoxication syndrome.
Beth Green’s son Albie, who was likely glycerol intolerant, even appeared to suffer ‘hallucinations’ before they rushed him to hospital, where he took three days to recover.
She added: ‘They need to raise the limit on the guidelines. I don’t think they should be sold to under-10s.’
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