I don’t sugarcoat anything because, quite frankly, the food industry already does enough of that. And now, I’m sounding the alarm bell about glycerol.
You might not have heard much about this colorless, odorless, sweet-tasting food-additive, but you’re about to, because this stuff is putting kids in the hospital.
Glycerol is a chemical that’s used by Big Food to keep products moist, improve their texture and, perhaps above all else, replace added sugar in so-called healthy offerings.
While you were doing your best to avoid the usual suspects — high-fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, refined sugar — this little nightmare snuck in under the radar.
You’ll find glycerol in some brands of protein bars, baked goods, dairy products, and, most notoriously in the United Kingdom, brightly colored slushie drinks that children love.
Sounds harmless, right? It’s not.
Researchers in the UK recently studied the cases of 21 children, ranging in age from two to seven-year-old, who were hospitalized shortly after drinking a single ‘zero-sugar’ slushie that was artificially sweetened with glycerol.
Yes, you read that right. A single slushie.
In the U.S. Glycerol is just one of 10,000 chemicals that the food industry can legally sneak into your food under an FDA loophole created by Congress in 1958.
Most of the children lost consciousness. Four needed brain scans. One had a seizure.
The newly identified condition is being called ‘glycerol intoxication syndrome.’
In adults, too much glycerol can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness, and bloating. But children’s bodies are smaller, their metabolism works differently, and when they consume too much glycerol at once, their blood sugar can drop so fast that they can black out.
Of course, glycerol isn’t new. It’s been added to food for decades – only now, the food industry is using more of it. A lot more.
Some jurisdictions in the US have implemented ‘sugar taxes’ or surcharges on sweetened beverages to discourage their consumption by making them more expensive. And the public has also become far more health conscious.
So Big Food has responded by cutting down on sugar content. But the food industry is also desperate to keep things sweet, so they’ve loaded up their products with sugar substitutes, like glycerol.
Also known as glycerin, this additive is a sugar alcohol. It’s not sugar, but it tastes like it. And kids are consuming more of it in than ever before.
Slushies in the UK are some of the biggest offenders, because either sugar or glycerol is needed to keep the drinks from freezing into solid blocks of goo. And the result is children are getting dosed with more sugar alcohol than their little bodies can handle.
But here’s the truly shocking part: glycerol is technically considered ‘safe’ by the Food and Drug Administration and some European Union food agencies. Though let’s be real: ‘safe’ according to these food regulators may only mean ‘not immediately lethal’.
In the US, glycerol is one of 10,000 chemicals that the food industry can legally sneak into your food under an FDA loophole created by Congress in 1958.
Back then ‘Generally Recognized As Safe’ or GRAS standards were established to exempt certain food additives – like salt, yeast, flour and eggs – from the FDA’s rigorous pre-market review and approval processes.
That meant no independent testing and no long-term studies. Food manufacturers got to decide for themselves if something was ‘safe’ before adding it to your favorite snacks.
Also known as glycerin, this additive is a sugar alcohol. It’s not sugar, but it tastes like it. And kids are consuming more of it in than ever before (stock image).
But here’s the good news. On Thursday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced plans to eliminate GRAS standards for many foods sold in the US.
‘We’ve launched a review of the GRAS standards, and we’re going to get rid of the GRAS standards for most products,’ Kennedy told Fox News.
‘We have 10,000 [GRAS] ingredients [in the US]… and in Europe they only have 400, and [Americans] have the worst chronic disease burden of any country in the world.’
Go figure.
This is undoubtably a great step towards addressing America’s health crisis but there’s no reason to wait for Kennedy to act.
You aren’t powerless. You have agency, and it’s time to start using it.
Read every damn label. If it says glycerol, glycerin, or E422 (a European Union designation) — put it back on the shelf.
Avoid buying ultra processed food for yourself and your kids as often as possible. I know — it’s easy, it’s convenient, and they love it. But what’s more important? Their long-term health or a momentary tantrum?
Demand better. Food companies aren’t really going to change unless we force them.
Speak up. Complain. Stop buying from brands that put profit over people. Educate your kids. Teach them to recognize garbage ingredients and make better choices. They’re never too young to learn how to protect themselves.
At the end of the day, you are the gatekeeper of what goes into your body and your child. Stay informed, stay vigilant, and don’t trust that, just because something is sold in a store, it’s safe.
Jillian is a TV star, author and health expert. She was a personal trainer on The Biggest Loser and now hosts her own podcast, Keeping It Real
