BfR's latest opinion addressed whether previous conclusions about the potential health effects of glycerol in beverages also apply to solid foods. Based on available human research, and in the absence of experimental human data for specific food matrices, BfR considered it justified to assume that glycerol from solid foods is not absorbed more slowly than glycerol from beverages.

Therefore, BfR said the acute reference dose (ARfD) of 125 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) of body weight (BW) established by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), as well as the lowest therapeutically effective dose of 250 mg/kg BW previously identified by BfR, can also be applied to assessments of glycerol in solid foods, particularly fine bakery wares.

Glycerol Intoxication in Young Children Leads to European Regulatory Attention

The conclusion builds on European authorities' recent assessment of glycerol exposure, especially among young children consuming slushies. EFSA established the 125 mg/kg body weight ARfD in March 2026 after concluding that children and adults could exceed the threshold through a single serving of certain glycerol-containing beverages. EFSA also recommended that the European Commission consider establishing MLs for glycerol in beverages.

Additionally, in 2025, BfR found that even a small serving of slush ice containing average measured glycerol concentrations could expose younger children to levels at which effects on intracranial pressure had been observed.

Concerns about glycerol began to arise in 2023, when the UK Food Standards Agency advised that slushies containing glycerol should not be sold to children aged four and younger following cases of glycerol intoxication, resulting in hospitalization. At very high levels of exposure—typically when several servings are consumed by a child in a short space of time—glycerol intoxication could cause shock, hypoglycemia, and loss of consciousness.