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From Fox News: A TikTok trend could pose a potential hazard to children.
“Glass fruit,” otherwise known as Tanghulu — which involves hardening sugar over various fruits to give it a crunchy topping — has become a growing food trend on social media.
Making Tanghulu requires microwaving a sugar and water mixture at 30-second intervals for about five minutes until it’s boiling, according to TikToker Jasmine and Tea, who posted a tutorial in April.
The food-focused content creator warned in the video, which now has nearly 20 million views, that the mixture will get “really hot” and that people should not touch it with bare hands.
Fruit is placed on a skewer, dipped in the hot sugar water, then laid aside to harden.
However, many children have spilled the hot mixture on themselves, causing serious burns, and have had to be rushed to the hospital.
Colleen Ryan, MD, a surgeon at the Shriners Children’s Hospital in Boston, warned, “When sugar is melted in the microwave like this, it has a high heat capacity, meaning it stores the heat energy.”
Below is a video posted to YouTube about 3 years ago, showing how to make “glass fruit” by heating the water and sugar on the stove.
Severe burns reported in children making TikTok-trendy ‘glass fruit’ in microwave https://t.co/5nlXGF3BD2
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 17, 2024
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