Why does a Zooper Dooper make you cough? A doctor explains

Apparently it’s a thing. And there’s a very good reason for it.

Leah Goulis

3 min read

August 24, 2023 - 6:28AM

Lifestyle

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An Aussie summer isn’t an Aussie summer without reaching for an iconic Zooper Dooper to cool the kids (and you!) down.

But have you ever noticed that upon sucking the icy cold treat, you end up coughing? And the more you suck the juice out, the more you end up in an uncontrollable fit?

Apparently it’s a thing. And there’s a very good reason for it, according to Dr Sam Hay.

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Do Zooper Dooper ice blocks make you cough? Image: Supplied

Why does a Zooper Dooper make you cough?

After my own coughing fit last week - Fairy Floss flavour did it for me - I decided to do a deep dive.

A quick Google search brings up literally hundreds of accounts of coughing incidents related to sucking on a Zooper Dooper. Ah, I’m not alone!

Back in 2012, a man named Wayde tweeted about how the iced treat made him cough, asking fellow social media users for answers.

He didn’t get answers but a year later another user obviously had it happen to him and went trawling the net for answers and responded to the man's old post: “Did you ever figure it out? Happens to me too.”

Zooper Dooper

In 2016, another fan by the name of Felicity took to Facebook to ask the question directly to the makers of Zooper Dooper.

“Was just curious what's in Zooper Doopers that cause people to cough??? If you lined up ten people and gave them a Zooper Dooper I guarantee they would all cough! So what is it chemicals? They taste amazing by the way but the cough things a bit much," she wrote.

We had a few complaints here in the Kidspot office too.

“My husband suffers from it so bad… seems to be all flavours. It drives me nuts!” said Alison.

Abbey said it’s a summer torture for her that she strangely can’t get enough of. "Between the sharp plastic slicing the sides of my mouth to the dry cough I get afterwards, eating zooper doopers is a pretty harrowing experience for me... And yet, I still eat them. And I probably always will..."

So why are we all coughing?

Some people complain they cough with all ice blocks, not just one brand. Image: iStock

Do cold things make you cough?

According to Dr Sam Hay, given the amount of talk over the topic, it’s clear there is something people are reacting to when indulging in the summer treat. And it’s mainly to do with a particular gag reflex we’re born with.

“Some people may have noticed that when the doctor looks in their ear they suddenly end up coughing. This is an incredibly normal phenomenon called Arnold's Reflex, and it occurs because the same nerve that goes to your ear is also involved with regulating the cough reflex - the vagus nerve,” he told Kidspot.

“This same reflex can be stimulated by suddenly eating or drinking something very cold, and even when breathing in really cold air. So for many people who cough when sucking back on a Zooper Dooper, this is the probable cause.”

Is it the chemicals that cause people to cough?

But what about those people who manage to suck a block of ice with no issues?

“Many people clearly state that sucking on a block of plain water ice doesn't cause the same cough reflex, so that suggests there's something else going on for them,” Sam went on to explain.

“It's possible that a food additive or colouring is triggering a local allergic response in the back of their throat, leading to the coughing fit.