Our commentary
Shriners Children's has now warned about this trend twice, a year apart, which is the part worth paying attention to.
Why this is a burn story and not a food story
The mechanism deserves stating plainly, because "candied fruit" sounds harmless in a way that molten sugar at 350°F is not. Three properties compound: sugar reaches temperatures far above boiling water; it has a high heat capacity, so it holds that energy; and it is viscous, so it adheres to skin instead of running off. Small contact areas produce deep burns.
The microwave is what turns a traditional confection into an emergency-department trend. A saucepan on a hob is watched. A mug of sugar syrup in a microwave gets lifted by a child, in a container that may be melting, or made of glass that shatters when it meets a cold counter.
The follow-up is the story
Public health warnings usually get one news cycle. What makes the September 2025 release notable is that it is a warning about a trend the hospital already warned about in August 2024 — and it reports eight patients treated at a single hospital in 2025 alone, following "dozens" hospitalized nationally during 2024.
The same release makes a comparison that reframes the whole category. Instant noodles, per the hospital, account for nearly a third of paediatric scald burns, and Shriners Boston sees such injuries two to three times a week. That figure has peer-reviewed backing: a ten-year review at the University of Chicago found instant noodle burns made up 245 of 790 paediatric scald burn admissions.
So the trend-driven burns are not an aberration in an otherwise safe kitchen. They are an accelerant on top of a large, steady, largely unremarked baseline.
The practical part
Cool running water over the burn for at least 20 minutes. Not ice — ice worsens tissue damage. Remove clothing at the site. Seek medical attention.
At 140°F, three seconds of contact causes a second-degree burn in an adult. Molten sugar is more than twice that temperature.