Liquid nitrogen: Dragon’s-Breath

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration alerts consumers and retailers of the potential for serious injury from eating, drinking, or handling food products prepared by adding liquid nitrogen at the point of sale, immediately before consumption.

Liquid nitrogen, although non-toxic, can cause severe, and in some cases, life-threatening damage to skin and internal organs if mishandled or accidently ingested due to the extremely low temperatures it can maintain.

There has also been a report of difficulty breathing after inhaling the vapor released by liquid nitrogen when added immediately before consumption.

Inhaling the vapor released by a food or drink prepared by adding liquid nitrogen immediately before consumption may also cause breathing difficulty, especially among individuals with asthma.

Foods and drinks prepared by adding liquid nitrogen immediately before consumption may be sold in malls, food courts, kiosks, state or local fairs, and other food retail locations.

These products may include liquid nitrogen-infused colorful cereal or cheese puffs that emit a misty or smoke-like vapor.

Similarly, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks prepared with liquid nitrogen emit a fog.

Injuries have occurred from handling or eating products prepared by adding liquid nitrogen immediately before consumption, even after the liquid nitrogen has fully evaporated due to the extremely low temperature of the food.

In general, other foods treated with liquid nitrogen prior to the point of sale and before consumption, for example some frozen confections, are treated in such a way that results in the complete evaporation of liquid nitrogen before reaching the consumer and are no longer at an extremely low temperature, and therefore do not pose a significant risk of injury.

For more information
FDA – The U.S. Food & Drug Administration
Link…

MDN

This post is also available in: itItalian

Recommend to friends
  • gplus
  • pinterest

About the Author

Nota bene: Nelle diverse lingue i contenuti possono cambiare anche nella sostanza