FDA prohibits mixing of liquid nitrogen with drinks, food items

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 27

The Food and Drug Administration today prohibited flushing or mixing of liquid nitrogen gas with any drink or food article. The order comes after a recent incident where a man was left with a gaping hole in stomach after he consumed an alcoholic drink topped with liquid nitrogen in Gurugram.

Dr Saket Kumar, Commissioner (Food Safety) in the FDA, Haryana, In his orders issued today under section 34 of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, has cited an expert medical opinion as the reason for the ban.

“Any food article the preparation of which involves flushing or mixing of liquid nitrogen is harmful for humans, as due to low temperature liquid nitrogen can be extremely damaging to body tissues, causing frostbite and cryogenic burning on contact,” the orders said.

“If ingested, the gas can lead to severe internal damage, destroying tissues in the mouth and intestinal tract. Furthermore, as it evaporates, liquid nitrogen releases a large volume of gas, which means it can burst the stomach if ingested in sufficiently large quantities,” the order further said.

A 30-year man from Delhi was recently rushed to a hospital in Gurugram after he drank liquid nitrogen hoping it would make him high, but it had left a hole in his stomach.

Narinder Ahooja, Joint Commissioner, FDA, explained that Liquid nitrogen is used to instantly freeze food and drinks, since it has a very low temperature of minus 196 degree Celsius.

Being an inert gas, it does not cause any poisonous effect on the human body.

“However, with an expansion ratio of 1:694 at 20 degree Celsius, one litre of the liquid gas can expand to 694 litres at 20 degrees causing the stomach to burst,” he said.

Ahooja said that after the incident that occurred earlier this month, teams of FDA had raided various bars and pubs to see if they were using liquid nitrogen for instant cooling and considering the harmful effects it can have, the flushing or mixing of food with liquid nitrogen gas has been banned today.