This has to be about the dumbest thing I've heard of in a while. That's saying a lot, as I read the news every day. How is it people do not understand that ingesting food frozen in liquid nitrogen and breathing in fumes of liquid nitrogen is a really bad idea?

https://www.news4jax.com/news/...ating-dragons-breath

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. - A mother in St. Johns County offered a warning about the liquid nitrogen-infused dessert known as Dragon Breath after she said her son ate the treat and had an asthma attack.

Racheal McKenny said her son and his friends were at a mall when they decided to try Dragon Breath -- a novelty dessert typically made of fruity cereal puffs. People who consume the treat are able to blow a puff of smoke after taking a bite.

About 10 minutes after McKenny's son ate the treat, he had an asthma attack and did not have his inhaler, his mother said.

That's when they stopped at a fire station in St. Johns County to get help.

"My son could have died. Please do not make the same mistake I did," McKenny posted on her Facebook page.

McKenney said the EMT's quick thinking saved her son's life. She hopes no other child has the same medical scare.




https://nypost.com/2018/07/31/...tm_medium=SocialFlow

‘Dragon’s Breath’ liquid nitrogen cereal is the latest deadly trend
By Natalie O'Neill July 31, 2018 | 1:07pm
Don’t get burned by a trendy liquid nitrogen-dipped cereal dubbed Dragon’s Breath — that can melt your mouth and internal organs, Suffolk County health officials warned.


The cold treat — which tastes like Fruit Loops and causes those eating it to exhale smoke-like condensed moisture — can cause frostbite, skin tissue damage and suffocation, Suffolk County Commissioner of Health Services James Tomarken said in a statement.

“If an item infused with liquid nitrogen is prepared or consumed incorrectly, it could have harmful health consequences,” he said. “Liquid nitrogen can cause damage to a person’s skin and internal organs and, if inhaled, it can cause asphyxiation (lack of oxygen).”

The frosty dessert has sparked a flurry of Youtube and Instagram videos — often posted by teenagers — showing off their “smoke” breathing techniques in recent months.

But the chemical’s extremely low temperature — between negative 196 and negative 320 degrees — puts people at risk when it’s not completely removed, Tomarken said.

He issued the warning after the state health department sent out a memo in June noting the fad food had already injured several people.

“Instances of frostbite and tissue damage have been reported when residual liquid nitrogen is left in the serving cup. If fingers are used to remove the product from the cup, skin contact with liquid nitrogen can cause frostbite,” the state health department said.

“Ingestion of liquid nitrogen can cause severe damage to the mouth, esophagus, and stomach. Preparing the puffs in a manner that removes residual liquid nitrogen prior to serving effectively reduces the potential for injury.”

In October, a 14-year-old Florida girl was hospitalized with a severe burn on her thumb after she touched one of the frigid treats while it was being prepared.

How is this any different from Dippin Dots icecream they sell at every amusement park and fair in the world for the past decade?

I think the moral of this story is if you have a medical condition you better have your medication on you.

I wonder how many people have died as a direct result from eating steak as opposed to a direct result from eating this frozen cereal.

I'm pretty sure all food can be deadly if not eaten properly.

The lesson I got is correlation clearly DOES equal causation

Because nothing else in a mall, her car or, you know, Florida, can cause an asthma attack

quote:

Originally posted by gpbst3:
How is this any different from Dippin Dots icecream they sell at every amusement park and fair in the world for the past decade?

I think the moral of this story is if you have a medical condition you better have your medication on you.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
I wonder how many people have died as a direct result from eating steak as opposed to a direct result from eating this frozen cereal.

I'm pretty sure all food can be deadly if not eaten properly.

Sure, if that food is doused with liquid nitrogen or some other chemical immediately prior to consumption.

This has got to be one if the stupidest things I have ever read. Liquid nitrogen will cause instant frostbite. Even the cold gaseous form is enough to cause frostbite. Everyone that can risk their mouth, nose, lungs, digestive tract etc to frostbite feel free to try.

Over the years working with environmental cooling chambers, i have taken many deep breaths of roomish temp nitrogen. It is not a pleasant experience. Lungs burning feeling and uncontrolled coughing, are "normal" for a person with no breathing issues.

I guess kids really are that stupid.

You guys know that air is 78% nitrogen, right?

Briefly breathing a little extra nitrogen, or eating food that was frozen using liquid nitrogen (as long as the food isn't too cold at the time of consumption) is totally fine.

quote:

You guys know that air is 78% nitrogen, right?

OMG! We're all breathing dangerous chemicals! Somebody needs to ban air.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:

quote:

You guys know that air is 78% nitrogen, right?

OMG! We're all breathing dangerous chemicals! Somebody needs to ban air.

quote:

Originally posted by maladat:
You guys know that air is 78% nitrogen, right?

Briefly breathing a little extra nitrogen, or eating food that was frozen using liquid nitrogen (as long as the food isn't too cold at the time of consumption) is totally fine.

I didn't know air was 78% liquid nitrogen.

Get a tank of nitrogen, open the valve and stick your hand in front of it. No big deal. Get a canister of liquid nitrogen, open it and stick your hand in front of it. Big deal. 2 completely different things.

quote:

Get a tank of nitrogen, open the valve and stoick your hand in front of it. No big deal. Get a canister of liquid nitrogen, open it and stick your hand in front of it. Big deal. 2 completely different things.

Two different things. Sort of like the difference between opening a can of liquid nitrogen with your hand in front of it, and say, eating a food that had been cooled with it prior to eating.

Dippin Dots have been made in a similar fashion since 1988. They must not have killed that many people. There actually was a death related to Dippin Dots just the other day, but it wasn't directly related to ingesting them.

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:

quote:

Originally posted by maladat:
You guys know that air is 78% nitrogen, right?

Briefly breathing a little extra nitrogen, or eating food that was frozen using liquid nitrogen (as long as the food isn't too cold at the time of consumption) is totally fine.

I didn't know air was 78% liquid nitrogen.

Get a tank of nitrogen, open the valve and stick your hand in front of it. No big deal. Get a canister of liquid nitrogen, open it and stick your hand in front of it. Big deal. 2 completely different things.

Actually, because of the Leidenfrost effect, you can (briefly) pour liquid nitrogen over your hand, submerge your hand in a container of liquid nitrogen, or put some liquid nitrogen in your mouth and exhale fog (just don't swallow or inhale the liquid nitrogen).




Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjsMV1MglA4




Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJcn1KiA-qM

More incomprehensible to me is that there are people dimwitted enough to sell such a product, considering the potential liability.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
More incomprehensible to me is that there are people dimwitted enough to sell such a product, considering the potential liability.

This is what I was thinking. So far as I understand it, people are not being injured by the frozen food. If I read the stories correctly, people may have been injured because liquid nitrogen was dispensed in the cup with the food. Is liquid nitrogen normally dispensed with dipping dots?

As for the Leidenfrost effect, that happens under controlled conditions. As maladat said, if one inhales or swallows the liquid nitrogen, a lot of really bad things can happen, including serious and permanent damage to the lungs.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:

quote:

You guys know that air is 78% nitrogen, right?

OMG! We're all breathing dangerous chemicals! Somebody needs to ban air.

Yeah, I told my boss I spilled some Dihydrogen Monoxide and they evacuated the plant!

quote:

Originally posted by gpbst3:
How is this any different from Dippin Dots icecream they sell at every amusement park and fair in the world for the past decade?

I think the moral of this story is if you have a medical condition you better have your medication on you.

I think the difference is they are made with liquid nitrogen and then kept cool. The food in the OP are made on the spot and the gas hasn't had time to dissipate. Something being made with liquid nitrogen is also different than being handed a cup with it actually in the bottom.

I'm sure there were some heated discussions when they first started carbonating soft drinks.

quote:

Originally posted by maladat:
Actually, because of the Leidenfrost effect, you can (briefly) pour liquid nitrogen over your hand, submerge your hand in a container of liquid nitrogen, or put some liquid nitrogen in your mouth and exhale fog (just don't swallow or inhale the liquid nitrogen).




Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjsMV1MglA4

Back when dinosaurs walked the earth, I was a college freshman looking around to find a major and the Mech E department had an open house with a bunch of demos. One of the coolest (literally) was where they handed me a small balloon I was to blow up and tie off. I then got to take that balloon in my hand and dunk both hand and balloon into a big wide thermos of liquid nitrogen. Balloon shrunk and quickly wound up very small and deflated, with liquid sloshing inside.

Then it was time to remove my hand and the balloon quickly expanded as the liquified nitrogen warmed up and became a gas again. My hand definitely felt cold, but as explained by the attendants (and the video above) the thin layer of nitrogen gas that my warm hand created kept the liquid nitrogen from contacting my skin.

Let me tell you, it felt very odd when that balloon started filling up with liquid and contracting.

Well I have had these and at least at the location where I had them AT NO TIME did the liquid nitrogen ever touch the cereal.

An aluminum bowl is frozen by the liquid nitrogen from the underside. The cereal is quickly dipped in WATER and is essentially flash frozen in the bowl.
The heat from your breath and the frozen cereal ball create a little puff as you exhale until the cereal in your mouth becomes the same temperature and the air.

It is no different that grabbing a pack of corn from the deep freeze and immediately popping them in your mouth and blowing. You get the exact same effect.

It did not even taste that good. Just tatsted like stale over sized crunch berries. A $6 fad that will soon melt away.

I have 3 boys under 5 so yes we part take in silly over priced fads from time to time.

Some how I got subscribed to a 'liberal' web site Change Dot Org that is always presenting some petition to change something.. yesterday it was a brag about HomeDepot and Lowes removing some paint thinner from their shelves because somebody died from using it.... guess what? I bet they did not read the warnings on the label of the stuff or even consider not using it in a confined space....
Methylene Chloride... damn, just the name tells me you need a seriously good respirator and or lot of ventilation to use that stuff.