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English Girl's Severe Stomach Injury Lends Lessons on Liquid Nitrogen
Bartenders at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas make liquid nitrogen ice cream cocktails (Photo by Krista Simmons/LAist)
Cocktailians know to be selective about where they belly up to the bar out of sheer taste, but it turns out that they're right to be cautious. This morning, news came across the pond that an 18 year-old English drinker had to have her stomach surgically removed in an emergency procedure due to drinking a liquid nitrogen cocktail.
Because of the alarming nature of the story, there will likely be many consumers who are a freaked out by the idea of consuming dishes made with liquid nitrogen, which is traditionally used in dermatology to freeze off blemishes, as a coolant for computers, and in studies where scientists examine the effect of very cold temperatures on materials.
Although these conventional uses for liquid nitrogen, which has a boiling point of -196C, might not sound all that appetizing, its popularity has picked up steam over the past few years with the rise of the modernist kitchen. The visual effect of the billowing gas is quite stunning, and therefore it's been used at several L.A. establishments to make cocktails: The Bazaar in Beverly Hills makes their famous salt air margaritas and frozen caiparinhas using liquid nitrogen. The Library Bar at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood uses it at special events and parties to freeze cocktails like mojitos into slushies. And at 1886, liquid nitrogen is used to insta-freeze boozy paletas, which are made with tequila, strawberries, and milk.
What happened in the case of the Lancaster teen was that the liquid nitrogen had not fully evaporated, and she drank the liquid form of the gas. According to the BBC, this is incredibly dangerous. Science writer and fellow at the Royal Society of Chemistry John Emsley said that if more than a "trivial" amount of liquid nitrogen is swallowed, the result can be horrendous.
"If you drank more than a few drops of liquid nitrogen, certainly a teaspoon, it would freeze, and become solid and brittle like glass. Imagine if that happened in the alimentary canal or the stomach. 'The liquid also quickly picks up heat, boils and becomes a gas, which could cause damage such as perforations or cause a stomach to burst,' he says.
However, Emsley says he would be surprised if anyone could actually swallow liquid nitrogen.
'It would be extremely cold in anyone's mouth - people would want to spit it out immediately,' he says.
While Emsley thinks the liquefied gas is safe in the hands of top chefs, and trained bartenders may be able to use it to create 'sensational effects', he says there needs to be a very strong warning not to play with it."
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