Although liquid nitrogen has been identified by authorities as harmful, people in the industry disagree which led me to wonder if liquid nitrogen is a dangerous as they say or if it’s just been given a bad rap?
Liquid nitrogen cocktails have become popular because they bubble and let out smoke, which adds a “wow” factor to cocktails. The use of liquid nitrogen has become extremely controversial since the incident which left a British teen in a critical condition in hospital.
It seems the problematic issue with liquid nitrogen is that its use is not regulated which means that even inexperienced bartenders are able to use this potentially lethal ingredient in their concoctions. When used safely by well-trained bartenders, liquid nitrogen is not dangerous, but for patrons how can we tell the difference?
The danger involved with liquid nitrogen use is that it expands more than 600 times its volume when it changes from a liquid to a gas, which can cause serious damage to the human body if this change were to take place within it (this is what happened to the girl in The UK). So basically if the liquid enters the human stomach and turns into a gas, it can explode.
Although authorities are likely to ban the use of liquid nitrogen if you do decide to try a cocktail made with liquid nitrogen, do not drink it until the nitrogen has evaporated. Be careful because nitrogen has no colour or taste, so it may be difficult to detect.
