Indian Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Harsh Vardhan, has announced that the government will investigate the issue of restaurants serving food and drinks embellished with liquid nitrogen.
The assurance came after a member raised the issue following an incident in July, when a man reportedly drank a cocktail with liquid nitrogen at a Gurgaon pub that burnt a hole in his stomach. The Haryana government subsequently banned the use of liquid nitrogen in drinks and food.
Liquid nitrogen, which has a boiling point of -195.8°C, is widely used by molecular gastronomy chefs to instantly freeze food and drinks. As it evaporates, liquid nitrogen freezes everything around it, including tissues that come into contact with it.
Experts and industrial gas safety specialists argue, however, that food and drinks prepared with liquid nitrogen should be consumed only after all the gas has bubbled off.
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