Recently, five customers consumed the mouth freshener and fell sick in a Gurugram eatery.
- Actually, Dry ice’ was mistakenly offered in place of mouth freshener to the customers and subsequently caused them to vomit blood.
- “Dry Ice” is the solid form of carbon dioxide. It is a lethal substance. Unlike regular ice, dry ice doesn’t melt into a liquid as it warms up. Instead, it converts directly back into its gaseous form in a process known as sublimation.
- It is commonly used as a cooling agent for food products like ice cream, frozen desserts etc.
- It is frequently used for food items that are needed to be cold or frozen, without the use of mechanical cooling. However, if not handled properly it may endanger human health, as it sublimes into large quantities of carbon dioxide gas which could pose a danger of breathlessness (hypercapnia).
- For this reason, it should be used/exposed to open air in a well-ventilated environment.
- Dry ice should never be kept or stored or transported in a closed environment which may lead to breathlessness due to carbon dioxide gas emission.
