Update: Liquid Nitrogen
Nearly three years later ....
Time marches on. In October, 2012, we considered the poignantly unfortunate tale of Ms. Gaby Scanlon, who required removal of her stomach after consuming a specialty cocktail containing liquid nitrogen↑.
This week we learned:
There are, of course, questions about how this happened and every indication seems to be that putting liquid nitrogen in drinks is really stupid. According to Ms. Scanlon, she was not advised to drink the cocktail in any particular way. "I turned to the man and asked if it was okay to drink. He said 'yes'." And a friend testified that a bartender told Ms. Scanlon to "drink it while it's still smoking", which might well be confirmed by the eventual resolution of the case:
Look, it's true we can say anything we want about consumers. Hell, there's a place in Nevada served a thing called a Heart Attack Burger, and it's actually caused at least two heart attacks, in the restaurant, while consuming it. Say what we will about eating the burger, but most consumers don't know that consuming that much cholesterol can cause a reaction that spikes the cholesterol in the bloodstream and can in fact cause acute heart attacks. Oh, yeah, and a guy who made a point of eating at the restaurant every day was one of the heart attacks, and he did not survive.
It's one thing to say the five alarm chili is gonna be hot, or the five-star rice. Think of it this way: At the salsa convention in San Antonio, they unleash the genuine beasts, unstable concoctions clocking between eleven- and sixteen-million Scos. It's a pinprick on a tortilla chip, and the volunteers are indeed risking their health; so much so that they must sign insurance waivers in order to participate. One particular brand, the way it's packaged, makes you go through three death's head warnings before you can open the bottle: the seal around the box, the box itself, and the seal wrapped around the bottle inside the box. The handlers at the convention wear hazardous material suits. Now, it's one thing if, as has happened before, some teenagers get hold of the stuff and, not knowing what it is, dare one another to drink hot sauce. The damage is unbelievable; those bottles contain enough to potentially kill between several and many times over, but this ain't Kool-Aid, so ... right. Still, though, if a bar was to mix, say, even a quarter teaspoon of this stuff into a bloody mary, or something, there would be no safe way to drink it. A single sip would be dangerous to a consumer's health.
Liquid nitrogen? How is this even a good idea?
And, yeah, on behalf of consumers: If you can't trust your barkeep, who the hell can you trust?
Best wishes, of course, to Ms. Scanlon. Life without a stomach doesn't simply sound unpleasant or unsatisfying; in truth, it's an existential abstraction difficult to compare. I can't wrap my head around it intellectually; what sort of visceral comprehension might I ... well, let's face it, there is none.
I mean, liquid nitrogen? I don't care if another bar is doing it. How the hell does ....
I mean ....
Hello?
____________________
Notes:
Juaregui, Andres. "Bar Fined For Liquid Nitrogen Shot That Destroyed Teen's Stomach". The Huffington Post. 18 September 2015. HuffingtonPost.com. 20 September 2015. http://huff.to/1Jj9AAZ
Nearly three years later ....
Time marches on. In October, 2012, we considered the poignantly unfortunate tale of Ms. Gaby Scanlon, who required removal of her stomach after consuming a specialty cocktail containing liquid nitrogen↑.
This week we learned:
A bar in England got slapped with a hefty fine equivalent to more than $156,000 after it took responsibility for serving a teen a shot of liquid nitrogen that nearly killed her, and caused her to have her stomach surgically removed.
(Juaregui↱)
(Juaregui↱)
There are, of course, questions about how this happened and every indication seems to be that putting liquid nitrogen in drinks is really stupid. According to Ms. Scanlon, she was not advised to drink the cocktail in any particular way. "I turned to the man and asked if it was okay to drink. He said 'yes'." And a friend testified that a bartender told Ms. Scanlon to "drink it while it's still smoking", which might well be confirmed by the eventual resolution of the case:
In June, Oscar's Wine Bar pleaded guilty to one count of failing in the duty of an employer to ensure the safety of persons not in its employment, and admitted they had not ensured the liquid nitrogen shot was safe to drink.
The lawyer representing the bar apologized on behalf of the family that runs it, and said the owners were "mortified" when they learned what happened.
Andrew Dunn, director of the company, said he got the idea to serve liquid nitrogen shots after seeing similar cocktails at a bar in London.
Dunn struck a deal with prosecutors, who agreed not to present evidence against him personally if he agreed to pay an amount equivalent to about $31,000 in court costs.
The lawyer representing the bar apologized on behalf of the family that runs it, and said the owners were "mortified" when they learned what happened.
Andrew Dunn, director of the company, said he got the idea to serve liquid nitrogen shots after seeing similar cocktails at a bar in London.
Dunn struck a deal with prosecutors, who agreed not to present evidence against him personally if he agreed to pay an amount equivalent to about $31,000 in court costs.
Look, it's true we can say anything we want about consumers. Hell, there's a place in Nevada served a thing called a Heart Attack Burger, and it's actually caused at least two heart attacks, in the restaurant, while consuming it. Say what we will about eating the burger, but most consumers don't know that consuming that much cholesterol can cause a reaction that spikes the cholesterol in the bloodstream and can in fact cause acute heart attacks. Oh, yeah, and a guy who made a point of eating at the restaurant every day was one of the heart attacks, and he did not survive.
It's one thing to say the five alarm chili is gonna be hot, or the five-star rice. Think of it this way: At the salsa convention in San Antonio, they unleash the genuine beasts, unstable concoctions clocking between eleven- and sixteen-million Scos. It's a pinprick on a tortilla chip, and the volunteers are indeed risking their health; so much so that they must sign insurance waivers in order to participate. One particular brand, the way it's packaged, makes you go through three death's head warnings before you can open the bottle: the seal around the box, the box itself, and the seal wrapped around the bottle inside the box. The handlers at the convention wear hazardous material suits. Now, it's one thing if, as has happened before, some teenagers get hold of the stuff and, not knowing what it is, dare one another to drink hot sauce. The damage is unbelievable; those bottles contain enough to potentially kill between several and many times over, but this ain't Kool-Aid, so ... right. Still, though, if a bar was to mix, say, even a quarter teaspoon of this stuff into a bloody mary, or something, there would be no safe way to drink it. A single sip would be dangerous to a consumer's health.
Liquid nitrogen? How is this even a good idea?
And, yeah, on behalf of consumers: If you can't trust your barkeep, who the hell can you trust?
Best wishes, of course, to Ms. Scanlon. Life without a stomach doesn't simply sound unpleasant or unsatisfying; in truth, it's an existential abstraction difficult to compare. I can't wrap my head around it intellectually; what sort of visceral comprehension might I ... well, let's face it, there is none.
I mean, liquid nitrogen? I don't care if another bar is doing it. How the hell does ....
I mean ....
Hello?
____________________
Notes:
Juaregui, Andres. "Bar Fined For Liquid Nitrogen Shot That Destroyed Teen's Stomach". The Huffington Post. 18 September 2015. HuffingtonPost.com. 20 September 2015. http://huff.to/1Jj9AAZ
