Monitoring desk
ISLAMABAD/JAKARTA: At least 20 children in Indonesia suffered stomach burns after having a street snack frozen with liquid nitrogen to participate in the viral TikTok trend.
According to the Independent, the snack locally known as a “chiki ngebul” is named after a famous Indonesian brand of packaged snacks.
Eating dragon’s breath
In recent months, the snack, also known as “dragon’s breath,” became part of the TikTok trend in which the children recorded themselves eating it with smoke from liquid nitrogen coming out of their mouths.
The Indonesian government urged greater vigilance and warned against using liquid nitrogen in ready-to-eat food.
Anas Ma’ruf, Health Ministry’s director for environmental health, said that “liquid nitrogen (could reach temperatures) of minus 190 degrees Celsius. If it comes into contact with the skin, it can cause frostbite or cold burns. It also causes respiratory and digestive issues if inhaled and swallowed (in large amounts),”.
Indonesian authorities said the first case was reported in East Java’s Ponorogo regency in 2022 when the child developed freeze burns after consuming the snack.
The authorities issued advisories to “mobile hawker food outlets” against selling such snacks and asked schools to educate children about the dangers.
