Dubai: Consuming ice cream made using liquid nitrogen is not dangerous, Dubai Municipality said on Tuesday.
The municipality’s Food Safety Department issued this clarification after rebutting a rumour spreading through a video on social media that liquid nitrogen ice cream is dangerous.
Some ice cream parlours in Dubai and other emirates are manufacturing and selling liquid nitrogen ice creams.
“Liquid nitrogen is used in many industrial applications such as rapid cooling of ice and in making ice cream, and there is no harm in consuming the food that is manufactured using liquid nitrogen,” the department said in a press release.
It said liquid nitrogen is used only to an extent that is enough to achieve the intended purpose, which is to freeze the ice cream. After freezing the ice cream, the liquid nitrogen is turned into nitrogen gas and it gets vapourised and it is not left in the final product, the municipality clarified.
“Hence, the danger is not from the angle of the safety of this food, but in the safety of persons employed in the manufacture of such ice cream, and they are supposed to undergo appropriate training to deal with this stuff,” the statement added.
Dubai Municipality is keen to ensure permanent and accurate control of all food products available in the market and that the safety of these products comes in the first place.
The official clarification comes within the ‘Confirmed News’ initiative launched by the municipality, which aims to reduce the circulation of rumous that are spread through the means of social media and to address false news and malicious rumours and correct them quickly.
