Dozens of bars and clubs in the West End have been warned over the dangers of using liquid nitrogen and dry ice to serve food and drink at Halloween.
Westminster council has written to venues in central London after a teenager in Lancaster consumed liquid nitrogen in a cocktail and had to have her stomach removed.
Gaby Scanlon, from Lancashire, was celebrating her 18th birthday with friends last month when she drank two shots of the liqueur Jagermeister, which was laced with the substance.
She revealed last week that she felt fine after her first drink but suffered “excruciating pain” the moment she drank the second, offered to her by the bar man because it was her birthday.
The chemical, which is extremely cold and only exists at temperatures of between -210C and -196C starts to evaporate the moment it comes into contact with room temperature air, creating a dramatic dry-ice effect.
If the nitrogen has not burned away fully, as a liquid it has the power to freeze objects in a matter of seconds. Touching the liquid can give severe cryogenic, or cold, burns.
The council has now written to all venues considered likely to be using the substance over Halloween to warn them of the potential dangers.
James Armitage, food health and safety manager, said: “Halloween is a popular time for places to serve drinks and food in the same manner and we want people to enjoy themselves safely.
“We are advising caution in the use of either liquid nitrogen, or dry ice, and customers are urged to be very careful when consuming these types of products.
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“Liquid nitrogen is the more dangerous out of the two and businesses and customers should ensure that it has completely boiled off, with no fog or mist visible, before attempting to consume the product.
“Both substances carry the risk of cold burns, asphyxiation in encosed spaces, and explosions in enclosed containers, the latter as a result of the rate of expansion as the substances change state.”
