Batam BPOM Supervises Circulation of Chips Ngebul Containing Liquid Nitrogen

Head of BPOM Batam Lintang Purba (frontmost) (ANTARA/Yude)

BATAM - The Batam Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) is monitoring the distribution of Chips Ngebul snacks containing liquid nitrogen or LN2 as an additive to the food.

"We, together with the Health Service, have brought together several locations selling these snacks. We also convey to traders regarding the potential dangers of using liquid nitrogen in food", said the Head of BPOM Batam, Riau Islands, Lintang Purba, as reported by ANTARA, Monday, January 9.

In addition to conveying the potential dangers of using liquid nitrogen, please see how these traders use liquid nitrogen in food.

"What type of liquid nitrogen is used, whether the food has entered food grade (standardization of materials suitable for producing food equipment), the condition of the canisters, and how the liquid nitrogen remains", he said.

Lintang explained, warnings so far did not recommend the use of liquid nitrogen for food because there had been no definitive studies on its use.

This liquid nitrogen is usually only used as an additive in the manufacture of ice cream which is used as a coolant.

"So don't mix it into food. Some are used for food, but it depends on the quality of the food such as for industry. It is not used as a food additive", he said.

For this reason, he appealed to traders and the public not to consume foods containing liquid nitrogen in the first place.

"We do not recommend until there is a study from experts regarding the use of liquid nitrogen in food", he said.