JAKARTA - The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) said that so far there have been 10 cases with symptoms of food poisoning due to consuming liquid nitrogen in gerbul chiki snacks.
This food contains steam produced through the process of using liquid nitrogen in its presentation.
"So, there are 10 cases with symptoms of food poisoning," said Director of Environmental Restoration (PL) of the Ministry of Health Anas Ma'ruf in a virtual press conference on the Vigilance of Nitrogen Liquid in Food Ready to Be Saji in Jakarta, Antara, Thursday, January 12.
Anas said, today the Ministry of Health received a new report of food poisoning cases from East Java due to consuming ngbul chiki, bringing the total cases to 10 with food poisoning symptoms.
Nine cases were reported, namely one case from Ponorogo Regency, seven cases with symptoms from Tasikmalaya Regency, and one case from Jakarta.
"Today there is a report from one from East Java that there is a possibility that a child who has experienced an incident of poisoning related to chiki ngbul. An investigation is currently being carried out," he said.
The use of liquid nitrogen in ready-to-eat food products is a concern and causes problems for public health, namely ice smoke or snaking chiki which is popular with children.
The product not only provides a cold taste, but also a mouth sensation that emits smoke, originating from liquid nitrogen or nitrogen liquid, which is nitrogen which is in a liquid state at very low temperatures.
"If the snack is not a problem but nitrogen is liquid, then if we see why many people consume it but it happens a little because if you eat snacks that are no longer nitrogen, it is not dangerous," he said.
Anas said that from the data on cases of food poisoning due to consuming these products, the majority were experienced by children. Symptoms that arise include nausea, vomiting and stomach pain.
For details, in July 2022, one case in children who consumed ice smoke or chiki ngbul in Ngasinan Village, Jetis District, Ponorogo Regency caused burns.
On November 19, 2022, the UPTD of the Leuwisari Health Center in Tasikmalaya Regency reported an extraordinary incident (KLB) of food poisoning with 23 cases, of which one of them was referred to the hospital. However, only seven of the 23 cases showed symptoms after consuming fried chiki snacks.
On December 21, 2022, the emergency room at the Haji Hospital in Jakarta reported receiving a 4.2-year-old boy patient who came with a complaint of severe stomach pain after eating a gerbul chiki.
Anas said that the health impact of swallowing or breathing liquid nitrogen in gerbul chiki will be more severe for people with vulnerabilities such as people who have respiratory tract disease or asthma, and who have vulnerabilities in the digestive tract ranging from concavity to the stomach.
He said serving with liquid nitrogen will not be dangerous for consumers, if when consumed, snacks are no longer nitrogen because the liquid nitrogen is volatile.
"The problem is when the liquid nitrogen is still in a cold condition or there are still quite a lot of levels that enter both the digestive tract and the respiratory tract through vapor, this is the problem," he said.
Anas said the health impact of consuming liquid nitrogen was that it caused inflammation and burns, especially in some soft tissues such as the skin.
According to him, inhaling too much steam produced by food or drinks processed using liquid nitrogen can also trigger difficulty breathing.
In addition, consuming nitrogen that has been disbursed can cause the throat to feel like a fire because the temperature is very cold and directly comes into contact with the body's organs, and can trigger internal damage to the body's organs.
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