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Indonesia urges vigilance after liquid nitrogen-infused snack causes stomach burns among kids

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Dragon’s breath dessert at the Chinatown Chinese New Year bazaar. The sweet treat is the latest food trend that is popping up all over social media. The smoke is due to the use of liquid nitrogen, at a temperature of minus 196 deg C, which is tossed with the cookies.

Health agencies in Indonesia have been instructed to oversee food products using liquid nitrogen.

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The Indonesian government is urging parents to be more vigilant and has ordered local health agencies to increase their monitoring of food establishments, particularly after multiple children throughout the country had stomach burns from a street snack that was frozen by liquid nitrogen.

The snack in question, known locally as chiki ngebul, is named after a popular Indonesian brand of packaged snacks and has taken social media by storm in recent months. Children have recorded themselves eating the snack with smoke from the liquid nitrogen coming out of their mouths.

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