Drinks made using liquid nitrogen have been banned in Sydney following the near death of a young girl in Britain.
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Teenager Gaby Scanlon had to have her stomach removed in a near-death experience this week after she drank a cocktail made with alcohol and liquid nitrogen during a night out with friends.
The 18-year-old woman complained of breathlessness and gastric pain before being taken to a hospital in the northern English city of Lancaster where she was diagnosed with a perforated stomach.
The NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing said it had ordered two Sydney cocktail bars - the exclusive Zeta Bar in the Hilton hotel and the Roosevelt in Kings Cross - to stop using liquid nitrogen while OLGR investigates its use.
The owner of the Roosevelt, Sven Almenning, said the directive was misguided because his drinks did not actually contain liquid nitrogen.
His cocktail bar has a drinks trolley with a liquid nitrogen tap which is used to instantly cool vintage glassware.
The liquid nitrogen is not used in the drink.
Earlier this week, Mr Almenning told a liquor industry publication liquid nitrogen was perfectly safe and non-toxic to use as a cooling mechanism.
"Liquid nitrogen is used in the best restaurants and bars all over the world. We use it as a method of preparation but there’s no nitrogen in the drinks," Mr Almenning said today.
"That would be just crazy - to serve actual nitrogen to your customers, but if you use it in the preparation it is perfectly safe and legal."
He said the OLGR's "knee jerk" reaction was based on a lack of knowledge about what liquid nitrogen was. He likened it to banning barbecues if someone injured themselves while cooking a steak.
When exposed to air, liquid nitrogen creates a dense fog and is used by bartenders and chefs to add an element of visual drama to dishes or to freeze things quickly, such as ice-cream.
UK celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal pioneered the use of liquid nitrogen in cooking, part of the "molecular gastronomy" movement he has made famous.
In one dish, the waitstaff in Blumenthal's restaurants turn a rose petal into an egg at the table which can then be cracked into liquid nitrogen to be whisked up to smoky-bacon ice cream.
Liquid nitrogen is also used by doctors for removing warts and in some industrial settings. Contact with flesh can cause cryogenic burn or "frostbite".
Zeta Bar, which did not respond to a request for comment, boasts a list of "experimental cocktails" using contemporary cocktail trends such as "grilling" fruit, deconstructing cocktails and the use of "foams" and "airs" using "methods new to mixology as perfected by molecular gastronomic restaurants such as El Bulli".
A spokesman for the the OLGR said it was "investigating the use of liquid nitrogen in alcoholic drinks" following the Gaby Scanlon case.
It has used its powers under the Liquor Act to restrict liquor products in individual venues.
"OLGR is concerned the use of liquid nitrogen in alcoholic drinks may pose an unacceptable risk of harm to the public and may breach requirements under the liquor laws," the spokesman said.
"The Zeta Bar and The Roosevelt were ordered to cease the promotion, sale or supply of drinks containing liquid nitrogen until OLGR's investigation is completed, with both bars invited to make written submissions should they wish within seven days. Both bars have complied with OLGR's orders.
"Any other licensed venues identified as continuing to promote, sell or supply alcoholic drinks containing liquid nitrogen should be prepared for similar compliance action by OLGR."
