Making desserts or drinks infused with shaved ice is common in many countries. A key factor in all ice-based drinks or snacks is that the ice or snow should be filtered and safe from harmful pollutants or bacteria. Recently, a lifestyle influencer went viral for making a ‘Snow Latte’, purportedly by using snow directly from the ground. Her video triggered a flurry of comments, with people highlighting the harms of consuming unclean snow. Once snow falls on the ground, it picks up bacteria, pollutants, and dirt. Often animals, like pet dogs defecate and urinate on the snow which further contaminates it.
In her viral video, the influencer, named Nelly, first pours a large cup of black coffee in a bowl filled with snow. She mixes the snow and black coffee and this mixture turns into chunks of iced coffee. She then adds creamer and powdered sugar into the mix and whisks it thoroughly. Nelly takes a large mason jar and drizzles caramel syrup on its inside. She pours some cold water into the coffee and snow mixture and whisks it, before pouring it all into the mason jar. In the end, she takes a round ice tray and fills it with snow. Once the snow turns into ice cubes, she puts them in the mason jar. After adding the ice cubes, Nelly announces that the snow latte is ready.
This video has gathered over eight lakh likes and over 22,000 comments. Commenting on it, an Instagram user cautioned, “Snow is not safe to drink without being boiled.” Another sarcastically wrote, “A fun fact about that snow is that at least 5 dogs pissed on it.” An Instagram user mentioned, “I ate snow as a kid once because I thought it was a great idea… I had diarrhoea for three days straight.” Someone commented, “Americans think snow is 100% filtred pure water.”
The early snow collects pollutants from the air. As per the National Snow and Ice Data Center, “Snow acts like a scrubbing brush as it falls through the atmosphere. So, the longer the snow falls, the cleaner the air, and also the snow.”
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