Don't panic - this article's headline is misleading. Eating snow is not dangerous, but a recent study took a closer look at what kids are ingesting when they eat snow. As reported in Science, snow, even in relatively pristine places like the Yukon, contains large amounts of bacteria. Luckily our stomachs, extremely acidic environments, are equipped to kill such bacteria.
Although it may not be reassuring, Dr. Penelope Dennehy of the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on infectious diseases, reminds us that, "It's a very ubiquitous bacteria that's everywhere...Basically, none of the food we eat is sterile. We eat bacteria all the time."
So how much snow is okay to eat? Small children whose diet is primarily formula will have less acid in their stomaches and should not eat snow. For everyone else, catching snowflakes on your tongue is certainly fine, a "meal of snow" should be avoided.
Read more here.
(photo by the AP.)
© 2010 Apartment Therapy
Oh, in the Yukon and other Arctic areas, they are ingesting far more than bacteria... all the pollutants produced in the industrialized south are carried to the north, where they are deposited...polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides and insecticides...
...the saddest thing is how the polar bear is the most contaminated mammal on earth -- between industrial contaminants and global warming, it is seriously threatened.
http://www.ngo.grida.no/wwfap/core/newsroom/stories2002/10/1.html
view mschatelaine's profile
this makes me sad! My favorite snowy day snack is a glass full of packed snow topped off with orange juice - it's a perfect slushy! oh boy - is nothing sacred???
view mangosteen's profile
um, is it just me or does anyone else see that the title of the article seems to imply that "snow eating" as an activity is endangered (as in becoming more rare) not that it is dangerous, which is not to say that it isn't.
view ndvheller's profile
on the rare times we had a snow in my childhood, one of the big thrills was to have some snow cream, which was milk, raw egg and sugar, whipped together and mixed with fluffy snow.
view Kate (NC)'s profile
ndvheller, I thought the same thing. Either that or that snow eating is a pleasure for endangered kids.
view Otherkate's profile