Dragon's Breath Dangers: How the Popular Treat Can Cause Painful Injuries

The tasty frozen treat known as Dragon's Breath may look cool, but is it safe to eat?

It consists of cereal that’s instantly frozen in liquid nitrogen and found at malls, festivals and fairs. 

You grab a skewer, put it in a dipping sauce and eat. Once you pop it into your mouth, out comes the smoke — hence the name.

Lane Mattison tried it out. At first, he said it was fun blowing out smoke, but when he took a second bite, he felt a tingle in his mouth followed by popping inside his cheeks. 

"I stuck my finger in my mouth and there was blood on my hands,” he told Inside Edition. 

Mattison had burned the inside of his mouth; he said the pain was almost unbearable.  

“For about three weeks, I was limited in what I could eat,” he said. 

Florida youngster Johnny McKinney of Jacksonville ate Dragon's Breath at a local mall. His mom, Rachael, says the smoke triggered an asthma attack.

She posted video of her son eating the snack with a warning to other parents saying, "Around 20 minutes in, the cough became really consistent. He was coughing so bad that he was having trouble catching his breath."

He wound up in the hospital. 
 
Manhattan-based physician Dr. Roshini Raj says you could be in big trouble if the liquid nitrogen hasn't completely dried.

"Any part of your body that is coming in contact with liquid nitrogen could be damaged because it is very destructive to the tissues of your body," she told Inside Edition. "That could be the skin on your fingers, the lining of your mouth, the lining of your esophagus."

Her advice is simple: Avoid any food or drink with liquid nitrogen. 

The snack has been around since 2016 and some injuries have been reported since. 

RELATED STORIES