Reese Witherspoon shared a video to her TikTok account on Jan. 18 making what she called a “Chococinno” drink, consisting mostly of snow.
Using large mugs, the “Legally Blonde” actress can be seen scooping snow from the top of her car and adding chocolate syrup and cold brew to it, creating the “snow salt Chococinno” concoction.
But is the drink, and more importantly, the snow, safe to indulge in?
Can you safely eat snow?
Madelyn Fernstrom, NBC News’ health and nutrition editor, told Today if it’s been snowing for over an hour, and the falling snow hasn’t been shoveled or plowed, or doesn’t look to be discolored, it could be safe to eat.
The air after the first fall over time becomes more clean; therefore, the snow become “more pristine” and contains less amounts of contaminants, per Fox Weather.
Dr. Laura T. Martin, an assistant professor of pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, shared to Nationwide Children’s Hospital that the safest form of snow consumption is the “whitest, fluffiest top layer of fallen snow, furthest away from the ground.”
In addition, the National Snow and Ice Data Center, which is connected to the University of Colorado Boulder, echoes the importance of waiting after the first fall of snow. The organization added, “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.”
What Martin particularly advised for those wanting to consume snow is to place a clean bowl on a deck or similar outside surface free from risk of animal disturbance, collecting the cleanest form of snow possible, per Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
What makes snow dirty?
Fox Weather shared that snow begins its journey down to earth as water vapor. As it freezes, it picks up dust/pollen particles and forms into ice crystals. Eventually, the ice crystals bounce around and collect more water vapor until it is heavy enough for it to fall down.
When a snowstorm occurs, the air is full of pollutants. So the first fall of snow will contract the pollutants, but as a result from this — in addition to the first fall presumably touching surfaces such as dirt or pavement — it makes the starting fall of snow likely not safe to consume.
According to The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, the geographic location and area where snow is gathered can also affect levels of contaminants in the snow. As an example, an urban industrial area will likely have higher amounts of contaminants in comparison to a rural, nonindustrial sector.
Despite this, it’s important to know that the mere presence of contaminants in air, soil and snow doesn’t necessarily lead to hazardous exposure and/or associated risks of disease. It all depends on the “types of contaminants, the concentrations of them, and the amount or duration of exposure,” per The Ohio State University.
“For most people, a little bit of (eating snow) a single time now and then is not going to be a problem,” Fernstrom shared to Today. “Can you guarantee any snow will be contaminant free? No, but the levels will be so tiny, some research shows that it doesn’t exceed any of the levels for anything else that you find anything in the atmosphere.”