01/22/2024 8:20 pm (current 01/22/2024 8:35 pm)
Reese Witherspoon sparks online debate about hygiene with snow consumption. ©Canva, Portal, @reesewitherspoon/TikTok
Reese Witherspoon, known from film and television, recently caused controversy on TikTok by eating snow for dessert. This led to a widespread online discussion about the safety and tradition of eating snow.
Reese Witherspoon, 47, gained attention when she shared a TikTok video of herself making a “snow and salt chococinno.”
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Eating snow as a trend
She took the snow off the grill, topped it with salted caramel and chocolate sauce, and added some cold coffee to give the dessert a coffee flavor. The video received more than 4.1 million views, but also generated critical comments. Some users have expressed concerns about the health risks of eating snow.
Reese Witherspoon's reaction
Witherspoon responded with three more videos in which she downplayed commenters' concerns. She emphasized that she grew up in a generation that drank tap water and enjoyed water from the garden hose in the summer. She questioned whether she should filter snow before eating it and revealed that she thinks it's overkill.
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Snow Cream on TikTok
The idea of using snow as a dessert is not new. On TikTok you can find several videos under the term “snow cream”, in which users make their own creations with snow and other ingredients. In December 2022, user @sugar_boogerz shared a video of her mixing snow with condensed milk, which received over 26.3 million views. Popular TikTok creator Alexis Nikole also featured a snow cream recipe in January 2021 that received 2.1 million views.
Is eating snow safe?
As Witherspoon's video and her reactions spread across the Internet, questions remained about whether eating snow was risky. Jennifer Johnson, a family medicine physician at Mayo Clinic Health System, warned AccuWeather that snow can contain contaminants like dirt and microbes. Fresh snow is likely less contaminated than old snow. Most people would have a good immune system and wouldn't eat enough snow to feel the negative effects. However, people with immunodeficiency should be more careful.