Gaby Scanlon was celebrating her eighteenth birthday when a drink containing liquid nitrogen left her with life-threatening injuries. Surgeons removed her stomach to save her life.
The incident happened at Oscar’s Wine Bar and Bistro in Lancaster, England, on October 4, 2012. Three years later, the company behind the bar was fined £100,000 after admitting that it had failed to ensure the drink was safe.
Her case remains a serious example of the harm a dramatic-looking food or drink can cause when the substances used to create the effect are not handled safely.
Featured photograph: Liquid nitrogen, photographed in 2008. This is not Scanlon’s drink. Photo: Cory Doctorow aka gruntzoki on Flickr, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. Original photograph used without editorial alteration.
A birthday celebration became an emergency
Scanlon, from Heysham in Lancashire, had been out with friends. The drink was a shot called Nitro-Jägermeister.
Contemporary reporting on the prosecution described how she became seriously ill after consuming the liquid-nitrogen cocktail.
She was taken to hospital, where doctors found a large perforation in her stomach. Emergency surgery removed the organ and connected her small bowel to her oesophagus.
The operation allowed her to survive an injury that could have been fatal. It also left consequences extending far beyond the night of her birthday.
The court case came three years later
ITV’s report from September 17, 2015 said Oscar’s Wine Bar Limited had pleaded guilty at Preston Crown Court to failing in its duty to protect people who were not its employees.
The company admitted it had failed to ensure that the shot was safe for customers. The court imposed a £100,000 fine.
The Journal’s report on the sentencing also recorded a £40,000 contribution toward prosecution costs. Lancaster City Council had brought the case following its investigation.
The fine was a penalty against the company. It should not be confused with a compensation payment to Scanlon.
Photo: Michael Graham, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. Original photograph used without editorial alteration.
What Scanlon said about living afterward
After the sentencing, Scanlon issued a statement about the lasting impact on her health and her wish to move forward.
ITV published her statement and her solicitor’s account. Her solicitor described repeated episodes of severe pain, hospital admissions, the need to eat small amounts frequently and regular vitamin injections.
Scanlon said she would never have consumed the drink if she had understood what could happen. She also asked to be allowed to get on with her life.
That request deserves respect. Her story is a documented account of injury and survival, rather than an invitation to speculate about her private life today.
Why the liquid itself is dangerous
Liquid nitrogen can be used in food preparation, including rapid freezing. That is different from serving it for someone to swallow.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s food-service guidance explains that the substance is extremely cold and can severely damage skin and internal organs if mishandled or accidentally ingested. It says liquid nitrogen should not be directly consumed.
The hazard comes from its physical properties and very low temperature. The guidance also distinguishes safe preparation uses from practices that make food unsafe.
A misty presentation does not tell a customer whether a product has been prepared safely.
Photo: Toby Hudson, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Original photograph used without editorial alteration.
Scanlon’s case was about more than an unusual cocktail. It was about a customer trusting that a drink offered for consumption would be safe.
She survived because doctors acted urgently. The prosecution later established the company’s responsibility for failing to protect her, while her own statement made clear that the effects of that failure did not end with the court case.