ALBANY, N.Y. — A law intended to stop children from inhaling nitrous oxide caused confusion when ice cream stores and supermarkets began requiring ID proving shoppers who wanted to buy whipped cream were over age 21.
The state law, sponsored by New York Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr., was intended to stop the use of nitrous oxide — the gas inside whipped cream containers — among teens, as we previously reported. Nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, can be abused as a narcotic and is commonly referred to as “whippits” or “whip-its.”
But the bill was never designed to keep children away from whipped cream, Addabbo said.
When contacted by The New York Times, Addabbo said, “Are you kidding me? What elected official would do that? It’s so silly.”
In a statement, Addabbo said that the bill’s language specifies that the ban is on “whipped cream chargers,” which are the small cartridges that are inside the whipped cream canisters. “These two-inch steel cylinders contain the nitrous oxide that is dangerous when inhaled directly. They can be sold individually or in packs as refills to recharge whipped cream canisters. It is the individual charger or cartridge that is the sole target of the bill, which are accessible to younger residents and being used improperly to get the nitrous oxide high.”
Despite the bill’s intentions, confusion over the bill began when a convenience store in Albany announced that beginning Aug. 12, it would only sell cans of whipped cream to people 21 and older, USA Today reported.
Other retailers began following suit, with the New York Association of Convenience Stores advising its members to require ID, WRGB reported.
“We’ve had to turn a few teenagers away, but otherwise people chuckle it off,” Shawn Roberts, a manager at a Stewart’s Shops store told The New York Times. “It’s the same as alcohol or tobacco.”
In a statement to The New York Times, Stewart’s Shops said it would no longer be asking for identification from customers buying whipped cream.
“There hasn’t been any guidance from the state on the true intent of the law,” Mike Durant, president of the Food Industry Alliance of New York State, told The New York Times. “We’d rather be safe than sorry. Retailers want to be compliant, but when it’s not entirely certain what it would entail to be compliant or enforcement and who’s enforcing, there’s a lot of gray area in this that’s unnecessary.”
Addabbo responded to The New York Times, saying, “We did not ban the sale of whipped cream, let’s be reasonable. Why would we do that?”
©2022 Cox Media Group
