According to the Daily Mail, "New York City has banned trendy charcoal ice cream and lattes over concerns the active ingredient could cause constipation and render medication less effective.
Jet black food and drink erupted on Instagram last year after stores started infusing their products with activated charcoal, a detoxing agent commonly used in hospitals.
In New York, the trend sent business booming.
People lined up around the block at the Lower East Side's gelateria Morgenstern's for their black coconut ash ice cream, at Chinatown's The Good Sort for an ebony-hued coffee, and at Miss Paradis for acai-charcoal pancakes.
But now, the Health Department has issued a recall on activated charcoal - ordering stores to throw out thousands of dollars' worth of the stuff, after a petition warning it could tamper with medication, including a woman's birth control.
Trendy: Black ice cream has been hailed as the antithesis of the hackneyed unicorn fad. In New York's Lower East Side, people have started lining up around the block to get an Instagram-tastic scoop from Morgenstern's (pictured)
Activated charcoal has been used for decades in hospitals to detox patients, perhaps from an overdose.
The substance is an absorbant, meaning it sucks out the toxins from your stomach.
But it can also absorb medications, including birth control pills.
In terms of New York City health rules, charcoal has technically always been banned, and health officials have been urging restaurants and cafes to stop using it for years.
However, the recent Instagram trend led to a surge in eateries flouting the rules.
It led to a petition for the city to rein it in.
'Activated charcoal can actually make your birth control and other prescription medicines less effective,' said a petition, posted in October 2017, calling for an end to activated charcoal in New York.
'Yeah: if you eat activated charcoal shortly after taking a hormonal contraceptive, you could wind up pregnant.'
The petition reached 20,000 supporters in two weeks.
According to gynecologist Dr Alyssa Dweck, author of The Complete A to Z for your V, there is a risk - but not in small doses.
'If you're having charcoal ice cream once a month, I wouldn't worry about it. For charcoal to absorb medication, we're talking about medical-grade levels of charcoal. Ice cream will not have that month.'
That said, she added, 'if you're having charcoal ice cream twice a day or every day, then yes, you should not rely on your birth control to be the most effective - but that would be a lot'.
'Ultimately there is very little information on it,' Dweck added. 'But I would say that if you're worried about it, then use a condom.'
However, the city of New York disagrees.
Morgenstern's was forced to throw out $3,000 worth of activated charcoal and health officials confiscated bags of it from cafe Round K, according to The Culture Trip."
Source: New York City BANS trendy black ice cream and lattes | Daily Mail Online
Jet black food and drink erupted on Instagram last year after stores started infusing their products with activated charcoal, a detoxing agent commonly used in hospitals.
In New York, the trend sent business booming.
People lined up around the block at the Lower East Side's gelateria Morgenstern's for their black coconut ash ice cream, at Chinatown's The Good Sort for an ebony-hued coffee, and at Miss Paradis for acai-charcoal pancakes.
But now, the Health Department has issued a recall on activated charcoal - ordering stores to throw out thousands of dollars' worth of the stuff, after a petition warning it could tamper with medication, including a woman's birth control.
Trendy: Black ice cream has been hailed as the antithesis of the hackneyed unicorn fad. In New York's Lower East Side, people have started lining up around the block to get an Instagram-tastic scoop from Morgenstern's (pictured)
Activated charcoal has been used for decades in hospitals to detox patients, perhaps from an overdose.
The substance is an absorbant, meaning it sucks out the toxins from your stomach.
But it can also absorb medications, including birth control pills.
In terms of New York City health rules, charcoal has technically always been banned, and health officials have been urging restaurants and cafes to stop using it for years.
However, the recent Instagram trend led to a surge in eateries flouting the rules.
It led to a petition for the city to rein it in.
'Activated charcoal can actually make your birth control and other prescription medicines less effective,' said a petition, posted in October 2017, calling for an end to activated charcoal in New York.
'Yeah: if you eat activated charcoal shortly after taking a hormonal contraceptive, you could wind up pregnant.'
The petition reached 20,000 supporters in two weeks.
According to gynecologist Dr Alyssa Dweck, author of The Complete A to Z for your V, there is a risk - but not in small doses.
'If you're having charcoal ice cream once a month, I wouldn't worry about it. For charcoal to absorb medication, we're talking about medical-grade levels of charcoal. Ice cream will not have that month.'
That said, she added, 'if you're having charcoal ice cream twice a day or every day, then yes, you should not rely on your birth control to be the most effective - but that would be a lot'.
'Ultimately there is very little information on it,' Dweck added. 'But I would say that if you're worried about it, then use a condom.'
However, the city of New York disagrees.
Morgenstern's was forced to throw out $3,000 worth of activated charcoal and health officials confiscated bags of it from cafe Round K, according to The Culture Trip."
Source: New York City BANS trendy black ice cream and lattes | Daily Mail Online
why tho???
@ the artwork on the can
