Health Canada is cautioning the public against the purchase and recreational use of nitrous oxide, more commonly known as laughing gas, saying it can result in serious side effects, including death.
Nitrous oxide products are appearing in both online and brick-and-mortar stores, marketed as “whipped cream chargers” in an assortment of flavours, the federal health agency said in a recent advisory.
“Advertising and selling nitrous oxide products for inhalation to the public is strictly prohibited,” Health Canada said, noting that many such products are “deceptively labelled.”
Some of the nitrous oxide products confiscated by border security were labelled under brand names such as Bamboozle and Need Whip. (Health Canada photo)
Many of the products are appearing in large containers that consumers would not normally associate with whipped cream, and in stores that typically do not stock whipped cream chargers, the agency said….