The Deadly Explosion Behind America's Whipped-Cream Shortage
Just in time for the holidays
In August, a gas tanker exploded not far from a nylon factory in Cantonment, Florida. And this winter, just time in for the holiday season, the whole country is facing a sudden shortage of Reddi-wip. These two events are directly related, and their connection reveals the complicated mechanics of bringing sweet whipped dairy topping to your holiday pie.
Reddi-wip’s key ingredient is neither sweet nor dairy but a gas: nitrous oxide, better known as laughing gas.. And race-car engines use it for an extra boost, when nitrous oxide explosively decomposes into nitrogen and oxygen.
