The Internet Is Grossed Out Over Reese Witherspoon Eating Snow, But Is It Actually Bad for You?
Reese Witherspoon may be America's sweetheart, but that doesn't mean the internet is taking it easy on her. The Morning Show actress came under fire this weekend after sharing her "Chococinnos" recipe on TikTok. The drink is made with actual snow she collected off her car.
"So we got a ton of snow over the past few days. We decided to make a recipe," Witherspoon said in a voiceover on TikTok. "First we scooped the snow into cups, and we added salted caramel syrup, and some chocolate syrup. And then we decided to add some cold brew."
And while Reese happily bit into her snow day concoction without a care in the world, TikTok users did what they do best: made a mountain out of a mole hill.
"The way she’s just eating pollution slush puppies lmao," one user wrote. "Does she not know how much bacteria is in snow," another chimed in, while adding that the recipe was "trifling."
"I’m from south Florida. Checking in with the comments to see if this is normal," a third person wrote.
For her part, Reese seemed unbothered by the controversy. "We went and took snow from the backyard and we microwaved it and it's clear," she told commenters. "Is this bad? Am I not supposed to eat snow?"
She went on to add that she's "in the category of 'you only live once' and it snows maybe once a year," while adding that the dessert was "delicious." Reese also told viewers that she actually grew up with unfiltered water, and that they "actually put [their] mouths on the tap" or drank straight from the hose.
So...what is the consensus? Is it actually safe to eat snow?
Staci Simonich, a professor of environmental and toxic ecology at Oregon State University, confirms that there are, in fact, pesticides and other not so great materials found in snow, it's not actually a "risk to health."
"I would not hesitate for my children to have the joy of eating a handful of fresh fallen snow from my backyard.... Because the pesticide concentrations are low and the amount of snow eaten in a handful is small, so the one-time dose is very low and not a risk to health," she told NPR.
Jeff Gaffney, a professor of chemistry at the University of Arkansas, agreed that the contaminants in snow are "all at levels well below toxic." Keep on making those Chococinnos, Reese!
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