M'sia man falls sick after eating snow

Malaysian netizen Herman Rawi uploads TikTok videos of him tasting all kinds of food, from cherry and nectarine to instant noodles and snow.

But the Jan 28 video of him eating snow is the only one that comes with a cautionary warning.

Having to battle hot weathers on the equator for most time of the year, almost all of us love cold dessert such as ice kacang and bingsu.

Perhaps this is why Mr Herman tends to lack self-restraint when he sees snow.

During his recent trip to Yamagata, Japan, he filmed himself eating a ball of snow. He captioned the video: "A reason I had terrible fever, cough, runny nose and body aches for eight days."

Mr Herman claimed he would eat fresh snow in the UK, where he was studying, and never fell ill.

"I used to eat snow during the winter when I studied in the UK years ago. I would often go for the freshest snow at an undisturbed place and never fell sick," he told Malaysian alternative news portal WeirdKaya.

Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon on Jan 19 uploaded a TikTok video of herself making "chococinno" with snow she scooped from outside her house.

"It's not worth the risk, whether it be freshly fallen or on the ground," said nutritionist and dietician Harriet Skevis. 

Snow is nature's air filter, the ice crystals forming as it collects dust and pollen from the air. The crystals trap more contaminants as they fall through the air.