If you haven’t hoarded enough Reddi-wip to get you through Christmas, you might be out of luck.
America is in the midst of a nationwide whipped cream shortage.
The culprit isn’t the cream or anything dairy related, but a shortage of nitrous oxide.
Food and Wine explains:
The situation is so dire that last month food giant ConAgra had to halt production on its popular Reddi-wip brand, and as of last week, at least one Boston-area market posted that the “shortage affects all of our whipped cream suppliers,” meaning the store could have no product “for at least 10 days.”So how does an entire country run out of nitrous oxide? The problem stems from a fatal August explosion at a Florida-based plant of nitrous oxide producer Airgas coupled with the shutdown of the company’s Canadian facility for safety reasons. A plant in Mississippi is also apparently having issues (leading you to wonder if some of that nitrous is leaking into the corporate offices). According to the Chicago Tribune, Airgas has been working to build supply back up, but medical suppliers, who use the gas as anesthesia, are getting priority over whipped toppings that can pretty easily be made at home without any laughing gas.But for those who prefer spray cans over manual whipping, you’ll likely have to wait until the end of the holidays. ConAgra reportedly suggested that Reddi-wip supplies wouldn’t be back to normal until mid-January 2017.
Forget the canned stuff, bust out the mixer and whip your own cream. Just don’t get too carried away or you’ll end up with butter.
And just in case you’re not sure how to whip that cream — a tutorial.
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