OH NO! There’s A Whipped Cream Shortage Just Before Christmas

But at least you can still make your own.
You can have the hot cocoa. But you might not be able to get the whipped cream due to a shortage of the gas used in the spray cans.
YelenaYemchuk via Getty Images
You can have the hot cocoa. But you might not be able to get the whipped cream due to a shortage of the gas used in the spray cans.

If you want that happy feeling nothing in the world can buy, then pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie... but you might not have any whipped cream to put on top of them.

There’s a nationwide shortage of nitrous oxide, the gas used in whipped cream spray cans such as Conagra’s Reddi-wip.

“It’s in stores now, but we’re encouraging people to buy it early,” Conagra spokeswoman Lanie Friedman told the Chicago Tribune. “There will be a shortage if people buy at the typical levels during the holidays.”

The shortage is due to a deadly explosion at a Florida plant run by Airgas in August.

The nitrous oxide from the plant is used by Conagra as well as other companies that make whipped cream, but it’s also used for medical purposes. And right now, Airgas is prioritizing getting the gas to medical customers ahead of whipped cream makers, the Omaha World Herald reported.

As a result, shoppers are starting to see signs on shelves warning of the shortage.

Don’t worry, you can still have a marshmallow world in the winter when the snow comes to cover the ground.

If you’ve got the time for play, you can make it a whipped cream day by making your own.

It’s easier than you think, and there’s a recipe with instructions right here.

Alternatively, you could always buy the frozen stuff... unless the shortage of spray cans leads to a run on Cool Whip.

Before You Go

Drunken Honeyed Figs with Lemon Mascarpone Whipped Cream

Whipped Cream Recipes

Popular in the Community

Close

HuffPost Shopping’s Best Finds

MORE IN LIFE