The snow is fresh powder that's like 5 inches tall. I'm obviously not scooping all the way to the ground or where people/dogs have walked or pooped. In fact, the second time, I didn't even get it from the ground. Any contaminates from the air are doubtful enough to cause illness in such a small dose; plus, I breathe air all day.
Buuuuut, back to the food aspect, depending on the wetness/stickiness, snow has a very different texture from shaved ice, much finer and not crunchy at all. This was powder, not sticky enough to make snowballs even.