Broken pipe at back of fridge - Dangerous?

[jay24888]

Hi, i've just realised after 2-3 days, that the pipe on the back of our fridge-freezer has snapped (looks like damp has caused this). I only realised when all of our food started going off...

I haven't got a picture but it's a rubber pipe that spirals like an "S" behind the back fridge panel, this leads in to the fridge about half way up between the fridge and the freezer. It's the only rubber pipe that does this as the rest are at the bottom.

I've switched the fridge off by the mains however, I have a young child in the house and i'm just wondering if this has leaked any gases?

I was going to seal it up this weekend to fix it but i'm just wondering if this is dangerous or not...

 

[wotan]

If it's a rubber pipe / tube, it's unlikely to be part of the refrigeration circuit, more probably to do with the auto defrost.

Wotan

 

[jay24888]

If this snapped would it cut off the refrigeration for the entire fridge?