South Korean authorities are telling individuals to cease deep frying and consuming their toothpicks.
“This is not a product to eat! Their safety as food has not been verified,” South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety wrote on X on Wednesday.
The warnings got here after individuals started importing movies of themselves consuming fried toothpicks. The movies are a part of South Korea’s long-running “Mukbang” craze, the place individuals movie themselves consuming exorbitant quantities of junk meals or unique meals.
Most toothpicks in South Korea are fabricated from candy potato or corn starch as a substitute of wooden. Their inexperienced coloration comes from the meals coloring that’s utilized within the manufacturing course of.
Some individuals have even supplied suggestions on-line on the way to improve the savoriness of the toothpicks, which appear like fries after they have been cooked. Others, nonetheless, have expressed skepticism concerning the subject.
“I don’t understand the kids who eat it. There are tons of delicious foods out there but they fry toothpicks and eat them with soup,” learn one touch upon TikTok. “Toothpicks have no flavor.”
The toothpick pattern in South Korea is just not the primary time authorities have gotten concerned to warn individuals concerning the hazard of consuming sure objects. In 2018, the “Tide pod challenge” noticed individuals filming themselves chewing on the brightly coloured laundry detergent packets and spitting out the cleaning soap, generally with deadly outcomes.
The problem grew so well-liked that authorities and the pods’ producer, Procter & Gamble, issued warnings to individuals to cease ingesting the pods.