Video clips showing people consuming the deep-fried starch toothpicks with seasoning such as powdered cheese have racked up thousands of likes and shares on TikTok and Instagram.

A health warning from South Korea’s food ministry has urged people not to eat fried toothpicks made of starch in a shape resembling curly fries, after the practice went viral in social media posts.

Video clips showing people consuming the deep-fried starch toothpicks with seasoning such as powdered cheese have racked up thousands of likes and shares on TikTok and Instagram.

“Their safety as food has not been verified,” the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said in a posting on Wednesday on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. “Please do not eat (them).”

  • Bob Robertson IX @discuss.tchncs.de
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    11 months ago

    “Their safety as food has not been verified,” the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said

    If it isn’t safe as food, then I don’t think it should be considered safe to go into your mouth.

    • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      11 months ago

      I mean, I understand that they’re not being made to be eaten, but they’re made from sweet potato starch or cornstarch.

      Sure, they’re not being prepped for consumption, so there might be dangerous chemical preservatives or something not listed, but the reason people are eating them is because they’re made of food.

    • quirzle@kbin.social
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      11 months ago

      If it isn’t safe as food, then I don’t think it should be considered safe to go into your mouth.

      Not sure this holds up. Most people use plastic toothbrushes and nylon floss, but wouldn’t consider either of them especially safe as food.

  • NathanUp@lemmy.ml
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    11 months ago

    So bizarre; foods like this already exist everywhere. In india they’re called far far, in UK chinese restaurants they call them prawn crackers, in Mexico they’re chicharrones de harina or duritos, and if you don’t have access to any of these options where you live, you can literally just fry rice noodles or spring roll wraps and they’ll puff up. So why the toothpicks?!