# Do humans eat anything inorganic?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-eat-anything-inorganic/102711>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 9, 2002, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-eat-anything-inorganic/102711 "2002-04-09T20:00:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-eat-anything-inorganic/102711/21 "2002-04-10T13:14:09Z")

</div>

I’m surprised no one has mentioned Quarry Cereal. “It’s Better Because It’s Mined.”

Of course, this is the group that generally failed to mention John Belushi in its all-time SNL cast, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that no one remembers the bit.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-eat-anything-inorganic/102711/22 "2002-04-10T13:16:58Z")

</div>

And let’s hope you don’t have any fillings in your teeth when you start eating aluminum foil - I cringe just thinking about that feeling.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-eat-anything-inorganic/102711/23 "2002-04-10T15:55:02Z")

</div>

I’m sure people eat a lot of inorganic things, mostly unintentially. Salt has already been mentioned. I might add potassium chloride, which is used as a “salt substitute”. I remember reading in Natural History magazine about folks who used to add marble dust (!) to flour to make it whiter. I understand that other inorganic substances are deliberately added to foods for non-nefarious purposes as well.

Some inorganic substances are poisonous, of course, and they’re generally bad-tasting, which is presumably a survival trair born of natural selection. One substance, however, tastes sweet – I’m told. Lead Acetate used to be called “Sugar of Lead”. Nasty stuff.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-eat-anything-inorganic/102711/24 "2002-04-10T23:55:33Z")

</div>

Hey yeah - doesn’t/didin’t at least one brand of cereal add small iron filings (which you could supposedly pick out and see with a white magnet) to it’s product to bring it up to the recomended amount of dietary iron? I saw it somewhere… I think it was here.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-eat-anything-inorganic/102711/25 "2002-04-11T02:27:42Z")

</div>

mmmiiikkkeee, why not try it for yourself?[Use a magnet!](http://littleshop.physics.colostate.edu/IronCereal.html)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-eat-anything-inorganic/102711/26 "2002-04-11T02:28:58Z")

</div>

And this time, [this link](http://littleshop.physics.colostate.edu/IronCereal.htm) might NOT have a typo in it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-eat-anything-inorganic/102711/27 "2002-04-11T03:05:39Z")

</div>

You could always follow the philosophy of [this](http://www.breatharian.com/wiley.html) guy and not eat anything at all!

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-eat-anything-inorganic/102711.md?page=1)