# Eating Paper

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-paper/286044>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 22, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-paper/286044 "2005-01-22T05:06:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Binky\_Rudich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Binky\_Rudich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binky_Rudich)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-paper/286044/1 "2005-01-22T05:06:06Z")

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I’m watching Intolerable Cruelty with George Clooney and a particular scene (spoiler: eating of a pre-nup) got me thinking…

How safe is eating paper? How much paper can one get away with eating? Does the type of paper matter?

Thank You.

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**Author:** ![Binky\_Rudich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Binky\_Rudich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binky_Rudich)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-paper/286044/2 "2005-01-22T05:07:36Z")

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ooops.

sorry about the plot give-away, its a relitively minor plot-point anyways.

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**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-paper/286044/3 "2005-01-22T05:29:30Z")

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> [@Binky\_Rudich](#):
>
> ooops.
> 
> sorry about the plot give-away, its a relitively minor plot-point anyways.

In the future, know that you can use the spoiler tag to help prevent that problem. You do it by [spoiler] putting these:

Tasty plot details go here!

…around the text you want to hide.[/spoiler]

To see what I wrote above, click-and-drag to highlight the black boxes.

As for eating paper: its basically wood cellulose (a fibrous starch) pulped and mixed with water, bleaches, and other chemicals. In small amounts, most paper is probably harmless (except for the ink printed on it, or anything it soaked up). In large quantities, well, I don’t know enough about the chemistry of papermaking to tell you if it will poison you.

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**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-paper/286044/4 "2005-01-22T05:56:18Z")

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I suggest that you stick to eating paper that is approved for food packaging. Your body cannot digest cellulose, so do not eat cheese with the paper because it may cause blockage. Prunes might be a good side dish. 😛

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**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-paper/286044/5 "2005-01-22T06:13:44Z")

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> [@kniz](#):
>
> I suggest that you stick to eating paper that is approved for food packaging.

Fruit Loops: A source of 300% of the recommended daily intake of fibre\*.

- Packaging is part of a balanced breakfast.

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**Author:** ![Binky\_Rudich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Binky\_Rudich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binky_Rudich)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-paper/286044/6 "2005-01-22T06:25:54Z")

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i wonder what the caloric value might be?

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**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-paper/286044/7 "2005-01-22T07:10:08Z")

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> [@Binky\_Rudich](#):
>
> i wonder what the caloric value might be?

Of paper? As **kniz** says, it’s mostly undigestible to your body. I don’t expect you’d get a lot of energy from it at all.

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**Author:** ![Zonyx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a183cd/32.png) [@Zonyx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zonyx)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-paper/286044/8 "2005-01-22T11:58:25Z")

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Paper. It’s what some people eat to fill themselves up when they don’t want to gain any weight. Mmmmm