# Eating the 'Do-Not-Eat' Pack. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 20, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-do-not-eat-pack/540080 "2010-05-20T00:55:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-do-not-eat-pack/540080/21 "2010-05-20T13:45:54Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > Silica is also used in foods and in cosmetics. It is basically inert, and ingested, it passes straight through. However, airborne fine jagged crystals of silica can lodge in the lungs and cause irritation and damage, possibly leading (eventually) to lung cancer. Silicosis is a lung disease caused by long-term silica exposure. > > **Si** Now that’s what I call an expert opinion 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-do-not-eat-pack/540080/22 "2010-05-20T13:56:16Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > This thread is rather disappointing. I rather hoped that the answer would be “all the water will be sucked instantly from your body and you will turn into a desiccated husk blowing tumbleweedlike around your home”. ☹ Your post gave me a mental image that was both disturbing and hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![cdsilv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cdsilv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cdsilv)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-do-not-eat-pack/540080/23 "2010-05-20T14:08:49Z")
‘Do not Eat’ is put there for lawsuit avoidance. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-do-not-eat-pack/540080/24 "2010-05-20T14:41:50Z")
> [@cdsilv](#): > > ‘Do not Eat’ is put there for lawsuit avoidance. This is the closest corporations come to morality, so it shouldn’t be surprising. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-do-not-eat-pack/540080/25 "2010-05-20T14:46:34Z")
Bill Engvall commented on these packets with something along the lines of: "What kind of moron would think that was something to eat in the first place? Do you ever buy a camera and \*\*expect \*\*to get gum, too? “Let’s see…here’s the camera body, and…look, some Chiclets!” Make the stuff a deadly poison, leave off the warning, and improve the gene pool. Think of it as evolution in action. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-do-not-eat-pack/540080/26 "2010-05-20T17:38:12Z")
I’d imagine that you’d get a case of diarrhea from it, though. As it passes through the intestines, it’ll absorb water from the intestinal walls instead of the other way around, causing the effluvia to be more liquidy than it should be. Not a bad enough case to be lethal, I’m sure, but still probably unpleasant. ---
**Author:** ![born\_too\_late](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba9def/32.png) [@born\_too\_late](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/born_too_late)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-do-not-eat-pack/540080/27 "2010-05-20T19:26:19Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > …the intimidation factor of a floating note and bag… So that’s what the kids are calling it these days. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-do-not-eat-pack/540080/28 "2010-05-20T19:42:58Z")
**Duckster** said: > [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by johnpost > > silica gel is nontoxic > > Cite. According to that link, the silica itself is nontoxic, but it might be doped with toxic agents. > [@](#): > > Silica gel is non-toxic, non-flammable, and non-reactive and stable with ordinary usage. It will react with hydrogen fluoride, fluorine, oxygen difluoride, chlorine trifluoride, strong acids, strong bases, and oxidizers[5]. Silica gel is irritating to the respiratory tract, may cause irritation of the digestive tract, and dust from the beads may cause irritation to the skin and eyes, so precautions should be taken [6]. **Some of the beads may be doped with a moisture indicator, such as cobalt(II) chloride, which is toxic and may be carcinogenic.** Cobalt (II) chloride is deep blue when dry (anhydrous) and pink when moist (hydrated). Bolding added. **Colophon** said: > [@](#): > > This thread is rather disappointing. I rather hoped that the answer would be “all the water will be sucked instantly from your body and you will turn into a desiccated husk blowing tumbleweedlike around your home”. ☹ No, for that you need anhydrous ammonia. **Chronos** said: > [@](#): > > I’d imagine that you’d get a case of diarrhea from it, though. As it passes through the intestines, it’ll absorb water from the intestinal walls instead of the other way around, causing the effluvia to be more liquidy than it should be. Not a bad enough case to be lethal, I’m sure, but still probably unpleasant. You think it would pull more moisture from the colon than it absorbs? I would think it would work in conjunction with the colon, and you’d get constipation. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-do-not-eat-pack/540080/29 "2010-05-20T21:05:21Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > You think it would pull more moisture from the colon than it absorbs? I would think it would work in conjunction with the colon, and you’d get constipation. Like I said, it doesn’t really absorb all that much water, sadly. I suppose it absorbs enough water to do it’s job in electronics and such, but put it in a glass of water and it just pops a bit and stays in little hard balls. It doesn’t even absorb enough water to turn into mush. ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-do-not-eat-pack/540080/30 "2010-05-20T21:06:37Z")
> [@Chris\_Luongo](#): > > My best guess is because they look, at first glance, like a salt packet. When I was in the service we used to get these packs of bread that came with a single slice in a packet with a silca gel pack in it to keep it fresh. A Mexican buddy of mine sent a bunch to his non-English speaking family and they wrote back that the bread was good but the flavor packets didn’t taste very good, heh. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-do-not-eat-pack/540080/31 "2010-05-21T15:50:22Z")
Any other clever reuses, besides making a five year old girl giggly? I save the things, I can’t even remember why I started now. Oh yeah, I was going to dry some flowers, which I never did. Now I have an large, open, mason jar in the pantry that I toss them into, whenever I come across them. Jar’s almost full, any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-do-not-eat-pack/540080/32 "2010-05-21T18:23:32Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Jar’s almost full, any suggestions? Yes. Do not eat. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-do-not-eat-pack/540080/33 "2010-05-21T20:38:48Z")
**WhyNot** said: > [@](#): > > Like I said, it doesn’t really absorb all that much water, sadly. I suppose it absorbs enough water to do it’s job in electronics and such, but put it in a glass of water and it just pops a bit and stays in little hard balls. It doesn’t even absorb enough water to turn into mush. Okay, so it doesn’t absorb much (like vapor amounts okay, liquid amounts no). So how much does it pull out of the intestinal walls? How does it pull more than it absorbs? My understanding is that it pulls by absorbing. Am I wrong? Irritation is listed as the possible side effect, not diarrhea or constipation. Irritation because it is grit. I suppose irritating the lining of the intestine with grit can make it not absorb as well. Seems a different thing than what was being suggested above, however. ---
**Author:** ![toodlepip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@toodlepip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toodlepip)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-do-not-eat-pack/540080/34 "2010-05-21T22:38:41Z")
Vet here. Dogs seem to find those little packets quite palatable, and in my experience, never suffer any ill effects. Incidentally, I’ve always wondered why people find it so difficult to give their pets oral meds. It seems they instantly gobble up anything else the owners drop on the floor. I’ve had dogs chew through their owners’ handbags to eat strip of contraceptive pills, plastic included, or climb furniture to get to a pack of aspirin. Still, they’ll spit out a worming tablet hidden in a chunk of liver. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-do-not-eat-pack/540080/35 "2010-05-21T22:49:24Z")
I think we should note too that some of these packets are not silica gel to absorb moisture, but are scavaging oxygen in pharmaceuticals or in food. So all that’s been said about eating silica gel packs may not hold true for these oxygen scavaging packs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-do-not-eat-pack/540080.md?page=1)