# Free Advice: Don't Swallow Rancid Oil **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 14, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953 "2005-11-14T04:38:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![St\_Ides](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@St\_Ides](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St_Ides)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/21 "2005-11-14T20:28:28Z")
I can’t eat red peppers anymore. I used to not mind them, until one day I caught a stomach flu, after eating a dinner that was chock full of fresh red peppers. During a session of hardcore vomiting, I believe a piece of red pepper managed to lodge itself in either my nose or sinuses. I could smell nothing but red pepper for the better part of a week. ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/22 "2005-11-14T20:49:28Z")
It wasn’t just ice cream, but homemade ice cream! We didn’t close the lid properly and the salt/ice mixture leaked into the ice cream. Had a big bowlful. Didn’t mind it at the time but never could eat homemade again. Still can’t, 40 years later. ☹ > [@BubbaDog](#): > > When I was a teen I got sick after drinking a rootbeer float. > I couldn’t drink rootbeer for at least 5 years afterward. > Luckily I had no problem with ice cream. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/23 "2005-11-15T00:24:26Z")
Eat a couple of saltine crackers and drink a glass of water. It’s what market researchers use to cleanse the pallet during taste testing. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/24 "2005-11-15T00:45:36Z")
My parents brought home a box of donuts that had been fried in rancid oil once, when I was a kid. I can still vividly remember the flavor and, while donuts don’t completely disgust me anymore, I don’t find them hard to resist. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/25 "2005-11-15T01:12:53Z")
> [@Madd Maxx](#): > > Eat a couple of saltine crackers and drink a glass of water. It’s what market researchers use to cleanse the pallet during taste testing. Are these the pallets that the product came on, or what? ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/26 "2005-11-15T01:23:55Z")
I made a batch of waffles with rancid oil once (corn oil, not olive). You wouldn’t think a tablespoon of oil could completely trash a sizable batch of waffles. You would be wrong. Not only did they taste foul, they had an odd brittle texture. I still eat waffles, I’m glad to say. But I sniff oil before using it for anything. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/27 "2005-11-15T01:29:37Z")
As a child I once vomited up macaroni and cheese. I remember seeing a big bubble of regurgitated cheesy fluid wobbling on top of my plate. I haven’t been able to eat the stuff since, and I like pasta, and I like cheese. But the two together make me want to vomit. I can’t even eat macaroni salad. Once Ivylad was cooking pasta shells, mentioned that they looked “fluffy,” and that turned me right off dinner that night. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/28 "2005-11-15T01:37:41Z")
Dude, all y’all are trying to give me a food complex. (If there were ever a time we needed a pukey smiley, this thread is it) I asked my dad to mail me a bagful of flour krupuk (basically chips made from flour that you deepfry. Kind of like the veg version of pork rinds). Unfortunately, the oil he used musta been rancid because my tongue tasted like I’d fellated an engine that hadn’t been cleaned in years. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/29 "2005-11-15T05:16:49Z")
I have two questions: 1. What were you doing _drinking_ olive oil in the first place? 2. Why am I the only person to have asked the first question? ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/30 "2005-11-15T06:04:00Z")
> [@Sleel](#): > > I have two questions: > > 1. What were you doing _drinking_ olive oil in the first place? > 2. Why am I the only person to have asked the first question? I meant to ask that too . . . ---
**Author:** ![Apricot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Apricot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apricot)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/31 "2005-11-15T06:19:03Z")
Different types of oil go rancid at different rates, but they pack the stuff with something other than oxygen at the factory, sometime nitrogen, but I don’t know what else they use. Sesame oil goes bad especially quickly, so I refrigerate it. The distinctive smell of dog food is rancid oil - dogs like it better that way! Maybe that’s the ticket - eat some Beggin’ Strips - “Dogs don’t know it’s not Bacon!!!” ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/32 "2005-11-15T06:20:45Z")
_Posted by Giraffe:_ > [@](#): > > This thread is far too inspirational and uplifting to be a Pit thread. Boy meets rancid oil, boy drinks rancid oil, boy learns an important life lesson about rancid oil. Boy, meet MPSIMS. Well, I thought the disgusting nature of my problem, and the similar stories it was likely to elicit, might reasonably include language that belongs in the Pit. On the other hand, it’s nice to see that we can now curse freely in MPSIMS. (Or maybe that was always the case.) _Posted by Sleel:_ > [@](#): > > I have two questions: > > 1. What were you doing drinking olive oil in the first place? > 2. Why am I the only person to have asked the first question? 1. “For reasons we needn’t go into here.” Please read the OP. 2. They read the OP. Okay, if you really want to know, it was related to the leg surgery I had last week. I was warned that I might be constipated afterwards; by Sunday, and 72 hours without a bowel movement, it was becoming clear this was the case. I practically never have this problem, so I wasn’t sure how to deal with it. I drank several cups of coffee, and even had a milkshake: nothing. Then I remembered that Jack Dempsey used to drink a little olive oil before a fight to clear out his system. Okay, it seemed reasonable that oil might get things moving. Obviously you’d want to use fresh olive oil, the kind you’d sprinkle with rosemary and dip bread into. This is where the brain malfunction (which I’m blaming on painkillers) comes into play. I opened my cabinet and took out an old bottle with maybe half an inch left in it. Anybody with a normally functioning brain would have realized the oil was too old, likely rancid, and should be tossed instead of swallowed. But down it went, about a teaspoon. Not only did it not help, but it immediately made me queasy. I ended up dealing with the original problem through more drastic measures. Happy now? I like to think of life’s endless series of humiliations as character-building lessons. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/33 "2005-11-15T07:28:16Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > Happy now? I like to think of life’s endless series of humiliations as character-building lessons. An excellent attitude! I find that dried fruit always gets the ol’ tract moving nice and quick, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/34 "2005-11-15T14:39:46Z")
> [@chaoticbear](#): > > Are these the pallets that the product came on, or what? Palate. There, is that better? Is that what you wanted to read? WHY CAN"T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE? Just kidding. It was late, and I didn’t bother to preview. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/35 "2005-11-15T14:45:47Z")
I ate (or at least _put in my mouth and chewed_) a rotten brazil nut once; the taste was foul and indescribable, but if I was forced to attempt to define it, I would say _zombie halitosis_. ---
**Author:** ![RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RancidYakButterTeaParty)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/36 "2005-11-15T15:47:40Z")
**Free Advice: Don’t Swallow Rancid Oil** I feel that rancid items have an undeserved reputation. Some of us rather enjoy them. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/37 "2005-11-15T16:24:30Z")
> [@Madd Maxx](#): > > Palate. There, is that better? Is that what you wanted to read? WHY CAN"T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE? Just kidding. It was late, and I didn’t bother to preview. Actually, I reread what I wrote last night, and I was like… “man, I’m such a dick.” ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/38 "2005-11-15T16:54:12Z")
> [@chaoticbear](#): > > Actually, I reread what I wrote last night, and I was like… “man, I’m such a dick.” Let’s split the difference: Saltine crackers taste like pallets and also cleanse the palate. They’re Pallaterific! ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/39 "2005-11-15T17:34:58Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#): > > Addm e to the list of people who wonders how olive oil goes bad…I mean, how long does it take you to use up your olive oil? I use it in almost any recipe calling for vegetable oil in the skillet (ie heat 2tbsp of veg oil in skillet, then put in chicken, garlic, tomatoes, whatever). This is to be distinguished from subbing it in recipes and the like, for instance, I don’t use olive oil when making waffles… > > I also use a quick spray of PAM cooking spray for eggs, pancakes, and the like. Even a minor olive flavor with my breakfast would be too much. Bah. I use Olive Oil for _everything_: omelettes, in the pancake batter :eek: , sauteing veggies, etc. I buy Philppo Berio light tasting oil. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953/40 "2005-11-17T01:21:16Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > _Posted by Sleel:_ > > 1. “For reasons we needn’t go into here.” Please read the OP. > 2. They read the OP. I did read it and figured that you wanted to keep the situation focused on the taste. Good writing and all that. It was later, I was curious, and so I asked. I was surprised that no one else had asked because, let’s face it, what else are you going to do? Post about the time you drank that Pepsi with the grey-green mat of fungus floating on the top? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-advice-dont-swallow-rancid-oil/330953.md?page=3)