# South Korea’s government asks people not to eat fried toothpicks

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-s-government-asks-people-not-to-eat-fried-toothpicks/996705>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [January 26, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-s-government-asks-people-not-to-eat-fried-toothpicks/996705 "2024-01-26T21:29:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-s-government-asks-people-not-to-eat-fried-toothpicks/996705/1 "2024-01-26T21:29:55Z")

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From the "headlines you never expected to read department.

But Korean toothpicks apparently are made out of compressed vegetable starch instead of wood, so the idea isn’t as batshit insane as it sounds.

[https://www.cnn.com/travel/south-korea-fried-toothpick-trend-warning-intl-hnk/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/travel/south-korea-fried-toothpick-trend-warning-intl-hnk/index.html)

> **[Why Eating Toothpicks Became a Viral Trend in South Korea](https://time.com/6588422/eating-toothpicks-viral-trend-south-korea/)**
>
> The warning from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety comes after videos of people preparing and eating fried toothpicks has gone viral.

They don’t look much different than some US packaged snacks.

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**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-s-government-asks-people-not-to-eat-fried-toothpicks/996705/2 "2024-01-28T20:17:30Z")

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“Food coloring is used to impart a green hue to the toothpicks, made from sweet potato or corn starch, which are seen as being environmentally friendly and biodegradable.” -CNN When I first read that, I thought the food coloring was made from starch. It is the toothpicks made from starch?

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**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-s-government-asks-people-not-to-eat-fried-toothpicks/996705/3 "2024-01-28T20:21:37Z")

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I would expect “Food coloring, made from sweet potato or corn starch, is used to impart a green hue to the toothpicks” if it were the food colouring.

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**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-korea-s-government-asks-people-not-to-eat-fried-toothpicks/996705/4 "2024-01-28T20:26:04Z")

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Well, yes, but we are speaking of CNN. Are toothpicks food quality? One puts them in one’s mouth, but one does not usually consume them.