# Why Does it Feel Weird to Eat Aluminum Foil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 26, 2017, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-weird-to-eat-aluminum-foil/792139 "2017-07-26T05:44:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pansy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19b73/32.png) [@pansy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pansy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-weird-to-eat-aluminum-foil/792139/1 "2017-07-26T05:44:52Z")
Thanks ---
**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:** [July 26, 2017, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-weird-to-eat-aluminum-foil/792139/2 "2017-07-26T05:51:34Z")
Because it is weird. OK, if you have silver amalgam fillings, the two different metals in contact, together with your saliva as an electrolyte, are combining to make a very simple battery - the current is small, but your mouth is sensitive. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-weird-to-eat-aluminum-foil/792139/3 "2017-07-26T06:04:38Z")
Need answer fast? ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-weird-to-eat-aluminum-foil/792139/4 "2017-07-26T07:28:31Z")
I’m going to bet most of us here haven’t eaten aluminum foil and won’t appreciate that it feels weird. Could you describe the weird feeling with a little more detail please. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-weird-to-eat-aluminum-foil/792139/5 "2017-07-26T08:11:07Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Because it is weird. > > OK, if you have silver amalgam fillings, the two different metals in contact, together with your saliva as an electrolyte, are combining to make a very simple battery - the current is small, but your mouth is sensitive. I assume this is what you were really asking about. To those of us without such fillings it just feels weird because it’s a metal foil, which has a different texture to anything we consider food. Hammer it thin enough, like closer to gold foil, and we probably wouldn’t notice. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-weird-to-eat-aluminum-foil/792139/6 "2017-07-26T12:18:53Z")
But you do get a tingle where the foil touches to amalgum fillings. Its a galvanic aka voltaic cell. When you have two different metals connected by saline water. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-weird-to-eat-aluminum-foil/792139/7 "2017-07-26T13:02:19Z")
I think of this OP whenever I look at my dog happily chewing on a ball of aluminum foil (usually which he finds as a trash item). The first time I saw it I thought I should run to take it away, to save him discomfort, remembering my feeling, before I calmed down. ETA: Since I know nasty responses often follow my posts about my dog: yes, I take the aluminum ball away from him. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2017, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-weird-to-eat-aluminum-foil/792139/8 "2017-07-26T13:10:19Z")
You also get a similar effect when you touch the mouthpiece of a brass instrument to orthodontic devices. ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-weird-to-eat-aluminum-foil/792139/9 "2017-07-26T13:46:19Z")
My 40 year old daughter, who has never had a cavity, will freak out others when she chews foil. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-weird-to-eat-aluminum-foil/792139/10 "2017-07-26T14:09:46Z")
Isn’t aluminum slightly toxic? Maybe deliberately eating it is not the best idea. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-weird-to-eat-aluminum-foil/792139/11 "2017-07-26T14:15:23Z")
In Soviet Union horror movie, aluminum foil eats you. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-weird-to-eat-aluminum-foil/792139/12 "2017-07-30T21:49:07Z")
**Why Does it Feel Weird to Eat Aluminum Foil?** In addition to the other answers provided above, it might be helpful to point out that aluminum foil is not made of food… ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-weird-to-eat-aluminum-foil/792139/13 "2017-07-30T22:04:35Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I’m going to bet most of us here haven’t eaten aluminum foil and won’t appreciate that it feels weird. Could you describe the weird feeling with a little more detail please. the OP means chew, not eat. And if you have no metal in your mouth, the concept has 0 meaning for you. To anyone with metal in their teeth, it feels like you bit into a 9volt transistor battery. It shocks you ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-weird-to-eat-aluminum-foil/792139/14 "2017-07-31T01:36:49Z")
Because it isn’t food? ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-weird-to-eat-aluminum-foil/792139/15 "2017-07-31T19:14:23Z")
Another aspect, that has nothing to do with dental fillings, is that a ball of aluminum foil will compress without rebounding or crumbling. I can’t think of anything else (at the moment) that behaves that way. Gum doesn’t compress so much as squish (as you bite down, it spread out horizontally); meat and vegetables tend to rebound (rubbery vegetables) or break apart (e.g. broccoli, celery); bready stuff tends to crumble or slightly rebound.