I recently bought Guitar Hero 3 for the 3rd time (the first two had defective guitars…this one seems fine so far). But in addition to a sweet plastic guitar, the box comes with several of these little packets of silica gel, with the stern command on them to throw them away, and not eat them.
I figure that any object that’s clearly not food, yet has a warning to not eat it on every package, must have a juicy story behind it. Some kid who ate a whole package and ended up with a burst stomach or something.
But thanks to Google, I now know that the truth is far more dry. The packets are meant to remove moister, so they might make you slightly dehydrated if you eat a few. They are also coated in a substance that could give you cancer if you eat them on a regular basis. Other than that, they’re harmless. This guy even created an entire website devoted to his story of when he was really bored and decided to eat one. He turned out extremely lonely and in need of some outside stimulation, but that had nothing to do with eating the silica gel. *
What a disappointment. No burst stomachs, no weird rashes, no murder-by-silica-gel (#42). Just a resounding “it’s not a good idea to eat it, but it won’t kill you.” Oh well, at least you learned something.
* Maybe he should become friends with this guy, who has a full fan site devoted to silica gel (and judging by the site, is a time traveler from 1995).
Phronk.com 
Comments
10 responses to “Throw Away. Do Not Eat.”
i personally believe you should decide for yourself, in other words, try it.
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i personally believe you should decide for yourself, in other words, try it.
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Stop trying to kill me. You try it and get back to me. 🙂
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Stop trying to kill me. You try it and get back to me. 🙂
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Weird, I thought the same way you did, except I was too lazy to research it, even with the easy access to the magical interweb… Thanks to your report, I do know more.
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Weird, I thought the same way you did, except I was too lazy to research it, even with the easy access to the magical interweb… Thanks to your report, I do know more.
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haha. cute and geeky, just how I like em.
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haha. cute and geeky, just how I like em.
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Not sure if the well designed “1995” site had this particular information – too hard to read – but here is a little tidbit of trivia about silica gel.The silica will change colors when fully moisturized. That’s how you can tell if your product / electronics / optics have been compromised. However, if you stick the silica gel in the microwave and run it for about 10 seconds, it’ll allow another re-use!You owe me if you’re ever on Jeopardy and they ask that…
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Not sure if the well designed “1995” site had this particular information – too hard to read – but here is a little tidbit of trivia about silica gel.The silica will change colors when fully moisturized. That’s how you can tell if your product / electronics / optics have been compromised. However, if you stick the silica gel in the microwave and run it for about 10 seconds, it’ll allow another re-use!You owe me if you’re ever on Jeopardy and they ask that…
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