South Korea’s food ministry has issued a health warning appealing to people not to consume fried toothpicks, which are made of starch and have a shape similar to that of curly fries after the practice of eating this bizarre food item went viral on social media platforms.
In the video clips shared on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, people were seen eating deep-fried starch toothpicks with seasoning like powdered cheese. Such videos attracted thousands of likes and shares on these social media platforms.
“Their safety as food has not been verified,” said the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, in a post shared on social media platform X on Wednesday (Jan 24). “Please do not eat (them),” it added.
The post further added, “Starch toothpicks are a hygiene product! The safety of sanitary products is managed according to standards and specifications for ingredients, manufacturing methods, and uses.”
The post added that videos of people eating or frying in oil things like toothpicks, and sanitary products have gone viral.
Food colouring used on ‘crispy’ toothpicks
People have been using food colouring to give a green hue to toothpicks, which are made either from corn starch or sweet potato and are considered biodegradable and environmentally friendly.
However, the toothpicks contain an ingredient called sorbitol, which is harmless if consumed in small amounts, however, it leads to vomiting, inflammation and diarrhoea if overconsumed.
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The toothpicks, which are generally used in restaurants in South Korea, are also used by people to eat finger foods. In South Korea, online eating shows, like “Mukbang”, in which people are shown eating unusual dishes or excessive amounts of food are popular.
The government of South Korea in 2018 tried to impose regulations on these videos to stop them from influencing people to eat bizarre stuff and harming public health.
In one of the videos shared by a TikTok user, he was seen crunching up fried toothpicks and saying, “It’s very crispy”.
(With inputs from agencies)
