Following a social media trend when fried toothpicks shaped like curly fries were shared, South Korea’s food ministry issued a health advisory advising people not to consume the dish.
The warning is in response to the popularity of “mukbang” films showing people eating fried toothpicks—especially ones manufactured with cornflour or potato starch combined with sorbitol, alum, and artificial coloring.
Teethpicks are classified as sanitary goods, not food, as the Food Ministry made clear in a news release on Tuesday. Therefore, it has yet to be established that they are safe to eat. This revelation is due to the increasing number of children and teenagers watching “starch toothpick” mukbang videos on YouTube and other sites.
South Korean viral fried toothpicks.
A tonne of films come up when you search for “fried starch toothpick” on YouTube; some of them have received millions of views. To demonstrate how tasty toothpicks are, a YouTuber fries them, covers them with sauce, and eats them in front of the camera in one such video