After social media videos of the contentious practice generated uproar, South Korean health officials are cautioning the public not to eat deep-fried toothpicks.
Public service advertisement (PSA) from the East Asian nation’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety stated, “This is not a product to eat,” on X, the former name for Twitter.
It further stated, “Their safety has not been verified.”
As shown in viral TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube videos, the weird food craze entails frying dental hygiene devices in oil, puffing and corkscrewing them like curly fries, and then decorating them with powdered cheese and other seasonings, according to The New York Post.
A YouTuber likened the flavor to “rice cakes” in one of their videos.
