Korea's popular starch toothpicks were originally used to feed pigs and contain alum and other ingredients

There has been a trend of eating "fried starch toothpicks" on Korean social platforms.In the video, the blogger pours green starch toothpicks into hot oil to fry, then sprinkles them with seasonings or cheese to eat. Domestic netizens think these are shredded shrimp crackers.

Public information shows that in order to replace bamboo toothpicks, some merchants use corn starch as the main raw material to make corn starch toothpicks. It has the hardness and flexibility of bamboo toothpicks, is smooth and translucent, and also greatly reduces the amount of tree felling.

It is reported that in South Korea, starch toothpicks were initially recommended for feeding pigs because Korean pig farms usually use restaurant kitchen waste to feed pigs. Bamboo toothpicks can damage pigs’ organs, so starch toothpicks were used instead to allow pigs to eat without burden.

Some experts said that these starch toothpicks are not food, but sanitary products containing ingredients such as sorbitol and alum.

Currently, starch toothpicks have not been proven safe for human consumption.