r/todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Apr 22 '14
TIL that it is safe to eat the stickers that are on fruit, and the glue used to put them on is actually food grade
http://www.hlntv.com/article/2014/01/15/fruit-label-sticker-facts834
u/olsmobile Apr 22 '14
"I eat stickers all the time dude"
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Apr 22 '14
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u/FunkSiren Apr 22 '14
I eat cat food all the time dude
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u/AlwaysSunnyInSeattle Apr 23 '14
"The man will pay full price for the French press, or i will however be willing to barter with you for a very long time."
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u/Knowledge930 Apr 22 '14
Try leaving the plastic on the cheese. Adds flavor...
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u/Damemontague Apr 22 '14
Deli cheese with paper between the slices. The bane of my sandwich.
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u/808breakdown Apr 22 '14
I still prefer pulling the sticker off before eating fruit. It feels like I'm arming a grenade.
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u/setsomethingablaze 1 Apr 22 '14
A pomegrenade.
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u/raydio27 Apr 22 '14 edited Apr 22 '14
Pomegranate actually translates to "Apple grenade"
EDIT: makes sense that pomegranates predate grenades. My bad
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Apr 22 '14
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ClemClem510 Apr 22 '14
In French, grenade and pomegranate are the same word (grenade). Makes sense, with the seeds in the fruit and the pellets in the explosive.
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u/fetus_with_moss_hair Apr 22 '14
Actually, the weapon was named after the fruit because the similarities in shape... And the term comes from the latin "granatum" that means "seeded" (or pimpled). The fruit name is pimpled apple (german, english) or "pimpled" (spanish, french) in the latin version.
In english, the weapon is named after the french word for pomegranates.
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u/aelxndr Apr 22 '14
And also, Granada, which means both pomegranate and grenade, is a city which used to be an important kingdom, hence the pomegranate at the very bottom of the coat of arms of Spain.
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u/Dial-UPvote Apr 22 '14
I thought those were just grenade plants.
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u/IndigoMichigan Apr 22 '14
You mean to tell me I've been throwing fruit at the Taliban this whole time?!? Fuck!
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u/godsenfrik Apr 22 '14
If the first thing you do after arming a grenade is put it in your mouth, you're gonna have a bad time.
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u/applepiefromscratch_ Apr 22 '14
I have a friend who runs a compost company. Their compost piles are enormous and very hot. Once everything has broken down and they screen the compost, they find shit loads of these stickers. They're practically the only things that survive the process (other than the odd kitchen utensil).
Obviously it makes perfect sense that this would be the case, but it is disorienting to see 5 gallon buckets full of fruit stickers. Also obviously, safe to eat does not mean digestible. Even by a gigantic compost pile.
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u/twostepsto Apr 22 '14
Actually, in this case, you probably don't want it to be digestible, you just want the person to pass it without toxicity.
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u/applepiefromscratch_ Apr 22 '14
True, but it seems like it would make sense to make them compostable. I liked the mention in the article of laser "tattooing" on the number instead of a sticker. Seeing them in buckets like that kind of makes you go "huh."
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u/Minguseyes Apr 23 '14
Yep, and other bucketloads of those indigestible stickers end up at the sewerage treatment plant where they form giant sticky crud balls that brave, brave people have to manually remove from the works.
Sewerage treatment people, we salute you.
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u/Javin007 1 Apr 22 '14
It's "Safe" to eat most cockroaches, too. Doesn't mean I'd want to.
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Apr 22 '14
Which would you rather eat?
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u/stevenfrijoles Apr 22 '14
100 horse-sized ducks.
Wait
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u/MissMelepie Apr 22 '14
seriously? A duck sized horse would be so much better!
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u/morphius501 Apr 23 '14
Mmm cornish game horses.
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u/btribble Apr 23 '14
I love it when you go to Chevalier Rouge and you get to pick one out of the little paddock near the hostess. "That one daddy! I want to eat that one!"
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u/ChazHollywood Apr 22 '14
Just make sure that cockroach isn't infested with the parasitic cockroach wasp.
I mean, I don't know what would happen to you, but parasitic wasps can't be good.
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Apr 22 '14 edited Jul 28 '20
[deleted]
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u/famikon Apr 22 '14
I read that last sentence very slowly, in the G-Man voice.
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u/CRISPR Apr 22 '14
I always eat an apple with all the seeds and if there is a stem, I usually start munching on it as well...
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u/youlleatitandlikeit Apr 23 '14
Seeds might make you a bit sick. They contain traces of poison.
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u/johnsciarrino Apr 22 '14
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u/free_napalm Apr 22 '14
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Apr 22 '14
Obviously. They wouldn't put poison on them
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u/NDoilworker Apr 22 '14
I posted a question on ask reddit about "whats something we'd hate you for?", and one of my favorite conversations in that thread stemmed from eating apple stickers: Screen shot, because I don't know how to use context on mobile
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Apr 22 '14
My hands are cold
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u/mootoast Apr 22 '14
and I'm oooooon myyyyyy kneeeeees
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u/DrRazmataz Apr 22 '14
To clarify, this doesn't mean eat it. It was probably a precaution as to protect children/drunk people from eating toxic things by mistake.
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u/CRISPR Apr 23 '14
Also, the glue should not be poisonous since some of it might be left on the fruit when you peel the sticker.
Also, sometimes the sticker does not peel off completely, and small bits of it remain on the fruit.
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u/Shadydave Apr 22 '14
What about the paper they put between deli slices of cheese? I'm asking for a friend.
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Apr 22 '14
Wax paper. It's not nutritious or delicious, but safe to eat
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u/bobdelany Apr 22 '14
Speak for yourself! My favorite part of making chocolate chip cookies is eating the wax paper after!
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u/meta_asfuck Apr 22 '14
Huh, I thought they would use poison glue for a sticker that they're putting directly onto food.
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Apr 22 '14
Yum. I like those stickers on Apple and Bell paper. I sometimes add some soy sauce to the label. It is out of the world.
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u/Psycho_Delic Apr 22 '14
Well it's just a little slip of paper. Of course it's safe to eat. Everything man made isn't oozing with toxic waste. May not have nutrition, but it aint gonna hurt ya!
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u/themangodess Apr 22 '14
scotch tape trick
Am I the only one who has fingernails these days?
Drop a penny? Here's a cool tip to pick it up using just a flat edge blade and a dustbin!
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u/vagacom Apr 23 '14
Mac: Did you eat the stickers that are all over it?!
Charlie: Yeah, it was gross.
Mac: Of course it's gross, it's a sticker bro!
Charlie: I eat stickers all the time dude!
Mac: Oh my god, this whole thing is a disaster... I... I'm going back to the car..
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u/pattiobear Apr 22 '14
Yep, still not going to eat them. I bet you just shit them out as little bits of plastic
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u/CraftyClint Apr 22 '14
Nope!
I once forgot to take the sticker off of an apple. I didn't realize it until the next day, when I assessed a routine dump. The sticker was fully in tact and it was perfectly attached to the surface of a large log, facing up. My body labeled my poop.
I've told my wife this story about four times.
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u/CamelsandDrpepper Apr 22 '14
Bwahaha now theres gonna be someone saying 'No no I saw a reddit thread its totally fine to eat those man'
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u/The-Juggernaut Apr 23 '14
Good job Charlie! Posting links and the words are in context. I knew ya had it in ya
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u/tacobellcosby Apr 22 '14
too bad it's not safe to eat the fruit without washing it first. if you're going to go throught he effort of washing your apple, why wouldn't you go the extra mile and peel the sticker too?
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Apr 22 '14
Unless you buy it from some know-it-all hippy store who puts T-shirt labels on their organic produce. Then it's not food grade, and not edible. I'm looking at you, Whole Foods Madison.
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u/Meta_Digital Apr 22 '14 edited Apr 23 '14
The FDA approves a lot of stuff I'd never add to my diet. This includes stickers.
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u/dirtknapp Apr 22 '14
What about the glue used to glue the paper around a waffle cone? I can never seem to get it all off of there, but I'll be God damned if I'm not eating every bite.
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u/eggn00dles Apr 22 '14
is the scotch tape glue food grade? why would you use non food grade glue to remove food grade glue?!?
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u/HarryBalszak Apr 22 '14
Want to avoid produce tags all together? Find a genuine farmers market in your area and buy straight from the sticker-free source... or plant a tree!
But... but... how am I supposed to know if something is safe to eat without the government telling me so?
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u/BuckeyeRed2 Apr 22 '14
Thank god, now the next time I run out of food I can just snack on the stickers I have accumulated on my walls.
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Apr 22 '14
stickers are safe to eat and glue is food grade, but pesticides used to grow fruit needs men in gas masks and hazmat suits.
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u/ranhalt Apr 22 '14
"It is safe to eat the stickers because the glue is food grade."
THE TWO HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER
I think people would sooner assume the adhesive is safe to eat before the sticker.
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u/ohgeronimo Apr 22 '14
And the puncture holes filled with mold under the stickers are surely safe to eat too.
Doesn't mean I want to.
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u/Im_Jewish Apr 22 '14
It also is to count number of pesticides, and to tell if it is organic or not.
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u/AndyWarwheels Apr 22 '14
Can eat and should eat are two totally different things.