The South Korean ministry of food issued a warning after the viral fried toothpicks trend recently took the country’s TikTok by storm.

As reported by Sky News, shortly after the videos, featuring the fried TikTok challenge went viral on the internet, South Korea’s food ministry issued a health warning, urging people to avoid eating harmful toothpicks, made by starch.

The videos, in which people could be seen deep frying the toothpicks and consuming them with powered cheese seasoning and peppers garnered millions of views and likes.

On Wednesday, January 24, the Ministry of Food and Drugs Safety (MFDS) turned to their official X account and shared a statement which read, “Starch toothpicks are a hygiene product! The safety of sanitary products is managed according to standards and specifications for ingredients, manufacturing methods, and uses, but their safety as food has not been verified. Do not consume.”

Keeping in mind the potential harms of the toothpicks, the ministry further appealed, “Please do not eat (them).”

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About the toothpicks:

To note, in Korean restaurants the toothpicks are often placed on the tables to pick up the finger food. 

The biodegradable and environmentally friendly toothpicks appear green in color because of the food coloring.

However, as per South Korea’s local media, a harmful ingredient called sorbitol is also used in the manufacturing of the toothpicks in small amounts, which can cause nausea, inflammation and diarrhea if consumed in large quantity.

In one of the viral TikToks, a Korean woman could be seen seasoning a bunch of green toothpicks in a tray.

Which she later fries in the cooking pan filled with oil, the toothpicks starts resembling with curly fries, because of the  similar shape.