What are some things not meant for human consumption that you ate, to find out what they taste like?

I ate rat in China. They served it in a restaurant.

When I had just started crawling Mom found something in my mouth-the diamond that had fallen from her wedding ring onto the floor.

I supposedly ate half of an earthworm when I was 1½ to 2. They found the other half in my chubby little hand and dirt around my mouth. <<gulp>>

Well it is meant for human consumption but not straight our of the can….Crisco.
I also used to eat my birthday candles. Chewy.

I ate a bite out of a Milk Bone which is a dog treat. Very dry. I wanted to see what my dog was so crazy about.

Y’all complaining about dry pet food…try canned. SMH.

Canned cat food lots of scales and bones.

On my first birthday I ate peach scented potpourri and then projectile vomited hot pink down our white carpeted stairs. My mom said the peach scent only enhanced the smell of vomit and she will never buy peach scented anything ever again.

I used to eat dog kibble. Apparently I did it all the time.

I usually haven’t actually eaten such things, but have tasted many things, especially when younger, including:

Dirt, rocks, sand, pavement, painted things, plastic, metal, dry cat food, dog biscuits, fish food, paper, wax, salt water, various fabrics, soap, various plants, wood, and cinnamon sticks.

An Argentine ant, which was too small to taste.

I nibbled a little paper once.

I used to chew my pencils early on in grade school to the frustration of my parents and their budget.

@Zaku, impressive list, and I applaud your spirit of scientific discovery, but I have to question cinnamon sticks. Not meant for human consumption? What would life be without cinnamon?

As a kid I used to fetch a stick out of my mother’s spice rack and gnaw on it and just savor the cinnamon pulp. A good stick would last for days. I was able to tell at a glance which ones would taste good and which would be too bitter. Nobody ever tried to discourage me from doing this. Eventually I just stopped. But I still love the taste of cinnamon in a lot of things.

@Zaku Pica?

I’ve tried durian.

That is not meant for human consumption.

It’s a “fruit” the size of a basketball. Growing on a tall tree—with spikes. The people who pick them literally wear helmets so their brains won’t splatter if a durian falls in them.

That is not nature saying please come eat this.

Oh, I forgot grass. I imagine a lot of kids try it. But I didn’t actually eat much of it myself. I mostly commanded other kids to eat it.

Commanded other kids to eat it.

Ha!

I was the ringmaster. They were the bunny rabbits. I cracked my willow whip to make them obey, and they performed their circus act, and then it was mealtime and they had to eat grass.

They always wanted me to think up games, so I did.

I remember my friends always asking me to make up games for them too. But it was usually mundane things like “each tree is a shop and you’re selling daisy crowns and you’re selling magical acorns…”.

I don’t remember ever making anyone eat grass. Maybe in hindsight that was a missed opportunity. Haha

I know I wasn’t the only middle/high school kid….tearing small pieces of notebook paper off to eat in class hahaha.

It’s so funny to think about, before phones…you were just bored and spacing out 70% of the time, so while the teacher was talking and you’re looking out the window just snacking on notebook paper like chips haha.

Dried dog food. We played cards as a teen and the loser had to eat a piece.

Didn’t we all try some library paste, back in the day?

^Oh my gosh, there was a girl that sat beside me that drank the Elmers glue like it was Hershey syrup! It was second grade.

In Primary 4 at school a few of us sipped the water used to clean our paint brushes. I also tried Pepsi Max once.

My pencil erasers.

I had willow whips too @Jeruba!

@Jeruba Cinnamon powder is great in food… cinnamon sticks, though… someone jokingly handed me one to take a bite out of – and I did, but they’re like chomping into hard dry tree bark – definitely not the thing to do with them.

@raum Pica? I don’t think so. After all, I actually ate almost none of them, and I tended to only taste things once or twice. I suspect more people have, but don’t remember, although smells and flavors are one thing many people do tend to remember, so if you have a clear idea what dirt or linoleum tastes like, but don’t think you’ve tried it, I suspect you may have tried it and remember the flavor but not the event.

@Zaku I think you’re right. I think you have to actually ingest it for it to be pica.

@Zaku, wrong technique is all.

@Love_my_doggie, nope. I saw kids eating paste, thought it was gross. Not for me.

@Love_my_doggie Also had no interest in eating paste. I liked smelling it though.

I would put glue on the palm of my hand and blow on it till it was dry. The goal was to peel it off in one intact sheet.
It never occurred to me to eat it!

@Dutchess_III Oh, yeah. Classic watch-me-peel-off-my-skin trick. :P

Yeah! We didn’t have cell phones to waste our time on in school. (Though I’m pretty sure phones aren’t allowed in classrooms today.)

I bit down on something crunchy that was in mango chutney, when I was in Bali. Chutney is not supposed to have anything crunchy in it. It sounded like the crunching of an insect. A few hours later I was riding the toilet.