It's electric!
November 15, 2011 1:01 PM Subscribe
Is my food science experiment (an electric jello circuit) safe to eat?
I'm hoping to make a simple circuit using jello to conduct electricity from a battery to an LED. I want people to then be able to remove the battery & LED and eat the jello. Trying to figure out if this is possible.
I know when you use fruits or veggies to make a battery you're not supposed to eat them afterwards, because (I think?) the battery power comes from chemical reactions inside the food which leave metal ions in it. But it seems like just using it to conduct electricity wouldn't have the same effect... and this (totally awesome) project suggests I'm right and it would be edible. But I don't want to poison myself or anyone else, so I thought I'd ask the hivemind.
Sub question: is there a risk that a lithium coin or button battery embedded in jello (placed post-setting, not while it's still liquid) could leak and poison people?
I'm hoping to make a simple circuit using jello to conduct electricity from a battery to an LED. I want people to then be able to remove the battery & LED and eat the jello. Trying to figure out if this is possible.
I know when you use fruits or veggies to make a battery you're not supposed to eat them afterwards, because (I think?) the battery power comes from chemical reactions inside the food which leave metal ions in it. But it seems like just using it to conduct electricity wouldn't have the same effect... and this (totally awesome) project suggests I'm right and it would be edible. But I don't want to poison myself or anyone else, so I thought I'd ask the hivemind.
Sub question: is there a risk that a lithium coin or button battery embedded in jello (placed post-setting, not while it's still liquid) could leak and poison people?
Best answer: You would want to make sure you're using lead-free components.
posted by wayland at 1:34 PM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by wayland at 1:34 PM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: You could use pure silver wire, like from a jewelry supply or beading store, wherever your circuit touches the jello. Silver is used in food products, so I'd imagine any tiny traces of silver that get into the jello should be relatively harmless.
Putting the battery itself into the jello seems risky to me - if it shorts out from moisture, it might burst; someone might swallow it by mistake.
posted by moonmilk at 1:41 PM on November 15, 2011
Putting the battery itself into the jello seems risky to me - if it shorts out from moisture, it might burst; someone might swallow it by mistake.
posted by moonmilk at 1:41 PM on November 15, 2011
p.s. I was one of the builders of the Resistor JelTone - thanks for the kind words! I have to say that we would never actually eat the jello or fruit off of the JelTone, though mostly because it had everyone's filthy fingers all over it.
posted by moonmilk at 1:47 PM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by moonmilk at 1:47 PM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Disclaimer: I am not an expert.
Batteries don't in general leak while they're operating, and current is just taking the electrons that are already in the Jello and moving them around a bit. I think it should be fine. Yes, the battery has bad stuff in it: the battery might leak, but I would think that if there were any kind of issue, you'd know it. If you see a discoloration in the battery area, don't eat that part. If you're serving this to people, the first step is to cut out a cube around each battery (or other component) and throw it away. Then dish out the rest. you wouldn't want to do this every meal, but as a single-event novelty I doubt the amount of anything (not that I think there's anything) would be enough to cause problems.
Follow obvious food safety rules: wear gloves, don't get the food dirty, and if it looks funny or tastes funny, don't eat it.
If you were super-motivated I'd suggest looking into the numbers:
how much toxic stuff is in a battery, how much contaminant is dangerous as a one-time dose, how many people you're spreading it among, whether this stuff tastes awful enough to make contamination noticable, etc.
posted by aimedwander at 3:06 PM on November 15, 2011
Batteries don't in general leak while they're operating, and current is just taking the electrons that are already in the Jello and moving them around a bit. I think it should be fine. Yes, the battery has bad stuff in it: the battery might leak, but I would think that if there were any kind of issue, you'd know it. If you see a discoloration in the battery area, don't eat that part. If you're serving this to people, the first step is to cut out a cube around each battery (or other component) and throw it away. Then dish out the rest. you wouldn't want to do this every meal, but as a single-event novelty I doubt the amount of anything (not that I think there's anything) would be enough to cause problems.
Follow obvious food safety rules: wear gloves, don't get the food dirty, and if it looks funny or tastes funny, don't eat it.
If you were super-motivated I'd suggest looking into the numbers:
how much toxic stuff is in a battery, how much contaminant is dangerous as a one-time dose, how many people you're spreading it among, whether this stuff tastes awful enough to make contamination noticable, etc.
posted by aimedwander at 3:06 PM on November 15, 2011
Best answer: You are creating a difference in potential across the jello, so I would think that the wires (or whatever you connect to the jello) will act as an anode and a cathode inside your jello, and some electro-chemistry will probably result (ie transfer of ions that you don't want).
Ways to minimise ion transfer would be:
Use of AC instead of DC
Keep the voltage low
Use inert metals? (my electro-chemistry isn't hot enough to say which ones)
Use the jello for brief periods before eating it and replacing with fresh jello (for someone else to eat)
posted by -harlequin- at 5:39 PM on November 15, 2011
Ways to minimise ion transfer would be:
Use of AC instead of DC
Keep the voltage low
Use inert metals? (my electro-chemistry isn't hot enough to say which ones)
Use the jello for brief periods before eating it and replacing with fresh jello (for someone else to eat)
posted by -harlequin- at 5:39 PM on November 15, 2011
Response by poster: Turns out the jello doesn't conduct the current very well anyway. I'm going to try again with a more powerful battery and some alcohol in the jello, but if it doesn't work the question of whether or not it will poison all my guests is moot. Thanks for the answers though!
posted by shaun uh at 8:39 PM on November 22, 2011
posted by shaun uh at 8:39 PM on November 22, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
FWIW, I've eaten hot dogs that were cooked by putting current through them, and they seemed fine.
posted by clorox at 1:33 PM on November 15, 2011