Strawberry flavor, with hints of Tide detergent

February 7, 2018 1:18 PM

Let's say you washed your pants with an unopened tube of treasured all-pink Starbursts in the pocket. Are they still safe to eat?

Asking for a friend (really!) The Starburst package went in the washing machine (with detergent) but not the dryer. The package wasn't open, so none of the candies were unwrapped. One Starburst has now been unwrapped and was determined to be...wet. My friend says, "I'm still going to eat them, but I want to know if I should have Poison Control on speed dial."

posted by spaet to Food & Drink (18 answers total)

Best answer: You're not going to get poisoned with residual laundry soap on candy, but they're probably going to taste a little weird.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 1:20 PM on February 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

Well if the number of times i've put chapstick through the wash and continued to use it without dying is any good for a data point... i'd probably eat it if the texture is ok.
posted by cgg at 1:21 PM on February 7, 2018 [6 favorites]

The pants or the Starburst?

If it’s the Starburst you want to eat and they do taste soapy you could rinse them off.

If it’s the pants and they taste soapy, I’d get the washing machine rinse cycle fixed.
posted by bendy at 1:24 PM on February 7, 2018 [18 favorites]

Let's say you washed your pants with an unopened tube of treasured all-pink Starbursts in the pocket. Are they still safe to eat?

Do not eat pants.

JK, I think the candy is pretty porous and with the heat and wet, probably absorbed some detergent that may not have rinsed away. I don't think detergent in that amount will kill you but it may be grody. Get some new 'bursts.
posted by kapers at 1:25 PM on February 7, 2018 [6 favorites]

So they went through the entire cycle, wash, rinse and spin? They're gonna taste and smell weird. They won't kill you, but I'd toss them anyway.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:25 PM on February 7, 2018

Is the outer wrapper still sealed, or are the candies just in their little waxed paper wrappers? I'd eat the former, but maybe not the latter--though maybe I'd try a little nibble to see if they held up ok (I have used many lipsticks that have been through the washer and dryer to no apparent ill effect).
posted by snaw at 1:34 PM on February 7, 2018 [2 favorites]

Starburst candies that have been saturated with Tide laundry detergent certainly sound like a less undelicious version of a Tide Pod but generally speaking I would err on the side of not eating anything out of a metal tub of wet clothes. PayPal your friend five dollars to buy a new thing of Starbursts.
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:23 PM on February 7, 2018

I literally had a teacher wash my mouth out with soap as a 4th grader for saying "Fuck you" to him. I swallowed a lot of soap. I did not die nor did I have any medical issues. I did have a lingering bitterness. In my heart, not my mouth. Me, the teacher, my parents and the school administration came to an agreement as to how all the players in the situation should be affected. I argued that the teacher should not be reprimanded. "Even though he is an asshole, I deserved it," I think I said.

My point is that it won't kill or even likely have any negative affect. I would rinse them off and eat the heck out of them.
posted by AugustWest at 2:26 PM on February 7, 2018 [10 favorites]

If your friend is trying to break a Starburst habit, this might do it.
posted by sageleaf at 2:36 PM on February 7, 2018

Donate the $1 to your friend to get some fresh Starburst. The cost-benefit ratio just isn't there, even though I'd put the odds of your friend dying from them at 0.000000001%.
posted by AppleTurnover at 2:39 PM on February 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

I would totally eat these, absolutely.

Metallic-wrapped package and individually-wrapped Starbursts? My guess is that the wetness is condensation and not even water from the wash/rinse cycle.
posted by cocoagirl at 2:43 PM on February 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

"Gonna eat it after it's been through the washing machine" sounds like the start of a new YouTube channel.

1) It's likely safe. Kids have been eating things they found in their pants pockets after laundering for decades.

2) If you can afford laundry detergent, you can afford to replace the Starbursts. The only reason to eat these is to have a story to shock people with later.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 2:46 PM on February 7, 2018 [5 favorites]

Best answer: According to the Tide liquid detergent MSDS, your friend would be fine, with the possibility of some gastrointestinal distress. "Liquid Tide formulas have a low order of toxicity. If ingested, it may be mildly irritating. It is expected to be moderately emetic."

However, it's probably going to be unpleasant to eat, and you should just buy some new Starburst.
posted by General Malaise at 2:56 PM on February 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I mean... sure, you could eat them, but the comparisons of laundry detergent to soap are a bit disingenuous (though it depends on the exact formulation, of course), and if they're wet, I wouldn't trust that the surfactants in the detergent hadn't made their way into the candy and that they'd be dilute enough to not cause issues if they had. They probably are, but Starbursts are cheap and medical care isn't.
posted by Aleyn at 2:58 PM on February 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

Of course you can eat these. Especially if the plastic outer part was unopened.
posted by pintapicasso at 5:11 PM on February 7, 2018

Best answer: Do you want fecal coliforms? Cause that's how you get fecal coliforms.

I mean, if the water got in.
posted by slightlybewildered at 6:58 PM on February 7, 2018 [3 favorites]

It depends on what else was in the wash. If my husband's underwear were in there I would not eat them.
posted by waving at 7:11 PM on February 7, 2018 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Anecdotally: I ate a couple of them; they did not taste good, but I didn't get ill. Still, as I said, they didn't taste good so I tossed the package.
posted by sm1tten at 11:47 AM on February 8, 2018 [1 favorite]