Can You Eat Silica? – Eater

If there’s one thing I know about silica, the common compound found in nature as quartz, it’s that you’re not supposed to eat it. I thought we were pretty clear on this, having been repeatedly reminded DO NOT EAT on every packet of silica gel that falls out of a package. Was this a danger? Were people tempted by the forbidden pleasures of, essentially, sand? Anyway, DO NOT EAT seems pretty cut and dry! We’re done here!

Except now Erewhon is advertising a smoothie made with silica, and now I’m seeing silica is a common additive to a whole host of foods, and now I am losing my grip on reality.

Erewhon, everyone’s favorite grocery store that Californians insist is normal but also sells $32 ice, has announced a new smoothie made in partnership with model Elsa Hosk and MALK, a real alternative milk and not a Simpsons joke. The “Scandi Summer Blueberry Cobbler” smoothie will be available starting August 15 for $22, and proceeds will benefit the Birthday Party Project, a charity that hosts birthday parties for unhoused children.

The smoothie contains the greatest hits of modern “wellness” supplements, like colostrum, blue spirulina powder, and probiotics. But it also contains “Eidon Ionic Minerals Silica.” AI is telling people it’s okay to eat rocks now, so maybe this was just a Google mixup? No! Apparently silica is yet another supplement that claims to aid in everything from hair growth to joint health to “collagen production.” And the FDA says silicon dioxide is perfectly fine to add to food, and the DO NOT EAT warning is mostly because those little balls are a choking hazard.

According to a 2016 NIH article, while some tests showed increased nail and hair strength with regular intake of silica, “there are few studies evaluating the safety, efficacy and bioavailability of the different existing chemical forms of silicon that use proper design, large number of volunteers and long follow-up period.” Like with any trendy dietary supplement, it probably pays to be skeptical. And those were all tests of daily doses of silica, so unless you’re drinking this $22 smoothie every day, you probably won’t be reaping any of the benefits of the added supplements.

Instead, their inclusion serves as a wellness signifier, intended to make you feel like you’ve done something healthy, even though eating like three pieces of broccoli would probably give you the same benefit. But if we’ve all learned something, it’s that whoever wrote DO NOT EAT on those packages is lying to you, and you should eat as many as possible just to spite them [Ed note: Please don’t do this Jaya is very much not a doctor].