TyBott stares into the camera, chewing slowly. The sandwich — if you can call it that — is packed with peanut butter and raspberry jam, but instead of bread, the filling oozes between two slices of wet, fused-together packing peanuts.
Last October, the TikTok creator (@tybottofficial) went viral for his recipe for the questionable snack, which he's named a packing peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The bizarre creation calls for a cup of water, peanut butter, jelly and a whole lot of packing peanuts. Yes, packing peanuts — the styrofoam nuggets that are typically used to safeguard your most fragile objects during shipping.
In a now-deleted video posted on TikTok —the same video is still available on YouTube — TyBott is seen gently wetting each packing peanut. “Don’t do too much water, you just gotta do just the right amount,” he warns, before sticking them together to make two slices of “bread.” He then slathers a generous amount of peanut butter onto one slice of “bread” and jelly (actually raspberry jam, which his grandmother made) onto the other. Once the two slices are combined with the peanut butter and jelly sides facing in, the sandwich is ready to enjoy.
In what can only be described as a harrowing moment, TyBott takes a bite into his sandwich. He proceeds to go in for seconds.
“That is so freaking good,” he says with a big smile.
Apparently, eating packing peanuts is the latest “food trend.” Because, of course, why wouldn’t that be trending? Back in 2017, British cosmetics retailer Lush announced that its packing peanuts were biodegradable and made from plants, making them safe for both the environment and consumers.
“The peanuts are made of vegetable starch and have a texture similar to cheese puffs,” HelloGiggles, an entertainment and lifestyle website, claimed at the time. “Apparently, Lush originally used popcorn as a packing material because it was compostable and cost-effective. They eventually found the starchy peanuts and figured out that they were more efficient than popcorn.”
“Despite being natural, vegetarian, and coming in tons of yummy scents, it’s not suggested that you eat Lush’s actual bath and body products,” the site added. But that didn’t stop Lush fans and curious taste-testers alike. “I ate a lush packing peanut because my partner dared me to, uhhh does anyone else have experience with eating lush packing peanuts. ask me anything,” a Reddit user posted in the r/LushCosmetics subreddit in 2020.
The trend re-emerged in recent months after one beauty creator filmed herself eating Lush packing peanuts in a now-deleted TikTok video. “Did anyone know that Lush packing peanuts are edible?” she asked before popping one into her mouth. Packing peanut munchers have since been coming out of the woodwork. On TikTok, one creator filmed herself eating a box of the peanuts; a gym bro plated them with a fork. The internet, as always, remains undefeated.
@joshliftsandeats natural selection may take me from this one #gym #fitnesschallenge #anabolic #lowcalorie #gymhumor ♬ Hier Encore Sad Vibes Trap - Novia Nisa
@cassidoodle Just a taste. #TextReaction #hamilton #forbiddensnack #packingpeanuts #musical #tasty #comedy #funny #foryou #fyp ♬ Say No to This - Jasmine Cephas Jones & Leslie Odom Jr. & Lin-Manuel Miranda & Sydney James Harcourt & Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton
Most biodegradable packing peanuts typically use vegetable oil and native starches (or naturally derived starches) obtained from corn, potatoes and grain sorghum. Although they contain plant-based materials, the peanuts are not safe for consumption, family medicine physician Dr. Beth Oller warned.
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“They aren’t going to be made or manufactured in food-safe conditions and wouldn’t meet food safety standards, so I would not recommend this,” said Dr. Oller. “If you ingested them accidentally, it wouldn’t be a problem, but definitely don’t eat them intentionally. They are not food and not made in food-safe conditions.”
Additionally, Angelica McGough, DNP, MSN, told Delish that when native starches are heated to extremely high levels to create the packing peanuts, they undergo a chemical reaction that forms acrylamide, a known carcinogen.
This isn’t the first time that people have made a trend out of eating things that aren’t meant to be eaten. In 2017, there was the infamous Tide Pods Challenge in which YouTubers ate the laundry detergent pods in hopes of garnering views and clout. And in 2022, there was the NyQuil Chicken (or “sleepy chicken”) trend that prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to release a warning urging people not to marinate or boil their poultry in cold medicine.
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Such trends play on the idea of forbidden foods, or foods that may resemble edible items but are definitely not meant for consumption. Tide Pods are enticing, especially to children, because they look like candy. “The bright colors, shapes, texture and weight all resemble that of a ‘bite-sized’ snack,” per a Quora post that was later published in Forbes. “It’s weird to say this all but it’s the truth.” Similarly, packing peanuts resemble cheese doodles and puffed snacks.
“The social media challenges are attention-grabbing and has shock value. People want to feel part of a community so will do these things even when their brain says it may not be a good idea,” Dr. Oller said. “There’s the concept of, ‘well everyone’s doing it.’”
She continued, “For creators, they want to boost engagement and clicks and are less concerned with safety. These people often shouldn’t be making recommendations and lack professional qualifications to promote these ideas.”
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