Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Edible Pencil Lead

A cylindrical mint about 6 cm long and 0.5 mm in diameter
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When you're sitting in math class, you can give your mechanical pencil a few clicks and bite off the end.

Also available in 0.7 mm.

AO, Jul 10 2007

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       As a child, i used to eat pencil lead, and moved on to pencils, then desk lids. I ate my school quota of pencils and my parents had to provide the rest. Anyway, pencil lead is already edible. It doesn't taste of much, but you can grind it up with your teeth into a sort of paste, which has an interesting texture in the mouth. However, eating the actual pencil leaves splinters in your mouth and makes it quite sore. Also, the paint is probably poisonous and quite unpleasant to eat because it gets stuck in your teeth.   

       I wouldn't want it mint flavoured; i think it's fine the way it is.
nineteenthly, Jul 10 2007
  

       would it write?
po, Jul 10 2007
  

       //would it write?//
Of course - it would write sweet!
neutrinos_shadow, Jul 10 2007
  

       If the wood of the pencil was replaced with something edible, you could sharpen the pencil and have a snack a the same time.
marklar, Jul 11 2007
  

       Chocolate is the only way to go.
...but I can't bite off the eraser, I really need that.
xandram, Jul 11 2007
  

       //it would write sweet// thanks, dear.
po, Jul 11 2007
  

       Cedarwood already tastes OK, but what about cinnamon bark?
nineteenthly, Jul 11 2007
  

       Why not create a Pez dispenser with a pencil attachment. It would be yummier than anything where the edible part is also expected to write.
phundug, Jul 11 2007
  

       [phundug] I didn't say you could write with it. This is just a way of sneaking candy into math class. If it were a Pez dispenser, the teacher would take it away.
AO, Jul 11 2007
  

       Sorry, I just assumed.   

       How about a gummi bear eraser to go with the edible "lead" then. When no one's looking, eat your eraser.
phundug, Jul 11 2007
  

       Oh, that's good. I was thinking maybe a mini marshmallow for the eraser, but gummi-bear material would last longer and look more realistic.
AO, Jul 11 2007
  

       //I didn't say you could write with it.// - Then you should have said so before. Now I understand that this is for use in an ordinary propelling pencil I will propel a croissant in your general direction.
wagster, Jul 11 2007
  

       //sucronic acid is 200 to 300k...// Treon, are you by any chance connected with Northern Ottawa Sucronic Acid and Blacktop, Inc.?
MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 11 2007
  

       "My worm went in my mouth and then I ate it. Can I have another?"
phundug, Jul 12 2007
  

       // who's the kids that says "Teacher, I ate my pencil" //   

       Ralph Wiggum, son of Police Chief Wiggum.
ed, Jul 12 2007
  

       Don't know how I missed this gem.
I was going to post Cinammon Pencils but this is way better.
  

       It was baked the day cedarwood pencils with graphite leads were invented, which was about four centuries ago.
nineteenthly, Feb 23 2010
  

       They aren't minty fresh though.
wagster, Feb 23 2010
  

       I don't like mint, personally, but you do make me wonder if toothpaste could be packaged this way. It's already got some of the same ingredients. Chalk or clay are possible toothpastes.
nineteenthly, Feb 23 2010
  

       This would be handy when I take my edible pencil for a walk.
MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 23 2010
  

       I think an edible pencil that can also write would be an even better idea.   

       However, instead of starting with a design normally used for graphite -- mechanical, or wood encased -- use a paper-wrapped pencil. The paper would be edible; probably made from rice. Any kind of flavoring would work, mint included.   

       However, to avoid becoming sticky when chewed or licked, the paper wrapping should not be sweetened with sugar, but (if sweetened at all) with some alternative (saccharin, surcralose, etc, or perhaps stevia or miraculin).   

       The core of the pencil would of course also be edible, and furthermore would be able to be used for writing, preferably producing a nearly black color, and preferably non-smearing. If the requirement for non-smearing were omitted, chocolate would be ideal. Suggestions?
goldbb, Feb 23 2010
  

       Stevioside, not Stevia because the fact that it would be an extract of a plant would render it vulnerable to going off, wouldn't work because it's a glycoside which would probably be hydrolysed by the saliva and become sticky. Glycyrrhizin or trans-anethole would be OK, i think. The lead would then taste of aniseed or licorice.   

       Many edible polysaccharides would be fine. I personally have no problem with cinnamon though. I would miss the taste of cedarwood. You should try it sometime.   

       I think actually the lead could be licorice. The only thing is, you might want to choose something which doesn't get sticky, and that's not licorice. There are edible inks of course, so maybe the answer is to stick one of those in beeswax. The problem would then be stopping it from going off.
nineteenthly, Feb 24 2010
  
      
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