Living 500 miles from most of my relatives has its drawbacks.  Seems I miss out on all the family fun: the birthday parties, baby showers, family dinners, you know, the ‘regular’ stuff. But, alas, it has its benefits too!

This was posted on Facebook yesterday by my Sister-in-law:

“Interesting breakfast story…Monday night our guests and I prepared a sausage/egg casserole and covered it with Saran Wrap and refrigerated it overnight. My husband is the early riser so I left him a note to remind him to put it in the oven at 7:30 A.M. We, along with all our guests, including 5 grandkids, enjoyed the casserole very much until my daughter-in-law was washing the dish and discovered Saran Wrap clinging to the sides. My husband then realized that he had not even noticed the Saran Wrap when he put the dish into the oven. We are all alive and kicking but we apparently ate Saran Wrap for breakfast! Never a dull moment in Bradsland.”

That Charlie, just so clingy!!

Someone on FB suggested that she google it, so, of course being the favorite brother-in-law, which is a very easy contest to win these days, I did.

Saran*, a plastic, was discovered quite by accident – ironic I know – in 1933.  It was used for many things, and Saran Wrap was introduced in 1949.  The Saran Wrap of today no longer contains the environmentally disastrous chemicals of yesteryear.  Though not loved by the devotees of The Church of Tree Hugging, it’s more eco-friendly these days.

There are similar stories out there, so my older brother needn’t fret much.

Here’s one:

“So the parents are away and I have to ‘cook’ dinner on my own. What could be a worse recipe for disaster. It was suppose to be simple, at 6:30 I grab the lasanga out of the fridge, stick it in the oven for an hour, then eat. So that’s exactly what I did, and all was good. Then came the washup and I noticed some hard clear stuff around the edges of the glass dish I’d cooked the lasanga in. After some picking I realized exactly what it was, cling wrap. So now I’m here thinking ‘holy shit I just hate molten cling wrap’ and wondering just how bad it is for you. Whilst I would think I’m starting to feel sick in the stomach it’s probably just my imagination. So yeh anybody know the toxicity/effects of eating this stuff? Should I be checking myself into hospital right away or will it just be a case of ‘not that bad for you but try and avoid large quantities’. Now in terms of quantity it was just a single thin sheet over probably about a 225cm square area and it was baked at 180 degrees C. So yeh should I be on the way to the doctor by now or will it just blow over? “

To this query, one sage responded:  ”Chances are the plastic wrap broke and curled up around the edges instead of melting on the food. But I wasn’t there, anything might have happened.

If you think you really ate it and you think it might be adversely affecting you, call the poison control centre at 1-800-222-1222 (USA only, check your local number if outside) They are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and they won’t laugh at you if it turns out to be nothing. That’s what the number is there for, for people who are worried but not worried enough to go to the ER.”

My take, S C Johnson didn’t get that rich making things that will get them sued if eaten.  So, Saran Wrap was probably tested on lab animals and a few ‘unruly’ employees just to make sure it wouldn’t kill someone if eaten.  I’m not however, ruling out several weeks of constipation!!

But, then there’s Miralax…it’s in the pharmacy section.

Frankly, in this case, I think a visit by Charlie to the eye-doctor is more in order than anything else!  And quite honestly, had I been there…well, I’d have cooked breakfast, and, well, this just wouldn’t have happened!

*Just to keep me out of trouble:  In some jurisdictions, the name Saran is a registered trademark of the Dow Chemical Company, while in others, it has lost trademark status and become a generic term for these polymers. In Japan, Saran Wrap is a trademark of Asahi Kasei.  In the US, it is a trademark of S. C. Johnson Wax.

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