Gel Freezer pack punctured--will I die?

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,560
30,783
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Yet another will I die if I eat it thread.

So I brined some pork shoulder last night and it is currently smoking. After removing the pork from the cooler this morning and depositing the freezer packs in the sink, I later noticed that one of packs had punctured, and it's pretty obvious that most of the contents leaked into the brine. I wrapped 3 of them in a plastic grocery bag, and place on top of the pork to keep it submerged in the brine and cold overnight.

This is what I used

http://www.amazon.com/Philly-Food-24...d_sbs_indust_6

I get them from the lab--they come in most of our orders, for enzymes from large, well-known companies. We have piles of them, so I usually grab a couple and use in place of ice because they are cheap and easy to pack.

Anyway, I did some searching, and most people say they are non-toxic. Only one forum I found has comments where some peoples' dogs died after puncturing these and ingesting-- they believe the culprit was ethylene glycol, (which, I believe, is found in many food products in very small, impure forms--cake frosting, for one) though many other comments say that these are supposed to be non-toxic. This, from the company that manufactures the Polar Pack:

http://www.thermosafe.com/faqs.html



So, what say you, ATOT? Should the GF and I eat the tasty smoked pork and risk acute kidney poisoning? Or will it not happen?

further--is it worth it?
 
Last edited:
Feb 24, 2001
14,513
4
81
Same stuff that's in antifreeze. Just drink alcohol in a high concentration.

Your body will tell the ethylene glycol to go eat a dick, it prefers ethanol something like 100x more and skip digesting it.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,560
30,783
146
Same stuff that's in antifreeze. Just drink alcohol in a high concentration.

Your body will tell the ethylene glycol to go eat a dick, it prefers ethanol something like 100x more and skip digesting it.

oh, that's easy enough for me. so it's basically like methanol poisoning? awesome.

Doesn't ethylene glycol have strong laxative effects?

:hmm: I should consider spiking my food with freezer gel more often, if this is the case.

Yes, you're dying. Go ahead and lie down and give it up. RIP.

:(

Haven't eaten it yet (needs ~3 more hours on the smoker), but I'll keep you guys updated if I die.
 

BladeVenom

Lifer
Jun 2, 2005
13,365
16
0
Same stuff that's in antifreeze. Just drink alcohol in a high concentration.

Your body will tell the ethylene glycol to go eat a dick, it prefers ethanol something like 100x more and skip digesting it.

There isn't antifreeze in them. They are usually made to freeze. Melting absorbs heat, so a frozen one is more efficient.

When an antifreeze is used around foods, they usually use something like propylene glycol which is non-toxic.

Even so, I wouldn't want to eat a cold pack, or food that has soaked one up.
 

davmat787

Diamond Member
Nov 30, 2010
5,512
24
76
Nothing to add other than I too am smoking today. Have 4 racks of baby backs from Costco, of course, about to come out of the smoker.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,560
30,783
146
There isn't antifreeze in them. They are usually made to freeze. Melting absorbs heat, so a frozen one is more efficient.

When an antifreeze is used around foods, they usually use something like propylene glycol which is non-toxic.

Even so, I wouldn't want to eat a cold pack, or food that has soaked one up.

who knows, maybe it's the secret to good eats?

:\
 

Dirigible

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2006
5,961
32
91
Sounds like you're gonna eat it, huh? Keep a log so we can relive you final moments.
 

crashtestdummy

Platinum Member
Feb 18, 2010
2,893
0
0
The form that is in food is poly(ethylene glycol), which is totally harmless (you could drink it). Ethylene glycol is toxic, but probably won't kill you. You'd have to drink about a cup of pure ethylene glycol for it to actually kill you off. It might make you quite sick, though. It will likely also flavor the pork with a kind of sickly sweet taste.
 

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
84
91
should be safe if you cut an inch off it in all directions.
thats what i'd do in a survival scenario
otherwise..toss it
 

Dirigible

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2006
5,961
32
91
I guess we now know, don't eat food with freezer pack gel on it.


We must heed this wisdom.

A great man...

A brave man...

A handsome man...

An intelligent man...

A man brought us this knowledge at the cost of his own life. Don't make the same mistake he did.