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In their day-to-day life, people tend to go with the flow and take things for granted. However, what your eyes see and what’s real doesn’t always match up. And just because your stomach starts a-rumbling when you see something delicious doesn’t mean that it’s actually edible. Welcome to the weird world of ‘forbidden food.’
Our team here at Bored Panda has cherry-picked some of the most impactful images from all over the internet where completely inedible things look like food. That sandwich over there? Look closer—that’s a rock. That slice of bacon? A mouth-watering crystal. And, no, those aren’t olives next to that pizza… Scroll down to see some impressive examples of forbidden food.
Warning: you might start getting strangely hungry all of a sudden! Just… don’t end up nibbling on any rocks! Promise?

#1 My Used Soap Bar Looks Like Chicken Breast

Image credits: 4manarun

#2 If This Wasn’t A Bar Of Soap, It’d Make A Great Piece Of Steak

Image credits: kiwehhhhh

#3 Forbidden Vampire Dippin’ Dots (Frozen Blood From A Patient With An Incredibly Rare Blood Attribute)

Image credits: Zukazuk

One of the main lessons to learn from this post is that you should never ever exclusively rely on just one of your senses to make sense of the world. When your senses work in concert, you get a far more nuanced picture of reality than when you’re left using just one of them as a crutch.

Now, pair that up with an instinct NOT to taste anything before fully examining it and you’re golden. (And to be fair, we’re not judging anyone. Many of us have accidentally popped some home decor knick-knacks or potpourri into our mouths, thinking it was candy.)

#4 Today At The Beach I Found A Rock That Looked Like A Sandwich

Image credits: ellieck

#5 Forbidden Mentos

Image credits: Frostychica

#6 House Cleaner… Whose Idea Was This?

Image credits: raviolicondom

In other words, before you take a big juicy bite out of whatever tasty treat you’ve found in a decorative bowl at your friends, examine it. Sure, it might look like candy, but does it smell like it? What does the thing feel like? What’s its texture and weight? If you take just a bit of time to examine the thing, you’ll probably quickly realize that it’s not edible at all. In other words, you’ve found an example of forbidden food. Snap a pic and share it online. There are lots of online communities that love things like this.

Many of us have been taught in school that there are five main senses: seeing, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. Then there’s the mystical ‘sixth sense’ that fans of the paranormal mention when talking about intuition. Real life is far more complex than just that.

Our perceptions are very literally in our heads. “You don’t experience sensations with your sense organs. You experience them with your brain,” BBC Science Focus explains.

#7 Forbidden Bacon

Image credits: ExoticCrystals

#8 Forbidden Ham Slices (It’s Soap)

Image credits: Money_Membership3580

#9 Forbidden Steak (Tree Trunk)

Image credits: PETA_Gaming

Truth be told, we have way more senses than we’ve been taught. Those five main senses we’ve mentioned? They’re known as exteroperceptive senses. In short, your exteroperceptive senses provide information about the world that’s external to us.

According to the BBC, your body also has lots of receptors inside that register things you’re generally not aware of. Like the beating of your heart, the expanding of your lungs, what’s going on in your stomach, etc. These get grouped up into what’s called interoception, as it’s related to your interior world (aka what’s inside of you).

#10 Forbidden Chia Seeds (Frog Eggs)

Image credits: SatanicJewggalo

#11 Forbidden Grapes

Image credits: diveonfire

#12 Forbidden Olives

Image credits: EarthLaunch

The science of sensing is fairly nuanced. Most people don’t tend to think of things like feeling temperature to be a sense, even though we have receptors for this. Meanwhile, some receptors are used for different things.

One example of this would be your retinas. Yes, they’re directly related to your sight. However, retinal cells also let you know whether it’s day or night, which is essential for your circadian rhythm, metabolism, and sleep/waking cycle.

#13 Visiting China And Found These Stones That Look Like Pork Belly

Image credits: minutemaiding

#14 I Guess I Don’t Have To Mop The Floor With The Cursed Spaghetti Anymore

Image credits: reddit.com

#15 Forbidden Milk

Image credits: Capta1nzomb1e

In the meantime, your body’s functions can affect how your senses interact with the world. The BBC explains that when your heart contracts, pushing blood out to your arteries, your brain actually takes in less visual information from your environment. In other words, the beating of your heart affects your sight. Your interior literally affects how you perceive what’s external to you. But that’s not all. Your brain also predicts what you might see before you actually see it based on your previous experiences.

Your brain typically doesn’t rely on just one group of receptors to construct what you know as senses. In practical terms, look at something like the flavor of food. Sure, there’s the gustatory (aka taste) data to consider. But that’s not enough. Your brain also considers olfactory (aka smell) data. Furthermore, it looks at the information gained from touch and temperature to distinguish whether food is wet.

#16 Forbidden Ice Cream Sandwich

Image credits: Carnalvore86

#17 Someone Ate The Forbidden Cheese At My Gym

Image credits: sheumchneveli

#18 This Block Of Crystal I Saw In Vienna Looks Like A Big Block Of Tuna

Image credits: statsradiofonien_

According to the ‘Sensory Trust’ charity, depending on how you classify things, you can have as many as 21 senses. That’s jaw-dropping! On top of that, if you consider things like hunger and thirst, you could technically have even more.

Among all the different senses, you have things like thermoception (sensing heat), nociception, (perceiving pain), equilibrioception (related to feeling balance), and proprioception (the perception of body awareness, e.g., touching your nose with your eyes closed). Some researchers go even further beyond.

#19 Forbidden Chocolate (I Believe They Go Under Table’s Legs To Prevent Scuffs)

Image credits: RIDE_THE_LIGHTNING32

#20 Forbidden Sushi

Image credits: htraptor

#21 Forbidden Ice Cream Cone

Image credits: Otherwise-Throat613

Michael J. Cohen, an eco-psychologist, even argues that human beings have 53 senses. He classifies the senses into four categories.

The first group includes the radiation senses, such as sensing color and temperature.

The second category includes the feeling senses, from sensing gravity and air to wind pressure and motion.

#22 Forbidden Peeled Oranges

Image credits: revenge_for_greedo

#23 Forbidden Olive

Image credits: Substantial-Peak4524

#24 Forbidden Froot Loops

Image credits: PYROxSYCO

The third category, according to Cohen, includes chemical senses like hunger (for food, water, or air), as well as your relationship with pheromones.

The fourth and final category includes mental senses such as external and internal pain, mental or spiritual distress, a sense of self, as well as your relationships with other people, and even your psychic capacity.

Cohen argues that your senses are meant to help you survive in the natural world. However, in the modern world, your senses end up either over-sensitive or atrophied, leading to stress and anxiety.

#25 Forbidden Flying Dorito

Image credits: heterocera05

#26 Forbidden Candies From The Dispenser

Image credits: devinup

#27 Forbidden Twizzlers

Image credits: penguinbiscotti

So, dear Pandas, we’ve got to know: have you ever tried to eat something that was clearly inedible even though it looked like it was food?

Have you ever accidentally tasted forbidden food? How quickly did you realize your mistake? Which of the things we’ve featured in this list would genuinely have tricked you into having a bite?

Let us know in the comments! And remember: don’t eat rocks!