Finding something strange inside a food bag is terrifying—especially when it’s your child who opens it.

When I saw the blue disk mixed in with the sour cream chips, my heart dropped. It had writing on it. It didn’t look like food. And the first thought every parent has in that moment hit me immediately: What if this is dangerous?

I didn’t let my son eat a single chip.

I took photos, posted them online, and asked people what they thought it could be. The responses were all over the place—some scary, some confident, some completely wrong. That’s when I decided to dig deeper and find the real answer.

Here’s the truth.

That blue disk is a food-grade oxygen absorber (sometimes called an oxygen scavenger or desiccant). Manufacturers use them to keep certain foods fresh longer by absorbing oxygen or moisture inside sealed packaging. They help prevent chips and snacks from going stale or rancid.

The writing on it isn’t a warning or a drug label. It usually shows:

• The size of the absorber (often in millimeters)
• A batch or lot number
• A production or expiration date

It is not food and should never be eaten, which is why these are normally sealed in small packets or placed in ways consumers never see. Occasionally, during high-speed packaging, one can come loose and end up inside a bag. That’s a quality-control issue—but not evidence of poisoning or tampering.

The material inside is typically iron powder or similar compounds. It’s safe to touch, but it can be a choking hazard for kids, which is why throwing the food away and contacting the manufacturer is the right move.

What I did next was exactly what experts recommend:

• I discarded the chips
• I kept the disk away from my child
• I contacted the brand with photos and the lot number

So yes—it was scary to find. But it wasn’t a toxin, a pill, or something sinister.

It was a freshness-preserving component that never should have been loose in the bag.