DF: Treasures we want to see

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Black powder is perfectly edible, although it tastes mostly like charcoal (being mostly charcoal). You won't blow up from eating it, and you won't be poisoned. You might expose yourself to mouth and bowl cancers if you make a habit of it due to the nitrates (trites?), but that's just like eating corned beef, hot-dogs, bacon, and other meats preserved with nitrates (trites?).

You might be able to press it into service as an improvised meat preservative in the field if you only have the final product, not the raw niter. Everything WILL taste like soot and farts, which while better than starving, is not very nice.

Also, IIRC it was consumed mixed with rum for a while - probably by way of showing off more than for flavour, and, I think, used as a quack medicine. Possibly the eating of the charcoal fraction might actually help against some swallowed poisons...