Silica gel is non-toxic but it is a choking hazard for young children.
However, in some rare instances, manufacturers coat silica gel in cobalt chloride, a toxic compound. Eating cobalt chloride-coated silica gel will likely cause nausea and vomiting. Cobalt chloride is a moisture indicator that is dark blue when dry and pink when saturated with water. Cobalt chloride-coated silica gel isn’t usually used for consumer products.
What Happens if You Eat Silica Gel?
Children can mistake silica gel for food or candy and eat either the silica gel or the entire packet. Adults sometimes mistake silica gel packets for the salt or sugar packets commonly found in takeout food.
Accidentally eating desiccant silica gel shouldn’t make you or your child sick because it’s chemically inert, which means that it won’t break down in the body and cause poisoning. Most of the time, silica gel will pass through your body without any harmful effects.
But this doesn’t mean that eating silica gel is entirely without risk. Desiccant silica gel is a choking hazard. Also, if eaten in large quantities, desiccant silica gel may cause intestinal obstruction. This is why manufacturers often label the packets with “Do not eat” or “Throw away after using”.
In rare cases, other toxic components (e.g., cobalt chloride and strong alkali) are present in the silica gel packets. Therefore, it is important to check for any symptoms (e.g., vomiting and stomach pains) after the silica gel has been eaten.
Sounds like it’d most-likely just pass through the system.
https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/what-to-know-silica-gel
well this source says otherwise
So it’s basically just not edible and it’s a hazard in the purely physical sense.
That’s already a very good reason not to eat it, unless you’re like that crazy guy who eats planes for shit and giggles.
Chubbyemu did a video on them
According to the YT description, it was inspired by the comic that OP posted, even.