[Broken_Hippo]

It can also be used to clean battery terminals among other things.

But then again, vinegar is a fairly common cleaning agent: Baking soda and salt are fairly effective as well. I've used salt and lemon juice to clean tarnish off of copper: Toothpaste to clean the tarnish off of silver jewelry or shine up gold. None of these are viewed as bad or unhealthy in the doses we tend to consume them in. Vegetable oils and waxes are used in industrial applications: Soy can be used as a base for ink and lipstick.

Stomach acid itself is about as strong as battery acid, actually. And this is something your body produces and is necessary.

Basically: There are a great many chemicals that have multiple uses, and are only dangerous when used in sufficient amounts or on specific surfaces.

[lmm]

> But then again, vinegar is a fairly common cleaning agent: Baking soda and salt are fairly effective as well. I've used salt and lemon juice to clean tarnish off of copper: Toothpaste to clean the tarnish off of silver jewelry or shine up gold. None of these are viewed as bad or unhealthy in the doses we tend to consume them in.

Absolutely, but I'd be worried about someone who chugged any of those things in the same quantity peopole tend to drink coke.

[coldtea]

Coke is 89% water (from the other % most is sugar).

Not really comparable to consuming 2 cans of salt, baking soda, toothpaste, etc.

And would you really be worried for people drinking several cans of lemon juice per day?

[Broken_Hippo]

Straight lemon juice in those quantities is actually bad for the teeth. As in, my sister used to eat lemons like oranges and quit because of that.

The most apt comparison with lemon juice to coke would be lemonade, though. And some folks do drink quite a bit of that.

[lmm]

> And would you really be worried for people drinking several cans of lemon juice per day?

Yes, absolutely. It's pretty damaging to teeth if consumed regularly, AIUI.

(Personal experience: I once started drinking a few glasses of orange juice (weaker than lemon) daily, within a year I needed four fillings. Stopped drinking it immediately afterwards, haven't needed fillings before or since).

[eloff]

That likely had more to do with the sugar than the acid in the juice.

[lmm]

I'd been drinking apple juice in similar quantities before and since for years (when I say "started" I really mean I switched from apple to orange), which I believe has similar sugar content.

[gohrt]

Don't know about your teeth, but that sugar is pushing for diabetes. Drinking juice straight (not diluted with water) at 100+ kCal/cup rate, in quantity, is a bad idea

[Broken_Hippo]

Quantities matter, naturally. I'd worry about them as well, honestly. Especially if they were eating tubes of fluoride toothpaste. Luckily they are usually just ingredients in stuff, just like the chemicals in coke.

Vinegar might be somewhat of an exception - especially apple cider vinegar. Folks use it for a natural cure, some folks drinking a glass multiple times a day. I'm personally suspicious and it seems in these sorts of amounts it isn't the safest thing for folks [1]. Again, quantities, preparation, and dosages matter.

[1] http://www.livestrong.com/article/494866-recommended-amount-...

[otempomores]

It always astonnished me that cellular chemistr ca produce this without selfdestruction.

[ekianjo]

Its not because something is acid that it eats everything just like in Aliens.