There’s something out of place in the Walmart olive oil aisle. Can you spot what it is?
A mistake in the oil aisle
It seems a Walmart employee made an honest (but potentially detrimental) mistake when restocking the shelves in the food section.
Walmart shopper Maria (@maria21984) noticed something was off when she went to grab a bottle of cooking oil spray. Her video has nearly a quarter million views.
As she panned over the extensive variety of cooking sprays, from ghee to PAM canola oil to the Walmart brand, she noticed a familiar green bottle: ORS Olive Oil Spray.
Now, at a glance, the bottle and the prominent “Olive Oil” lettering do help the product blend in. But anybody who comes from a Black household would immediately realize that that isn’t cooking at all. It’s a type of hair spray.
It’s specifically used to add shine to the hair without weighing down the style. And the olive oil and coconut oil infusion helps the hair feel soft and moisturized. Olive oil is a popular ingredient in Black hair care products due to its moisturizing properties. It’s also found in some shampoos and popular hair gels, like Eco Style.
It’s an easy mistake to make. However, we’re confused about how this happened since items from different departments are presumably not stored together.
Plus, if you were to take more than a cursory glance, you’d clock that the bottle says “sheen spray” and specifically mentions adding moisture to dry hair and scalps.
“You would think they would read the things they’re placing on the shelf,” Maria said.
@maria21984 @Walmart Come on now. 😂 #walmart #daytonohio #oilsheen #fyp ♬ original sound – eni🧝🏿♀️
Is it safe to ingest hair spray?
No, it is not safe to ingest the olive oil hair sheen.
Despite its name (and unfortunate placement in the food section), the spray is not just made of olive oil. Instead, it contains a combination of hair-safe ingredients that could be hazardous to ingest, including mineral oil (which is made from petroleum), aerosols, and fragrances.
If you end up in a situation where you accidentally used the hairspray to cook, you would need to contact a doctor or a local poison control center.
When to use cooking oil spray
While cooking sprays are touted as a healthier option, there’s more to it than that. Food experts recommend using a spray in specific scenarios and opting for traditional oil in other settings.
A spray is good when you’re trying to keep a meal low in calories and fat, for evenly coating a pan, to hold parchment paper in place, and to keep an avocado from browning.
Traditional oil does a better job of creating flavor for sautés and creating soft edges in baking (like with pound cake).
Commenters react
“My non English reading mom would probably get this and use it to cook until it’s done,” a top comment read.
“One time they had the Camille rose honey, in the honey section,” a person shared.
“My coworker once did that with pink Himalayan bath salt, put it right with the other spices on accident,” another wrote.
The Daily Dot reached out to Maria for comment via TikTok direct message and comment and to Walmart via email.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
