You can in fact eat quite a menu of inedible things but this will probably harm you sooner or later. Edible or inedible is not a meaning, it's a convention. The

You can in fact eat quite a menu of inedible things but this will probably harm you sooner or later. Edible or inedible is not a meaning, it's a convention. There even are some things which are considered inedible despite being harmless and possibly tasty, especially if you know how to cook them right and don't eat too much of them. Did you know radium used to be a popular "edible" ingredient one day? They said it was good for your health. Then one day people realized it's poison. Sugar used to be promoted as having ealth benefits as well (as did cigarettes). And it has to be declared inedible to stop destroying health of billions of people.