What happens if you DO eat silica gel?
Not a lot, apparently. According to the advice of the Utah Poison Control Centre, "Silica gel is a desiccant which absorbs moisture and is included in the packaging of many products such as shoes, purses, medications, electronic equipment, computers, etc. Desiccants are the most common foreign object ingestion by children under 6 years of age reported to the Utah Poison Control Center, with 584 reports in 1999. Silica gel packets are printed with very strong words of caution  DO NOT EAT, HARMFUL IF SWALLOWED, THROW AWAY. Parents may panic after reading the silica gel caution label, if their child puts the package in their mouth or eats the product. Rest assured, the contents of the packet, silica gel, is basically sand and it is not harmful if swallowed. However, caution should be taken to keep the product out of small childrens reach, because the silica gel packet may be a choking hazard." 

Not exactly what the headlines portray, as always.