I posted about this on another forum as well, in case you see it there too.
Did a little research. It looks like it sells on ebay pretty regularly, but I can't find much info on the type with the indicator beads, other than wickipedia:
"Alone, silica gel is non-toxic, non-flammable and chemically unreactive. However, some of the beads may be doped with a moisture indicator, such as cobalt(II) chloride, which is toxic and may be carcinogenic. Cobalt (II) chloride is deep blue when dry (anhydrous) and pink when moist (hydrated)."
Mine has the cobalt beads, and I would not use them for food storage. They actually were used with some VERY high-dollar electronics. They were happy to "recycle" them to me (corporations love to recycle- makes them look good). The lady who wrote me the property pass told me I was a "good environmentalist".
The info I could find indicates that it's widely used by the US military, and is pretty much the best dessicant around.
That being said, I have no illusions about it being real valuable. It looks like what sells on ebay goes for around $4 a pound in bulk, without the indicator beads, and I can definitely sell it cheaper than that, for sure. Mostly I'm just trying to figure out what a good fair price is.
The info I found indicates that to recharge it, 245 degrees (f) for two hours. I didn't find anything about microwaving it, would be great if that works just as well. The stuff I have is in one-ounce envelopes, some kind of fabric on the back, and plastic on the front. The plastic does the shrinky-dink thing in the oven; I just dumped a bunch of packets out, baked them, then put them back in the packets. It would be even easier to just dump a bunch of packets together in a larger cloth bag that could take the oven or microwave. I'm trying to talk my wife into sewing up a few larger bags, to see how it works.
Lastly, does anyone know the level of risk with the indicator beads? The only info I found warned about not using it around food, but did not indicate that it was unsafe to handle. I can't imagine it being very hazardous, as it's used in industry all the time and is not labeled as hazardous.