The study that wasn’t
1870, Dr. E Von Wolf leads and publishes a study regarding iron content in vegetables. In this study a decimal point was placed incorrectly (or misprinted) inflating Spinach’s iron content by the tenfold. Inspired by this study Elzie Crisler Segar, the creator of Popeye, chose Spinach as Popeye’s veggie of choice in 1929. Von Wolf’s research was later fixed in 1937, but it was too late for Segar and Popeye.
There you have it, Popeye eats Spinach because of its iron content.
Open and shut case.
Or is it?
Even though that study is referenced in multiple academic papers, there’s no concrete evidence that suggests Von Wolf’s review misstated the iron quantity in Spinach. Both the Guardian and the BBC mention a German study that inspired Segar, but neither provides a reference back to the actual study.
Another article published in the British Medical Journal infers that spinach consumption played a propaganda role in World War II. But we couldn’t find any evidence of that either. Even though some Popeye cartoons were, in fact, used in anti-German propaganda.
Enter SPIDES
As it happens, this predicament has troubled the scientific community for several years. The SPIDES (Spinach Popeye Iron Decimal Story) has often been cited as a fact in scientific papers tracing back to 1981 all the way to 2009. Each one reinforcing the idea that…
