23 Most Interesting Facts About Foods
1. One fast-food burger can have meat from 100 different cows.
It sounds like a crazy amount, but the ground beef used to make burgers, both in fast food places and grocery stores, is made of a collection of muscle tissues.
2. Fruit-flavored snacks shine because of car wax.
Yep, the same wax that is used on cars, carnauba wax, is the same type of wax that is used to give gummy candy a glossy sheen.
3. White chocolate isn’t chocolate.
What’s white chocolate? Actually, it isn’t even chocolate because it does not contain cocoa particles.
It is just cocoa butter mixed with sugar, often with a little vanilla added for flavoring.
4. Crackers are worse for your teeth than sugar.
The reason is because of the length of time that starchy food lingers on our teeth. The longer food stays on your teeth,
the longer the bacteria in the mouth have to turn that food into harmful acids, causing tooth decay and cavities.
5. Peppers don’t actually burn your mouth.
Hot peppers contain an alkaline, oil-based molecule called capsaicin,
which sneakily triggers the temperature-sensitive pain receptors in your mouth even though the molecule itself doesn’t produce heat or cause any real damage (unless you really overdo it).
6. Cheese is the most stolen food in the world.
Most shoplifted food item in the world is not pocket-sized sweet or high-end liquor but rather everyone’s favorite burger topping: cheese.
TIME first reported in 2011 that cheese is the world’s most shoplifted food product, with a whopping 4% of the world’s cheese ending up stolen!
7. You can find peanuts in dynamite.
Peanut oil can be processed to produce glycerol, which can be used to make nitroglycerine, an explosive liquid used in dynamite. However,
there are other processes that can be used to make dynamite without using peanuts at all. So, this little factoid isn’t completely false and it isn’t completely true.
8. Not all wine is vegan.
Most people think that, because wine is made from fermented grape juice, all wine is vegan. However,
the winemaking process, specifically the fining process, often adds small amounts of substances that may be troubling to vegetarian and vegan consumers
9. Sweet drinks can cause dementia.
Sugar- and artificially-sweetened beverage intake have been linked to cardiometabolic risk factors, which increase the risk of cerebrovascular disease and dementia.
10. Bad eggs will float.
If you need to test the freshness of your eggs, put them in a glass of cold water. If the egg sinks, it is fresh. If it tilts upwards or even floats, it is old.
This is because as the egg ages, the small air pocket inside it grows larger as water is released and replaced by air.
If the air pocket becomes large enough, the egg may float.
11. Ripe cranberries will bounce.
The way to tell if your cranberries are super fresh is to drop one on the floor from a bit of a height. If it’s fresh it will bounce.
The bounce means the berry is still nice and firm.
12. Popsicles were invented by accident.
The details are debated, but the general story is that in 1905, an 11-year-old kid left a mixture of soda and water outside in a cup overnight.
It froze, and he ate it in the morning.
He originally called it an “Epsicle” (his last name was Epperson).
When he later had kids, they started calling it “Pop’s Sicle” and the new name was born.
13. Food tastes different when you’re flying.
The number one reason plane food tastes different is because you’re consuming it at an incredibly high altitude — up at 39,000 feet your taste buds don’t work as well as they do on the ground.
14. Humans’ DNA is 60% the same as bananas.
Our genes are comprised of 3 billion building blocks which are surprisingly un-unique. From this, 60% of our genes are identical to that of a banana; however, the other 40% is different enough to make us who we are!
15. Potatoes are 80% water.
Sure we all know celery is high in water, but who knew potatoes were only 15% behind them! Technically, you could juice a potato, but I don’t think anyone wants that.
16. Sound can influence the taste of your food.
In general, higher-pitched sounds are associated with sweet and sour tastes; lower-pitched and dissonant sounds with bitterness;
staccato sounds with crunchiness; and smooth, legato sounds with creaminess
17. It’s impossible to cook an egg on a sidewalk.
The highest temperature ever recorded was 131 Fahrenheit. In order to cook an egg on a sidewalk, it would need to be 158 degrees.
Even with the reflection of heat, concrete is not a good heat conductor so you wouldn’t be able to cook an egg!
18. Breakfast is NOT the most important meal of the day.
Because breakfast gives us the opportunity to fuel our body with nutrients, it is an important meal. However, according to recent studies, it may not be the most important meal of the day.
Eating breakfast and listening to your hunger cues is very important if you wake up hungry in the morning.
19. Most supermarket wasabi is actually horseradish.
The vast majority of wasabi consumed in America is simply a mix of horseradish, hot mustard, and green dye, according to the American Chemical Society.
In fact, about 99% of all wasabi sold in the US is fake, The Washington Post reports.
20. Crackers have holes in them for a reason.
To get uniform and evenly-spaced holes, bakers and manufacturers rely on a “docker prick.” These rolling devices are covered in even spikes and rolled across cracker dough, leaving perfectly placed holes.
These holes release the right amount of steam to give you a crunchy, delicious cracker every time.
21. Nutrition labels are in order.
If you’re reading up on the nutritional label to see if it fits into your diet, it’s organized by the ingredients that are used the most.
So if you need a good power bar for the gym and you see sugar at the top of the list, it’s time to find another source of protein!
22. Hot chocolate tastes better out of an orange cup.
Depending on how you serve something, it can scientifically change your perception of taste. A new study finds that the color of the vending cup used to serve hot chocolate can alter its taste and smell,
with orange or cream-colored cups enhancing flavor and aroma more than white or red ones.
23. Death row inmates in Texas don’t get to pick their last meal.
Death Row Inmates In Texas No Longer Get The Last Meal Because Of One Man. No death row prisoners in the US state of Texas receive a bespoke last meal before they are executed anymore because one inmate ordered an absolutely mammoth last meal and refused to eat a bite of it because he said he wasn’t hungry.
After this, the state legislators asked to end the tradition of allowing inmates to request their final meal.
