‘Mentotional’ Fodder—40 Random Facts You Did Not Know About Food and Dining

Following is a slightly modified iteration of an article I wrote on a different blog. The piece was easily one of my most popular from the site, having been read by tens of thousands.

Disclaimer: I researched these points carefully. I tried to use multiple sources during my inquest; in many cases I have linked to them. Still, my information is only as good as its source. If you feel any point needs correction, please advise. Some of these points may become nullified in the future as new trends occur.

40 Random Facts You Did Not Know About Food and Dining

1. In the US, a pound of potato chips costs two-hundred times more than a pound of potatoes on average.
2. The Nacho Cheese flavored Doritos we pack in our kid’s lunches contain over forty-five ingredients—ingredients most people have never heard of (see label <here>).
3. In emergencies, coconut water can be used as a substitute for blood plasma as it is sterile and ph balanced.
4. Before the 17th century, carrots used to be purple. Dutch growers in the late 16th century mutated them into the orange roots we have today.
5. In 1995, KFC sold eleven pieces of chicken for every human alive in the US.
6. Fortune cookies were invented in 1916, by Los Angles noodle maker, George Jung.
7. According to Men’s Health Eat This not That, the Twix bar is the most unhealthy ’common’ candy bar sold in the US.
8. A typical American will eat twenty-eight pigs in his or her lifetime.
9. Cooking with cast iron pans used to provide the primary source of iron in the American diet.
10. According to Men’s Health Eat This not That, Quaker 100% Natural Granola, Oats, Honey & Raisins is the most unhealthy cereal sold in the US.
11. The Beijing Duck Restaurant in China can seat 9,000 people at one time.
12. The average American consumes fifty-one pounds of chocolate per year.


13. Haggis, the heart, liver, lungs, and small intestine of a calf or sheep boiled in the stomach of the animal, and then mixed with suet and oatmeal, is the national dish of Scotland.
14. William Garwood invented the ice cream sundae in Evanston, IL, in 1875, because laws of the time forbade the sale of sodas on Sundays.
15. According to Men’s Health Eat This not That, Marie Callender’s Creamy Parmesan Chicken Pot Pie is the most unhealthy packaged food in America.
16. Oreo Cookies from Nabisco are the world’s best-selling brand of cookie; about six-billion are sold per year.
17. Americans eat an average 1.2 billion pounds of potato chips per year.
18. Research statistics show that only 43% of homemade dinners served in the US include vegetables.
19. Tequila is made from the root of the blue agave cactus plant.
20. From Wikipedia: A 2002 survey shows that the average American will have eaten 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before graduating from high school.
21. The color of a chile is not indicative of its spiciness, but its size usually is; the smaller the pepper, the hotter it is.
22. Edible dye made from grape skins is used to stamp grades on meats.
23. According to Men’s Health Eat This not That, the Hungry-Man Classic Fried Chicken dinner is the most unhealthy frozen entrée sold in America.
24. The FDA allows for an average of thirty insect fragments, and one rodent hair per 100 grams of peanut butter sold in America.
25. Reputedly, the largest food item on any given menu in the world is “roast camel,” sometimes served at Bedouin wedding feasts. The camel is stuffed with a sheep’s carcass, which is stuffed with chickens, which are stuffed with fish, which are stuffed with eggs.
26. The vintage date on a bottle of wine indicates the year the grapes were picked, not the year of its bottling.
27. The world’s deadliest mushroom is the Amanita Phalloides, a.k.a the death cap.
28. As Swiss cheese ferments, a bacterial action generates a gas. The gas bubbles through the cheese, leaving holes in its wake.
29. According to Men’s Health Eat This not That, Healthy Choice Complete Selections Sweet & Sour Chicken is the most unhealthy supposedly “healthy” frozen entrée sold in America.
30. Apples, potatoes, and onions taste virtually the same when eaten with the nose plugged.
31. Kopi Luwak, one of the most expensive coffees in the world, comes from the feces of the civet cat.
32. Consumption of natural vanilla causes the body to release catecholamines (including adrenalin); accordingly, it is considered mildly addictive.
33. Banana trees are not actually trees; they are very large herbs.
34. According to Men’s Health Eat This not That, Stonyfield Farm Whole Milk Chocolate Underground Yogurt is the most unhealthy yogurt sold in America.
35. 7-Up originally contained Lithium, the drug commonly prescribed for bipolar disorder.
36. Coca-Cola contained cocaine until its 1914 formula change.
37. Refried beans are only fried once.
38. Dynamite can be made with peanuts. Peanut oil can be processed to produce glycerol, which can then be used to make nitroglycerin.
39. Eleven-year-old Frank Epperson invented the Popsicle. In 1905, he left a mixture of powdered soda and water on his porch. The temperature dropped to freezing during the night; when he woke the next morning he discovered his mixture had frozen, creating a fruit flavored ice treat that he named the “Epsicle.” Eighteen years later he patented his invention, calling it the “Popsicle.”
40. There will undoubtedly be at least one reader of this article who will attempt to eat apples, potatoes, and onions while plugging their nose.