Food — Page 8

Figs contain digested dead wasps as part of their natural pollination process.

The female wasp enters the fig to pollinate the internal flowers and ends up dying inside, being subsequently…

The holes in Swiss cheese are caused by carbon dioxide gas released by bacteria during fermentation.

The bacterium Propionibacterium freudenreichii consumes lactic acid and releases carbon dioxide, creating the…

Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world because it must be harvested entirely by hand.

Each saffron flower produces only three stigmas, and it takes about one hundred and fifty thousand flowers to produce…

McDonald's once created bubblegum-flavored broccoli to encourage children to eat vegetables.

This nineteen nineties marketing experiment was an attempt to make vegetables more appealing to children, although…

Botanically, strawberries are not true berries, but bananas, watermelons, and pumpkins are.

A true botanical berry develops from a single flower with one ovary and contains seeds inside, which applies to…

In the eighteen thirties, ketchup was sold in the United States as a medicine for indigestion.

Dr. John Cook Bennett promoted tomato extract as a cure for diarrhea, jaundice, and indigestion, selling it in pill…

Vanilla flavoring was historically derived from castoreum, a secretion from beaver glands.

Although today artificial vanilla is mostly synthesized from wood or petroleum byproducts, castoreum was used for…

The world's hottest chili pepper is the Carolina Reaper, measuring over two million Scoville units.

Bred through selective crossbreeding, this pepper is so intense that consuming it can cause extreme headaches and…

Apples belong to the rose family, along with pears and plums.

The Rosaceae family is vast and includes many stone and pome fruits, meaning apples share fundamental botanical…

Honey is the only food that includes all the substances necessary to sustain life, including water.

Produced by bees from flower nectar, honey contains enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and water in a proportion that…

The fear of cooking or preparing food is officially known as mageirocophobia.

This specific phobia can cause severe anxiety about chopping ingredients, using stoves, or serving food to others…

Chocolate contains a chemical that stimulates the same area of the brain as falling in love.

Phenylethylamine, present in chocolate, is a compound the brain naturally produces when we feel attracted to someone…

The original flavor of Fanta was created in Germany during World War Two due to a Coca-Cola syrup shortage.

When war sanctions cut off the Coca-Cola ingredient supply, the German branch developed a new drink using available…

Garlic applied to the foot can be detected in the breath within minutes.

The sulfur compounds in garlic are absorbed by the skin, enter the bloodstream, and are transported to the lungs…

The durian fruit is so pungent that it is banned on public transportation in several Southeast Asian countries.

Its strong smell, described as a mix of rotting onions and turpentine, is considered offensive in enclosed spaces…

The world's most expensive coffee, Kopi Luwak, is made from beans eaten and excreted by civet cats.

Civets select the ripest coffee beans, which ferment in their digestive tract, altering the protein composition and…

Cashews grow on the outside of a fruit called the cashew apple.

The true fruit of the cashew tree is the cashew apple, a fleshy, colorful structure, and the cashew nut itself grows…

The irrational fear of vegetables is known as lachanophobia.

People with this phobia may experience severe anxiety, nausea, or panic attacks when seeing, touching, or thinking…

Nutmeg can be highly toxic if consumed in large quantities.

Nutmeg contains myristicin, a compound that, in high doses, can cause hallucinations, nausea, and tachycardia. While…

The world's oldest known recipe is for making beer.

A Sumerian hymn to the goddess Ninkasi, dating back to eighteen hundred BC, contains the oldest known recipe for…

Apples float in water because they are twenty-five percent air.

The cellular structure of the apple contains air pockets that make its overall density lower than that of water…

Rhubarb leaves are highly toxic to humans due to oxalic acid.

Although rhubarb stalks are edible and used in desserts, its leaves contain high concentrations of oxalic acid, which…

The cashew nut grows on the outside of a fruit known as a cashew apple.

Unlike most nuts that grow inside a shell, the cashew develops at the lower end of a fleshy, colorful pseudofruit…

In the eighteenth century, tomatoes were widely believed to be poisonous in Europe and called 'poison apples'.

Wealthy Europeans used pewter plates, and the acidity of the tomato caused lead from the plate to leach into the…