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You don't want to know how the sausage is made. Or the Fanta. Or the graham crackers.

15 Food Origins That'll Make You Say "Huh. Wish I Hadn't Read That."

February 09, 2021

The most common foods sometimes have the zaniest backstories. The lemon used to be just another fruit, until snake oil salesmen convinced us it would save our lives. Soda fountains used to be self-serve pharmacies, for all intents and purposes. And you'd be surprised how many foods were invented to keep you from masturbating…

15

Lemons were the hydroxychloroquine of the 1918 pandemic. LEMON SUCKING NOW HAILED BY SCIENCE AS INFLUENZA CURE CRACKED COM Lemons became a super-food because jagoff politicians, fearmongering newspapers, and Big Citrus teamed up to hawk them as a fruit foe to the flue virus. This increased the price of lemons, did — 4 Everyday Foods With WTF Dark Histories

14

We have aspartame because a chemist licked his fingers. ual SWEETENER Dr. James Schlatter was SO busy working on an ulcer treatment that he didn't have time to wash his hands between experimentation and paperwork. He licked his finger to turn a page, and noticed it tasted good as — Source: Culinary Lore

13

Salisbury steak was a fad diet. Dr. James Salisbury was a big meat guy - SO big, the idea of a ground meat entree was named after him. He promoted beef as a digestion enhancer... basically a 19th century juice cleanse. — Source: Smithsonian

12

7 Up used to have a bipolar disorder medication. 7 Seven SEVEN-UP BORS FLAVOL Seven 7up up, 7up. 7up SIYINS INTERNATION Ts CRACKED CO It's common knowledge that Coca Cola used to contain cocaine, but its competitors weren't just using sugar, spice, and everything nice. 7 Up was once steeped in — Source: McGill

11

Graham crackers are supposed to suppress your naughty thoughts. GRAHAM COMPANEY AS AN TEN THESE ARTICLE EVERYDAY CIt ATIOMAL GOODS OF 122 ARE FOOD COMPANY BISCUIT CRACKERS UNEQUALED e ER SEAL CRACKEDcO 19-century minister Sylvester Graham invented his special grain biscuit because anything tastier might give you impure thoughts. Somewhere — Source: NY Post

10

Corn Flakes are supposed to suppress your desire to J O. Mother, Guess You'll Have to open the other Package of Kelloga's TOASTED CORN FLAKES Kyg's TOASTED Tee id ttas Sava Ma4-ac 512 WhasCare CORN THE GENUINE ALWAYS HAS THIS SIONATURE FLAKES John Harvey Kellogg wanted to realize Sylvester — Source: Metro

9

TV dinners exist because Swanson needed to offload 260 tons of turkey. CRACKED CON Like a cartoon character who hit the wrong button at the cereal factory, Swanson messed up and found itself sitting on 520k pounds of turkey after Thanksgiving 1953, and they needed to move it fast. That's when — Source: National Geographic

8

Twinkies were a desperate ploy to justify Depression-era machinery. Hostess TWinkies 120113A110 Hostess CRACKEDo During the Depression, factory machinery excisted on kind of a use-it-or-lose-it basis. A baking company had to think fast when strawberry season was over, SO they slopped some banana creme into their strawberry shortcake pans. — Source: NY Post

7

The Filet-O-Fish was made SO Roman Catholics would eat garbage food on Fridays. McDonald's introduced their unspeakable fish slab in 1965 so Roman Catholics would have no excuse not to buy their burgs on Fridays. It's still an extremely popular item during Lent. — Source: International Business Times

6

Spaghettios were a practically unspillable pasta for kids. 0:oc0 CRACKED In 1965, Campbell's tasked employee Donald Goerke to do the impossible: create a pasta for children. After presumably trying hearts, stars, rainbows, clovers and blue moons, he discovered that the mighty O was the best shape for a child's spoon. — Source: Campbell's

5

Slurpees happened because of a hapless shopkeeper's broken equipment. URPCE Coca-Cola CRACKEDo COM One day in 1950's Kansas, a shop owner's soda fountain broke, and he had to chuck his sody pop into a freezer. Naturally, it slushed up real good, and people found the new texture refreshing. — Source: MentalFloss

4

Sushi was originally old fish in fermented rice. A CRACKED The rice-and-sushi combo wasn't exactly the all-star tag team we know today. The rice was basically packing peanuts- fish was wrapped in fermented rice to preserve it for up to a year. Eventually, someone thought to replace gross rice with — Source: Eat-Japan

3

We have nazi Germany to blame for Fanta. my) CBEror anta 65 eruy SHOKATA oa CRACKEDC CON Since they'd kinda sorta made mortal enemies with any country that could get them that good Coca Cola syrup, one poor sap was tasked with making soda out of... whatever Germany had lying

2

Ramen was controlled by the Yakuza CRACKEDCO The US sent a whole bunch of flour to Japan as kind of a post-A Bomb we good? Instead of the very American solution of making a ton of bread, the Japanese made a ton of noodles, thanks in part to the Yakuza — 4 Everyday Foods With WTF Dark Histories

1

Ketchup was a fermented fish- based medicine. CRACKED CON The original ke-tsiap was a Chinese delicacy, made of fermented fish, and thought to have medicinal properties. The British tried to replicate it, then American Henry J. Heinz tried to replicate the replication, giving us the e-bastardized tomato paste we guzzle today.

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