40 Random Bits of Mental Health Trivia That Are Nothing A Little Meditation and Medication Can’t Help Relieve

21 Creepy Experiences People Haven’t Recovered From

33 Wild Times People Realized They Screwed Up Big Time

40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia That Hatched From Their Leathery Shells and Must Make the Dangerous Trek to the Ocean

12 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia to Slap Chop Into Your Noggin

32 Eyebrow-Arching Facts About Food

Turns out, ketchup used to be considered medicine

32 Eyebrow-Arching Facts About Food

September 09, 2023

Our food is full of tasty facts. Some of these facts are well-known, while others may be new to you. But all of them are worth devouring. Delicious facts like…

32

THAT TEMPTING WHIPPED CREAM IN THE AD IS PROBABLY SHAVING CREAM. Whipped cream quickly melts under hot lights, SO a stand-in has to be used - like non-dairy creamer or shaving cream. CRACKED.COM — 17 Sneaky Industry Tricks To Make Food More Appealing

31

The chicken you regularly eat is actually injected with a saltwater solution before it's sold. The solution accounts for 15 to 30% of a chicken's weight, and it's added because, apparently, the bird would be too dry without it. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Premier Foods Group

30

All our senses affect how food tastes For example, a pecan pie will taste sweeter served on a white plate as opposed to a black plate. CRACKED.COM — Harvard

29

There are fewer cows in the U.S. now than in 1974, but beef production remains the same at a whopping 50 billion pounds per year. Why? Cows have changed BIG TIME over the last decades. Increasing rates of growth through genetic selection got them 200 lbs. bigger. CRACKED.COM — 22 Foods That Have Changed And Morphed Over Time

28

The balsamic vinegar you buy probably isn't really balsamic vinegar at all. It's usually a mixture of red wine vinegar and must, which is a cooked grape solution used in making traditional balsamic vinegar. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Yellow.co.nz

27

Are you addicted to cheese? It's not entirely your fault, the blame is on Casomorphin which is derived from the digestion of the milk protein Casein. These casomorphins have opioid effects, and since producing one kilogram of cheese requires about 10 liters of milk you can imagine how much casomorphin is produced. So, you're basically just taking Dairy Crack $399 are MESANI GRAGKED.COM — 19 Facts About Food We'd Bet Anything You Didn't Know

26

Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut used to be the largest purchaser of kale in the U.S. Pizza Hut Pizza-Hut 5' It wasn't even eaten - it was a garnish on their salad bars. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Boston Magazine

25

CRACKED COM The Czech Republic has some pretty delicious foods, in particular the Smazeny syr. It's a slab of breaded and fried cheese often served with fries and a tartar-style sauce. You can also pick one up from a street vendor as a sandwich. — These 20 Killer Overseas Food & Drinks Crush America's

24

Ketchup was once sold as medicine TOMATO KETCHUP finest quality 750ml NETWT 5% It was supposed to be able to treat diarrhea and other maladies. CRACKED.COM — 17 Weird Facts About Food Maybe Someone Knows, Maybe Not

23

Rice

The Great Wall of China is held together with sticky rice. The innovative use of sticky rice in mortar has helped the structure survive the elements. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Smithsonian

22

CRACKED COM STATES TRINI 54922A LION ENcople In ancient Ireland and Scotland, butter was such a valued commodity that it was used to pay rent and taxes. — 29 Backstories To The Food We Love

21

To sell fruits quickly, they are usually ripened artificially by exposing them to ethylene gas in cold storage rooms. EXIT CRACKED.COM — 17 Sneaky Industry Tricks To Make Food More Appealing

20

No, you really shouldn't rinse your turkey at all before you start preparing it. That actually makes you more vulnerable to microbes, since it can spread them around the sink and yourself - it's worse than not cleaning it. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Mental Floss

19

Nectarines and peaches are the same species The nectarine is just a genetic variation of a peach, resulting in different texture skin. CRACKED.COM — Oregon State

18

Pez

Before they became the iconic dispensable candies of our collective childhood, R were originally invented in 1927 to be anti-smoking mints SUPER PEZ SUD - SUPER MINT aus CRACKED.COM — 22 Foods That Have Changed And Morphed Over Time

17

You only know the soufflé because coal ovens went out of use in the 19th century. New ovens were heated by air drafts, which made it possible to create a dessert that can puff up -- so those started popping up all over Paris. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Eater

16

Think you hate Airline meals are hand prepared 8 hours before flight delays? a given flight. If the flight is delayed too long, hundreds of food trays are thrown out and remade by chefs working overtime. So you're not the UNITED only one who hates them. CRACKED.COM — 19 Facts About Food We'd Bet Anything You Didn't Know

15

This is what cashews really look like. They're a seed, not a nut, and they grow on an evergreen tree. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — 17 Now-You-Know Food Facts To Chew On Today

14

The US has plenty of snacks to eat while you're drinking at a bar but nothing quite like the Dutch bitterballen. This perfect bar snack is deep-fried and filled with meat, butter, flour and a mix of spices, served with a side of mustard for dipping. CRACKED COM — These 20 Killer Overseas Food & Drinks Crush America's

13

GRACKED.COM Shake It! yoohoo Chocolate -DRINK- 12 FL OZ Despite being regarded as chocolate milk, Yoo-hoo contains more water than milk or chocolate! — 17 Weird Facts About Food Maybe Someone Knows, Maybe Not

12

A single pineapple used to cost $8000. Pineapples were imported to be used as lavish decoration in the American colonies. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Mental Floss

11

Bread actually predates agriculture by four thousand years. Archaeologists found the charred remains of 14-millennia-old bread at a hunter-gatherer site in Jordan. The discovery suggests that the desire to make bread might be one of the driving factors behind the decision to settle down and start farming. CRACKED.COM — 29 Backstories To The Food We Love

10

Food packages with portraits of cartoon characters may seem pointless to you... ints ALIA ocolate Sandwich Cookie N Vitam EN HULK Kellogg's on Sal ERS VOD SHK M ING - um EDITION kies free Team ERS WARS RE GREEN ap. ARE SHI العمل DLING - But according to a study, the food actually tasted better to kids although it is no different from the standard version! CRACKED.COM — 17 Sneaky Industry Tricks To Make Food More Appealing

9

Purple Meat

Meat sealed in a vacuum pack is naturally purple, they just color it red to make it look better. That's done because purple meat looks pretty weird to consumers, of course - so carbon monoxide, rosemary extract and/or nitrite are added. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — MeatPoultry

8

An individual piece of spaghetti is called spaghetto And yeah, one fettuccine is alsofettuccino, but that's a little less fun. CRACKED.COM — Bon Appetit

7

Caviar

Caviar used to be SO worthless that in the 19th century, bars served it for free, like peanuts, to make customers get thirsty and drink more. Now it costs CRACKED.COM you your soul. — 22 Foods That Have Changed And Morphed Over Time

6

Scallops actually have up to 200 eyes lining the sides of their shells. And those eyes aren't just primitive light receptacles s--they have pupils that can respond to light by contracting and dilating. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Smithsonian Magazine

5

To stop ingredients in fruit-flavoured soft drinks from separating, companies use brominated vegetable oil (BVO). The additive is banned in Europe, Japan and many other countries, but not in North America. BVO is found in drinks like Mountain Dew, Squirt, Fanta Mtn Orange, Gatorade Orange, Dew Powerade Strawberry Lemonade or Fresca. and BVO can also be used as a flame retardant. the Overexposure to bromine can the lead to skin lesions, memory any loss and nerve disorders. CRACKED.COM — 19 Facts About Food We'd Bet Anything You Didn't Know

4

Pistachios

Pistachios spontaneously combust. Large quantities of raw pistachios are prone to heating up, and their oil catching fire. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Gothamist

3

CRACKED.COM In Canada, you can get ketchup chips everywhere. Lay's Principal Claim e LOADS OF KETCHUP Ketchup PLEINES DE FLAVOUN SAVEUR KETCHUP IL لا 200 g - - . DO FLAVOUR SAVEUR SIMILÉE They taste like everything that's in ketchup, without ketchup's gooey wetness. — These 20 Killer Overseas Food & Drinks Crush America's

2

Banana trees are in fact giant herbs. Their trunks are made of tightened leaves, not wood. CRACKED COM — 17 Weird Facts About Food Maybe Someone Knows, Maybe Not

1

The most widely consumed fruit in the world is the mango. Apples and oranges don't even compare to mangoes. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Mental Floss

Tags:

Food

Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

Movies & TV

Jerry Lewis’ Agent Dispels the Three Biggest Myths About the Comedy Legend

Movies & TV

5 of the Most Obviously Reused Movie Costumes

Movies & TV

23 Movie Bad Guys Who Are Actually Good Guys

Trivia & Jokes

59 of the Funniest Tweets from the Week of March 10, 2025

Movies & TV

39 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia Conservative Pundits Are Convinced Are Evidence of Satanic Worship

Music

20 of the Greatest ‘One-Hit Wonders’ of All Time

VIRAL ON CRACKED

1

Movie And TV Moments That Stuck It To Fans

2

Rob Schneider Booed, Pulled Off Stage During Charity Gig

3

39 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia Conservative Pundits Are Convinced Are Evidence of Satanic Worship

4

15 Things No Person Should Go One Second Longer Without Knowing

5

40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia That Hatched From Their Leathery Shells and Must Make the Dangerous Trek to the Ocean