Did you know…?!?!?

Fun facts about the food we eat.

Watermelons can cost up to $100 in Japan!

There are more nutrients in the cornflake package itself than there are in the actual cornflakes.

With two forks and a charge, a pickle will emit light.

Between 1977 and 1996, the contribution of snack calories to total calories for American children between 2 and 5 years old increased by 30%.

There is more real lemon juice in Lemon Pledge furniture polish than in Country Time Lemonade.

Research has shown that allowing chocolate to melt in your mouth produced brain and heart rate activity that was similar to – and even stronger than – that produced with passionate kissing.

Popcorn pops because water is stored in a small circle of soft starch in each kernel. As the kernel is heated, the water heats, the droplet of moisture turns to steam and the steam builds up pressure until the kernel finally explodes to many times its original volume.

Grapes are one of the oldest cultivated fruits. They have been around for more than 8,000 years.

Onions contain a mild antibiotic that fights infections, soothes burns, tames bee stings and relieves the itch of athletes foot.

A hive of bees flies over 55,000 miles and must tap two million flowers to bring you one pound of honey! Each worker honey bee makes 1/12th teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.

The same chemicals that give tart cherries their color may relieve pain better than aspirin and ibuprofen in humans. Eating about 20 tart cherries a day could reduce inflammatory pain and headache pain.

In the United States, lettuce is the second most popular fresh vegetable. Americans eat about 30 pounds of lettuce every year. That’s about five times more than what we ate in the early 1900s.

The bright orange color of carrots tell you they’re an excellent source of Vitamin A which is important for good eyesight, especially at night. Vitamin A helps your body fight infection, and keeps your skin and hair healthy!

It takes 24 to 26 hours for a hen to produce an egg.  About 240 million laying hens produce about 5.5 billion dozen eggs per year in the United States. Egg yolks are one of the few foods that naturally contain Vitamin D.

There are over 500 different types of bananas, and a banana plant can grow as high as 20 feet tall. That’s as big as a two-story house! Banana’s are most likely the first fruit ever to be grown on a farm.

Fresh apples float because 25 percent of their volume is air. There are more than 7,000 varieties of apples grown in the world. If you grew 100 apple trees from the seeds of one tree, they would all be different!

The name asparagus comes from the Greek language and means “sprout” or “shoot”. One of the most popular varieties of green asparagus is named after Martha Washington, the wife of George Washington.

Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites! In early colonial times, pumpkins were used as an ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling.

Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza each day, or 350 slices per second. Each man, woman and child in America eats an average of 46 slices (23 pounds) of pizza a year. Pepperoni is America’s favorite topping and anchovies are its least favorite.

Americans eat 900% more broccoli than we did 20 years ago. In the United States, broccoli was probably first grown by immigrants from Italy in home gardens in Brooklyn, New York. In 1923, a group of Italian vegetable farmers in Northern California started to grow broccoli commercially and in a few years they were shipping fresh broccoli to Boston and New York.

The most popular Campbell’s Soup in Hong Kong is watercress and duck gizzard.

The average French citizen eats 500 snails per year.

The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as a substitute for blood plasma.

Strawberries have more vitamin C than oranges.

Spinach consumption in the U.S. rose 33% after the Popeye comic strip became a hit in 1931.

Reindeer milk has more fat than cow milk.

Nachos is the food most craved by pregnant women.

It takes up to four hours to hard boil an ostrich egg.

Cranberries are sorted for ripeness by bouncing them; a fully ripened cranberry can be dribbled like a basketball.

Coconuts kill more people in the world than sharks do. Approximately 150 people are killed each year by coconuts.

Bananas contain a natural chemical which can make a person happy. This same chemical is also found in Prozac.

Bacteria that cause tooth decay, acne, tuberculosis, and leprosy can be cured with cashews.

Avocados have more protein than any other fruit.

Apples are more efficient than caffeine in keeping people awake in the mornings!

There is a giant mushroom in Oregon that is over 2,400 years old, covers 3.4 square miles of land, and is still growing!

An apple, potato, and onion all taste the same if you eat them with your nose plugged.

Sources:

http://www.agday.org/education/fun_facts.php

http://www.funfactz.com/food-and-drink-facts/