Food facts

Published October 29, 2011

• Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found edible.

• Apples are more effective at keeping people awake in the morning than caffeine.

• The number one food ordered by women in restaurants is French fries.

• Coffee originated from the Arabic word qahwah.

• Almonds are a member of the peach family.

• Americans eat approximately 10kg of tomatoes yearly, over half of which is in the form of ketchup and tomato sauce.

• Apple is made of 25 per cent air that is why they float.

• Avocado has the highest protein and oil content of all fruits, but most of this is the healthier unsaturated type.

• Birds eat half their own body weight in food each day! So, why do people say that a poor eater “eats like a bird”?

• Black-eyed peas are really beans.

• Blenders were invented by Stephen Poplawski when, in 1922, he became the first person to put a spinning blade at thebottom of a small electric appliance to make malted milkshakes.

• Butter and margarine are similar in calories, the difference is that butter is higher in saturated fats, while margarine generally has more unsaturated fats.

• Butterflies taste with their feet.

• Cabbage is 91 per cent water.

• Capsaicin, which makes hot peppers “hot” to the human mouth, is best neutralised by casein, the main protein found in milk.

• Carrots were originally purple in colour, changing in the 17th century to orange with newer varieties.

• Celery requires more calories to eat and digest than it contains.

• Cereal as a word is derived from the name of the Roman goddess Ceres, protector of crops.

• Cherries are a member of the rose family.

• Chewing gum may keep you slim by boosting the metabolic rate by about 20 per cent.

• Chewing gum stimulates signals in the learning centre of the brain and thus help save memory as you age.

• Chicken is one of the few things that we eat before it’s born and after it’s dead. — Compiled by The Surfer i