Food and Drink Facts & Trivia

Legend has it that the hot dog in a bun was invented at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair when a sausage vendor borrowed buns from a neighboring baker after running out of gloves for customers to hold hot sausages.

To produce one teaspoon of honey, a bee must visit approximately 5,000 flowers and flies the equivalent of 3 times around the Earth.

Wild carrots were originally purple, white, or yellow. Orange carrots were selectively bred in Holland in the 17th century, possibly to honor the Dutch royal family.

A 5,000-year-old Sumerian poem contains detailed instructions for brewing beer — making it the world's oldest known recipe.

Apples are buoyant in water because about one-quarter of an apple's volume consists of air pockets in the cellular structure.

Botanically speaking, strawberries are 'false fruits' while bananas, avocados, and watermelons qualify as true botanical berries.

Pineapple contains bromelain, a proteolytic enzyme that breaks down proteins — including the proteins in your mouth as you eat.

Kopi Luwak, made from coffee beans eaten and excreted by Asian palm civets, sells for up to $700 per kilogram — making it the world's most expensive coffee.

Cacao beans were so valuable to the Aztec civilization that they were used as currency — workers were paid in cacao, and taxes were collected in beans.

In the 1830s, tomato ketchup was sold as a pharmaceutical remedy for conditions including diarrhea, indigestion, and liver problems.