Food Facts for Kids
Tasty facts about the food we eat
Avocados do not ripen on the tree — they only start ripening after they have been picked. Farmers can keep avocados fresh for months by leaving them on the tree as a living pantry.
During World War II, doctors used coconut water as an emergency substitute for blood plasma in IV drips because it is sterile and has a similar chemical balance to human blood.
Figs are not actually fruits — they are inverted flowers. Each fig contains tiny flowers inside it, and they are often pollinated by a specific species of wasp that crawls inside.
Raw olives straight from the tree are far too bitter to eat because they contain a compound called oleuropein. They must be cured in brine, oil, or lye for weeks before they become the tasty snack we know.
Coffee 'beans' are actually seeds found inside a red berry called a coffee cherry. It takes roughly 2,000 hand-picked cherries to make just one pound of coffee.
Mushrooms are more closely related to animals than to plants. Fungi share a common ancestor with animals, and like us, they absorb nutrients from their environment rather than making food from sunlight.
Pasta may have been introduced to Italy from China. Explorer Marco Polo is often credited with bringing noodles back from his travels in Asia in the 13th century, though some historians dispute this story.
Peas are one of the oldest cultivated vegetables in the world, with evidence of humans eating them dating back around 9,000 years. They were a staple food in ancient Egypt and Greece.
Nutmeg is mildly toxic if consumed in very large quantities. While perfectly safe sprinkled on food, eating several whole nutmegs can cause hallucinations and severe illness.
Onions make your eyes water because cutting them releases a sulphur compound that reacts with the moisture in your eyes to form a weak sulphuric acid, which irritates them.